Gender Equality “60 minutes to convince” April Presentation by Saniye Gülser Corat Chief, Section for Women and Gender Equality of the Bureau of Strategic Planning

Facts and Figures on Gender Inequalities 640 of the 960 million adults who cannot read are women. Women provide 70% of agricultural labour, produce over 90% of food, but are not represented in budget deliberations. Women comprise only 10 % of the world’s economy in terms of asset holding and own less than 1 % of the land and real estate. 16,8% women in elected parliaments; ranging from 6,8% in the Arab States to 39,7 in the Nordic countries. Gender-based violence on the increase. In many countries, rape is not considered a crime, goes unpunished and continues to be used as a tool of war.

UNESCO’s draft 34 C/4 states : “Gender Equality +” UNESCO’s Gender Equality Policy for “ 9. […] priority will be given to the pursuit of gender equality through action in all of UNESCO’s fi elds of competence, supported by capacity-building for gender mainstreaming. 10. UNESCO is committed to a series of action supportive of women’s empowerment, women’s rights and gender equality by: mainstreaming gender equality issues throughout the programming cycle at all programme levels; building commitment, competence and capacity for gender mainstreaming through dedicated capacity development and resources for these purposes; supporting equal career opportunities of staff and appropriate working arrangements to balance work and life; and progressively increasing the representation of women in decision-making levels within the Secretariat to reach 40% by 2015.”

UNESCO’s current Gender Equality Policy “ 32. UNESCO’s program activities will be targeted at the urgent needs of disadvantaged and excluded groups or geographic regions. The needs of Africa, the least developed countries, women, and youth will be mainstreamed throughout all programs.” The strategy further notes that “as regards women, a gender perspective will be integrated in policy, planning, programming, implementation and evaluation activities in all areas of UNESCO’s competence with a view to promoting empowerment and achieving gender equality.” UNESCO’s Medium Term Strategy (Para 32 )

2005 Millennium Summit Outcome Document (paras 12 & 59) “12. We reaffirm that gender equality and the promotion and protection of the full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all are essential to advance development and peace and security. […] 59. We recognize the importance of gender mainstreaming as a tool for achieving gender equality.” As a result of the UN system’s commitment to Gender Equality

Conclusions of the High Level Panel on UN System- wide Coherence UN system’s commitment to Gender Equality (cont’d) “ Gender equality is central to sustainable development that responds to the needs, rights, aspirations and talents of half the world’s people. We propose a new way forward […]: We believe that a gender entity—based on the principles of coherence and consolidation—is required to advance this key UN agenda. But it is also our strong belief that the commitment to gender equality is and should remain the mandate of the entire UN system. And finally, in our recommendations, we seek to combine greater visibility for gender issues at the centre with enhanced results on the ground, where the UN’s performance will be assessed.”

United Nations System-wide Policy and Strategy on Gender Mainstreaming Endorsed by the CEB in October 2006 The Policy establishes conditions of successful implementation: Accountability mechanisms ; results- based management ; reliable systems for monitoring, evaluation and reporting ; human and financial resources ; capacity-development ; greater coherence and coordination.  Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE)Task Team on Gender Equality is developing the System- wide Action Plan for implementation. UN system’s commitment to Gender Equality (cont’d)

Gender Equality is NOT  A new word to describe an old concept: “women’s empowerment”  About promoting women and girls at the expense of men and boys  Focusing on men and boys only  A priority that can wait until after the fight against poverty is won

Gender Equality IS  A development objective in itself, necessary to achieve all other development targets, including poverty eradication, the halt in the spread of HIV, EFA goals..  About guaranteeing equality of opportunity, treatment and result for women and men, girls and boys  Good for women, girls, men and boys. No one loses out when gender equality is being sought

Why are targeted actions in favor of women and girls not enough?  Promoting GE is not only women’s responsibility. Both women and men play a role in social transformations  Changing the position of girls/women through targeted action does not automatically lead to changes in social institutions and attitudes  Targeted action is necessary but not sufficient (gender unaware, gender aware, gender transformatory)

New initiatives in the promotion of Gender Equality Group of Women Ambassadors to UNESCO for Gender Equality UNESCO-SE WTA Partnership for Gender Equality

Group of Women Ambassadors to UNESCO for Gender Equality In line with the fundamental objectives of UNESCO’s policy pertaining to the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, the Group will :  Play a proactive role in sharing information on, and promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment issues both within the Organization and in Member States;  Assist the Organization in strengthening its action in the field of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Women don’t need charity. Women want Education and Opportunity UNESCO – SE WTA Partnership for Gender Equality

Building on the Iguales campaign, the OBJECTIVE of the Partnership is to : This will be achieved through a dual approach: I. Mobilize & raise public awareness II. Build empowering partnerships Promote Women’s Leadership in all of UNESCO’s domains, globally and in different regions and countries UNESCO – SE WTA Partnership for Gender Equality (cont’d)

Partnership has 4 components : 2. Strengthening Women’s Leadership 1. Promoters of Gender Equality (PGE) 3. Mentoring, Fellowships & Scholarships 4. Using WTA Tour Tournaments, social events and conferences as awareness and fundraising platforms Partnership will adopt a phased implementation. UNESCO – SE WTA Partnership for Gender Equality (cont’d)

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