Outcome APA_O_2

Effectively influencing for impact & scale:] UN-Women effectively leverages and expands its partnerships, communications and advocacy capabilities to increase support for and financing of the gender equality agenda, while securing sustainable resourcing for the delivery of its own mandate

The External Relations Unit (ERU) contributed to the expansion of partnerships, communications and advocacy capabilities over the course of this period, including deepening existing partnerships and mobilizing new support from existing partners and creating dedicated space for gender equality regional partners to engage and dialogue about emerging issues during a time of significant geopolitical change. Strong results were achieved through exceeding Communications and Advocacy targets and supporting progress towards resource mobilization (RM) and partnerships targets. Overall, UN Women’s media mentions and social media following and engagement grew significantly, bolstered by the renewed support of LinkedIn ad grants passed through UN Women Australia, which expand the reach of UN Women ROAP’s LinkedIn posts and turbo charge engagement with LinkedIn followers on gender equality. The Regional Communications Specialist and her team contributed significantly to the consistently high-quality communications products, campaigns and their reach. In 2025, UN Women ROAP’s AI School strengthened UN Women’s ability to influence for impact and scale by expanding the organization’s advocacy and partnership footprint on gender-responsive digital transformation. Building on its 2024 pilot success, the Ai School scaled significantly in 2025, reaching 3,854 participants with 100% overall satisfaction, delivered tailored bootcamps for UNCTs in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Thailand, and provided specialized capacity building across 20 UN entities/initiatives, creating a shared language and practical capability for integrating GEWE into AI-related policy, programming and communications. By combining a practice-first learning model with reusable toolkits and custom AI tools piloted for thematic teams, the AI School improved the speed and consistency of knowledge products and advocacy messaging, while reinforcing responsible AI use. Its recognition and showcasing in high-visibility platforms (e.g., ITU AI for Good, UN 2.0 Week, UN Global Pulse, UN Innovation Group) and its replication architecture helped attract new partners, strengthen cross-sector collaboration, and position UN Women as a credible convener and technical leader—supporting broader buy-in and resourcing for gender equality priorities and for delivery of UN Women’s mandate. The 30 for 2030 Youth and Civil Society network continued to thrive and many served as part of the AI school advisory committee. This significant scale-up strengthened UN Women’s positioning as a regional thought leader on gender-responsive digital transformation, increased demand for technical advisory support, and expanded cross-sector engagement around responsible AI. The RM/partnerships team coordinated the rejuvenation of the Gender Equality Partners Network, composed of gender equality allied donors and partners, and UN agencies, through quarterly meetings launched in June 2025. The revitalized Network institutionalized structured donor dialogue at a time of geopolitical uncertainty, enhancing visibility of regional priorities and strengthening strategic coordination among financing and advocacy partners. The RM/partnerships team continued to oversee the Asia and the Pacific roll-out of the Private Sector Engagement Policy and Procedure, increasing due diligence workload. The RM/partnerships team strengthened partnership engagement readiness across public and private sector partners. The RM/partnerships team also continued to provide technical advice and support for partnership diversification, such as by commissioning the Asia and the Pacific Foundations Mapping project, and leading ongoing coordination and engagement with two financially contributing private sector partners, LinkedIn and Charles & Keith, and managing the global relationship with the Asian Development Bank endeavoring to explore deeper engagement opportunities. These efforts strengthened diversification readiness and improved the Regional Office’s strategic positioning for future partnership and resource mobilization opportunities. In addition, the team also supported knowledge capture and sharing through internal briefing notes, such as substantive coordination of high-level dialogues with Japan, Australia, NZ, among others, and the input for the HQ-led Private Sector Engagement Quarterly Newsletter across the region. Collectively, these efforts expanded UN Women’s partnership architecture, strengthened cross-sector collaboration, and enhanced the Regional Office’s ability to mobilize political and financial support for the gender equality agenda and delivery of its Strategic Plan priorities.

Effectively influencing for impact & scale:] UN-Women effectively leverages and expands its partnerships, communications and advocacy capabilities to increase support for and financing of the gender equality agenda, while securing sustainable resourcing for the delivery of its own mandate

The External Relations Unit (ERU) leveraged and expanded partnerships, communications and advocacy capabilities over the course of this period, including renewing existing partnerships and mobilizing new support from existing partners. With all members of the External Relations Unit actively engaged in the Beijing+30 Regional Commemoration, significant results were achieved through exceeding Communications and Advocacy targets and supporting progress towards resource mobilization (RM) and partnerships targets. Overall, UN Women’s social media following grew significantly, as did media mentions. The joint efforts of the Beijing+30 Campaigns Coordinator (line managed by the Head of ERU) and those of the Regional Communications Specialist, contributed significantly to the quality of communications products, campaigns and their reach. The four-day media training in tandem with the Beijing+30 Regional Review enabled significant uplift of media mentions and nurturing relationships with members of the media. In 2024, UN Women demonstrated agility in advancing gender-responsive AI solutions, building the AI literacy and technical capacity of over 600 participants (UN, UN Women, CSOs, youth) through the UN Women AI School. The initiative led to a tenfold increase in participants rating their AI skills as "Excellent" (2.9% to 34.3%) and eliminated "Poor" ratings (22.9%), fostering confidence in AI application. Participants developed AI-driven solutions for gender-based violence prevention such as an AI custom GPT on Technology Facilitated Gender Based Violence, digital education such as CSW GPT , and policy advocacy, reinforcing UN Women’s leadership in ethical AI innovation. This success has also increased demand for the ERU Advocacy Coordinator’s expertise in capacity-building, extending support to Resident Coordinators' Offices, UN Country Teams, and other stakeholders. Additionally, the 30 for 2030 Youth and Civil Society network grew to 80 members, and the Leveraging Sports for Gender Equality, Human Rights and Life Free of Violence project amplified social media reach, expanding advocacy impact in the region. While the RM/partnerships team rolled out ownership and oversight of the Private Sector Engagement Policy and Procedure, increasing due diligence workload, technical advice and support was provided to support new approaches and partnership diversification, such as with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Sri Lanka (AUD 10M), or, contributing to the technical administration and finalization of the partnership between the ROAP Women’s Economic Empowerment team and the Visa Foundation (USD 2M).

Effectively influencing for impact & scale:] UN-Women effectively leverages and expands its partnerships, communications and advocacy capabilities to increase support for and financing of the gender equality agenda, while securing sustainable resourcing for the delivery of its own mandate

Throughout 2023, the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) has engaged and partnered with a diverse range of stakeholders to increase awareness and mobilize support – both financial and non-financial – for UN Women as well as the broader gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE) agenda. Concurrently, capacity building of field colleagues (and in some cases, our partners) in the areas of communications, partnerships and resource mobilization and advocacy has been central to the Regional Office’ work to empower colleagues to enhance support for and financing of the gender equality agenda at the country level. Through increased and more streamlined engagement with partners and improved internal coordination, ROAP maintained existing and cultivated new partnerships and secured resources and support from public and private sector partners in support of its mandate in Asia and the Pacific. Advancing visibility of the GEWE mandate is central to securing financing and support. In 2023, reach and influence increased overall through a rise in social media followers, strong media engagement, a powerful web presence with rising visits, and consistent attention to promoting visibility of donor-partners through dedicated recognition campaigns and human-interest stories. ROAP has further reinforced its position and impact on GEWE in the region by strategically incorporating innovative approaches to expand advocacy outreach, particularly around meaningful youth and feminists’ engagement, emphasizing working for and with youth and feminists as critical foundations of change.