UN Women - General Contribution 2021

Progetto concluso

UN Women is the lead UN organisation to contribute to gender equality, women and girl’s empowerment, including women’s full enjoyment of their human rights. Switzerland supports UN Women because targeted action for gender equality and women’s rights is a Swiss priority in its foreign policy and international cooperation.

Paese/Regione Tema Periodo Budget
Mondo
Gender
Organisazione per l’uguaglianza di genere
Violenza sessuale e di genere
01.01.2021 - 31.12.2021
CHF  16’000’000
Area di competenza

UN Women’s work on gender equality and women’s empowerment is strongly guided by the 2030 Agenda, in particular Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality. It also aims at ensuring that gender is mainstreamed in other gender related goals and targets. UN Women’s engagement contributes to the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995)[1] as well as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

UN Women has a triple mandate at normative, operational and coordination level:

1. To support inter-governmental bodies, including the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in formulation of policies, global standards and norms on gender equality.

2. To support Member States in implementing these standards, through technical and financial support, and build partnerships with civil society.

3. To hold the United Nations system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

[1] The 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action flagged 12 key areas where urgent action was needed to ensure greater equality and opportunities for women and men, girls and boys. It also laid out concrete ways for countries to bring about change. https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2015/01/beijing-declaration

Priorità strategiche della Svizzera e dell'organizazione e loro coerenza

Switzerland’s International Cooperation Strategy 2021-2024 includes UN Women as one of Swiss development cooperation’s 16 priority multilateral development organisations.

·   UN Women’s priorities and activities, namely the promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment, correspond perfectly with the Swiss strategic priorities as outlined in the International Cooperation Strategy 2021-2024, where gender equality is anchored as a specific objective and transversal theme, as well as in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) Strategy on Gender equality and women’s empowerment.

·   To support UN Women to implement these priorities, Switzerland leverages its own thematic (e.g. gender and governance, women’s economic empowerment and sexual and gender-based violence) and geographical expertise.

·   UN Women is an important partner of Switzerland in the achievement of the SDGs, in particular goal 5 on gender equality, and to ensure gender mainstreaming of relevant targets within the 2030 Agenda.

Risultati dell'impegno dell'organizzazione nella fase precedente

At mid-point of the Strategic Plan 2018-2021, UN Women achieved good performance on 72 per cent of the Strategic Plan indicators and delivered significant results for women and girls. UN Women supported 118 countries to conduct a 25-year review and appraisal of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and undertook 266 legislative reform initiatives. They supported the adoption of 13 laws promoting gender balance in elections and decision-making bodies, 14 laws and regulations on unpaid care work, and 25 gender-responsive fiscal, monetary and trade policies as well as the development/improvement of 59 gender-responsive policies on land rights. UN Women further supported 17 countries to develop national action plans to end violence against women. UN Women increased their engagement in gender data and statistics to support the monitoring of the SDGs through their “Women Count” data hub[1]. They closely collaborate with Switzerland in the prepration for the Gender track of the World Data Form (now postponed to 2021).

UN Women continued to support gender mainstreaming across the UN system, with 72 per cent of UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks featuring gender-specific results.

The 2019 assessment of the Multilateral Organisation Performance Assessment Network (MOPAN) found that UN Women significantly improved its systems, processes and structures, as well as its focus on results. There remain some key challenges on resourcing, strategic vision and capacity at country-level that limit effective programme delivery and sustainability of results, as well as partnership engagement and coordination. In response to this and other evaluations and external assessments, UN Women has continued to improve organizational efficiency, effectiveness, and enhanced results-based management.

[1] https://data.unwomen.org/women-count

Risultati dell'impegno svizzero nella fase precedente

Achievements at the Swiss level have been satisfactory. Switzerland prioritized women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women and girls, institutional effectiveness (evaluation and results-based management in particular) and implementation of United Nation Development System (UNDS) Reform. Key results from Switzerland engagement are the revised evaluation policy, with a strong mandate for gender equality and human rights; the inclusion of UN Women’s (UNDS) reform contribution in the mid-term review; UN Women’s ability to mainstream gender in the joint COVID-19 response of the UN system; and the development of a framework for more joined up responses by UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Women in six key areas, leading to better synergies between the four agencies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, about 10% of Swiss core contributions were used by UN Women to rapidly and flexibly respond to the COVID-19 crisis. UN Women is instrumental in ensuring strong gender mainstreaming in the COVID-19 response efforts of the entire UN system.

Effetti a medio termine ottenuti dall'attuale impegno dell'organizzazione

Within its Strategic Plan 2018-2021, UN Women’s overall impact goal is to: achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, including women’s full enjoyment of their human rights.

The mid-term review of the Strategic Plan, conducted in 2020, confirmed the relevance of UN Women’s strategic priorities in supporting the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the gender-responsive implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The differential impact of the COVID-19 crisis on men and women required UN Women to adjust their programme portfolio to the current context. Furthermore, the crisis might also affect global spending on official development assistance (ODA), with particular pressure on core funding. Therefore, UN Women has started a corporate reprioritization exercise.

In addition, to further enhance organizational effectiveness, outcomes will focus on the performance of the integrated Independent Evaluation and Audit Services, on transparency as well as on increased performance of regional and country offices. The 2019 MOPAN assessment has confirmed the relevance of these organizational priorities.

Effetti a medio termine ottenuti dall'attuale impegno svizzero

Switzerland will continue to engage with UN Women on gender mainstreaming within the UN development system and will focus on the following topics:

·   Switzerland promotes women’s economic empowerment including through the improved cooperation between UN Women and the World Bank.

·   Switzerland supports improved institutional effectiveness, in particular evaluation, financial sustainability and gender parity among staff.

·   Switzerland contributes to the implementation of UNDS reform by ensuring UN Women’s full integration and implementation of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) recommendations.

·   Switzerland ensures enhanced representation of Switzerland in UN Women is through an increased number of Swiss staff.

-   Switzerland is actively engaged in the elaboration of the new Strategic Plan 2022 – 2025 to ensure its priorities are reflected.

Direzione/Ufficio responsabile DSC
Partner del progetto Partner contrattuale
Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite (ONU)
  • Agenzia delle Nazioni Unite per l’uguaglianza di genere e l’empowerment femminile


Budget Fase in corso Budget Svizzera CHF    16’000’000 Budget svizzero attualmente già speso CHF    16’000’000
Donatori

Top 10 core contributions ranking (2019): 1. United Kingdom, 2. Switzerland, 3. Sweden, 4. Norway, 5. Finland, 6. Denmark, 7. Germany, 8. United States of America, 9. Australia, 10. United Arab Emirates. With additional contributions from other Member States (core and non-core), UN Women national committees and the private sector.

Coordinamento con altri progetti e attori

Switzerland regularly coordinates its positions with the Western European and Other Group (WEOG) as well as establishes cross-regional alliances.

Fasi del progetto Fase 22 01.01.2022 - 31.12.2024   (Fase in corso)

Fase 21 01.01.2021 - 31.12.2021   (Completed)

Fase 20 01.01.2018 - 31.12.2020   (Completed) Fase 19 01.01.2015 - 31.12.2017   (Completed)