IANWGE: GENDER MAINSTREAMING

Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, IANWGE

Tools and policy documents on Gender Mainstreaming

UN SYSTEM WIDE POLICY AND STRATEGY ON
GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN

CEB/2006/2: United Nations system-wide policy on gender equality and the empowerment of women: focusing on results and impact (PDF, 36K)
ECOSOC resolution 2010/29: Mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system (PDF, 57K)
» related ECOSOC resolutions
General Assembly resolution A/RES/65/191: Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and full implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcome of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (PDF)
» related GA resolutions

Members of the Inter-agency Network on Women and Gender Equality promote the incorporation of gender perspectives into the work programmes of their organizations. The Network itself provides support to gender mainstreaming through opportunities for exchange of experience and good practice at the annual meetings as well as at informal meetings. Many of the taskforces, through which the Network carries out its work, also explicitly promote gender mainstreaming, for example, the taskforces working on programme budgets, financing for development, CCA/UNDAF and ICTs.

Workshops on gender mainstreaming at annual meetings

At its fifth session, the Network members expressed a desire for the opportunity, within the context of the annual sessions, for deeper exchange of ideas and experience on gender mainstreaming, including on continuing challenges and good practice. This was considered important to be able to move beyond awareness raising and advocacy on gender mainstreaming to issues of implementation. The question of responding to demands for more information and guidance on "how-to", or the implementation gender mainstreaming, remains one of the greatest challenges. One-day workshops are organized on different aspects of gender mainstreaming.

The first workshop held in 2001 focused on Approaches and Methodologies for Gender Mainstreaming . A separate report on the workshop was prepared: Report on Approaches and Methodologies for Gender Mainstreaming .

The second workshop in 2002 focused on Training and Capacity-building for Gender Mainstreaming .

Collaboration with the OECD/DAC Working Party on Gender Equality

In 1997 the Network (then the Inter-agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality) organized a joint workshop with the OECD/DAC Working Party on Gender Equaity on gender mainstreaming. This provided a critical opportunity for discussions at policy and operational level. The report was widely distributed.

Gender mainstreaming kits for ECOSOC

The Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Ms. Rachel N. Mayanja , monitors and oversees the mainstreaming of gender perspectives in the programmatic, normative and operational work of the UN system, though the Inter-agency Network on Women and Gender Equality. Information on gender mainstreaming throughout the system is provided to the United Nations System Chief Executives Board (CEB) for Coordination, and its two high level committees, the High Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP) and the High Level Committee on Management (HLCM).

In 2002 an information kit on gender mainstreaming was prepared in support of the inclusion of a new item on the programme of work of ECOSOC's substantive session of 2002: Item 7(e) mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations System. Gender Focal Points throughout the UN System provided information on recent policy statements, programme objectives, operational activities, and one good practice example.

This information kit will be updated on an annual basis.