The UN System-Wide Policy on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women was endorsed by the Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) in October 2006, as a means of furthering the goal of gender equality and women’s empowerment within the policies and programmes of the UN system, and implementing the ECOSOC agreed conclusions 1997/2.1.

The policy seeks to accelerate the efforts of the UN system to advance the agenda for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women through the practical implementation of the globally agreed commitments contained in the outcomes of global United Nations conferences and summits and to provide strong leadership within the organizations to ensure that a gender perspective is reflected in all organizational practices, policies and programmes.

The policy sets out six key elements for promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment:

  • Strengthening accountability for gender equality
  • Enhancing results-based management for gender equality
  • Establishing oversight through monitoring, evaluation and reporting
  • Allocating sufficient human and financial resources
  • Developing and/or strengthening staff capacity and competency in gender mainstreaming
  • Ensuring coherence/coordination and knowledge/information management at the global,regional and national levels

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