Outcome LAC_O_1

Enhanced coordination, coherence and accountability of the UN system for commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment

UN Women’s Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean (ACRO) made strong progress on this result in 2022. UN Women has been actively engaged on the regional stream of the UN reform: leading the Regional Gender Theme Group (GTG), co-leading the Issue-Based Coalition (IBC) on Crime and Violence and the Working Group on Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) Data, engaging in the other IBCs and technical interagency groups, participating in the Regional Collaborative Platform (RCP) meetings, and having an active role as a member of the Peer Support Group (PSG) for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Focusing on the need to mainstream gender in Common Country Analyses (CCA), United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCFs) and other United Nations Country Teams (UNCTs) processes lead by the Resident Coordinators in the region, as well as the gender-responsive implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Regional GIG, led by UN Women, strengthened the capacities of national Gender Theme Groups to “provide(s) strategic support and advice to United Nations country teams in enhancing their gender mainstreaming efforts ”, in line with the Regional GTG Work Plan and the ECOSOC resolution (E/2019/L.10). This initiative consisted in the organization of two webinars to rollout the new Gender Thematic Group Standards and Procedures (GTG S&P), promulgated this year by the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG). The main objectives of these webinars were to reinforce the knowledge and understanding of the Gender Theme Groups, the definition of common objectives, priorities and challenges in the region, and the creation of a network to exchange experiences and lessons learned. A total of 21 GTGs were engaged in this exercise, including gender focal points from most of the AFPs in the UN System, as well as representation of the Resident Coordination Offices. This initiative highlights the role of the Regional GIG as a key actor for leading, promoting and coordinating efforts to mainstream gender within the UN System and advance the full realization of women’s rights and opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Additionally, the joint regional advocacy on gender equality and women’s empowerment was strengthened by providing inputs for communication and advocacy campaigns on emblematic dates such as the International Women’s Day (March 8) and the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (From November 25 to December 10). The main objective was the positioning of joint UN System messages for advocacy and awareness-raising on gender equality and women's empowerment, and especially on the eradication of violence against women. All the agencies belonging to the Regional GTG participated in this initiative, and the materials were shared on the social networks of each of these Agencies, Funds and Programmes (AFPs). Furthermore, gender mainstreaming was leveraged in the CCAs and UNSDCFs in the region. More than 330 UN staff and government officials from Ecuador, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, and Cuba increased their understanding and knowledge on gender equality and women's empowerment (GEWE). A total of 6 capacity development trainings were held by the Regional Office including topics such as gender mainstreaming in the UNSDCF, the application of the UNCT Gender Marker (UNCT GEM) and gender-responsive Monitoring and Evaluation. This resulted in GEWE being integrated into several of the region's UNSDCF inter-agency cycles. These results have been achieved not only because of the strategic positioning and active collaboration of UN Women as part of the regional PSG (Peer Support Group) and the capacity building, but also through bilateral collaboration and technical assistance to country offices. This work will be sustained through 2023, centering the efforts in the development of UNCTs’ capacities to design, develop and formulate a strategic, demand-driven, integrated, and transformative UNSDCFs, aligned with the UN Reform and national implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDGs. Where UN Women is an NRA, ACRO continued supporting and providing technical assistance in Paraguay, Peru and Cuba. In this area, it is worth mentioning that after a law proposal decreeing a change in the name of the Peruvian “Ministry of Woman and Vulnerable Populations” to “Ministry of the Family and Vulnerable Populations” the agencies, funds and programs of the UNS in Peru agreed to publicize a common message that expressed concern on the setback that this transformation would imply. This was done with the leadership of the RC and in close coordination with UN Women who provided the inputs for this pronouncement. The UNS considered publicly that eliminating the reference to women and replacing it with family would reinforce the exclusive appreciation of women for their reproductive role, making invisible the persistent discrimination and structural inequality against Peruvian women and girls. The coordination mandate was also strengthened and positioned in those countries where there is no physical presence (NRAs): Paraguay, Peru, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Cuba. In addition to the work carried out through the Regional PSG, ACRO has been leveraging gender equality in the UN System through its participation in these UNCTs. As a result, UN Women signed the new UNSDCF in Venezuela and became part of the country team configuration. In Cuba, the capacities were strengthened to ensure that GEWE is integrated into the joint work of the UNCT, including the findings of the UNCT-SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard and the priorities of its Action Plan. Also, the public understanding of the importance of GEWE for the achievement of the SDGs, in particular SDG 5 was strengthened. These results were achieved in the framework of an UN to UN Agreement signed with the Resident Coordinator’s Office in Cuba, which was extended for another year, thus strengthening the close and long-standing relationship with the RCO in the country. Finally, thanks to the efforts and collaboration of UN Women, progress in gender equality was analyzed for Venezuela using the UNCT SWAP Gender Equality Scorecard Assessment methodology. A work plan was collaboratively developed, engaging the different UN entities with a presence in Venezuela.

Enhanced coordination, coherence and accountability of the UN system for commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment

The key results for 2021 relate to UNW’s coordination role at regional level. UN Women has been actively engaged on the regional stream of the UN reform: leading the Regional GIG, co-leading the IBC on Crime and Violence, engaging in the other IBCs and technical interagency groups, participating in the RCP meetings, and having an active role as a member of the PSG LAC. Thanks to such engagement, the gender perspective was integrated into the IBCs’ work through the active participation of regional GIG members, especially in the IBC on Crime and Violence, which is co-leaded by UN Women, UNICEF and UNODC. As a result of the work of this group, as joint exercise to capture and disseminate the knowledge produced from an interagency perspective, the IBC is finalizing the process of developing a catalog of published work from all AFPs and with a selection of the 20 most emblematic documents on crime and violence, with interagency authorship and of regional or subregional scope. A database was also built with the main resources available from IBC member agencies. In total, this IBC managed to compile 395 publications, organized by thematic category and scope (regional, subregional, or national). A diffusion strategy will be implemented during the 2022 to ensure that it reaches wide audiences. Furthermore, UNW continued to lead the regional gender theme group (GIG) in LAC. As a main result of the Regional Interagency Gender Group during 2021, after a joint interagency work and effort, the position paper "Arguments from a human rights and gender perspective in the face of conservative fundamentalist movements and groups" was finalized. This document is an update of a previous work from 2019, with the objective of providing UN country teams in Latin America and the Caribbean with a series of argumentative messages to be able to respond from a human rights and gender perspective to the messages of criticism received from conservative fundamentalist movements and groups. The updating of this document has considered the impact of COVID-19 in the region, especially on women and other vulnerable groups, as well as new trends in the discourses and criticisms of these conservative movements . UNW has also been an active member of the Peer Support Group coordinated by DCO in charge of providing advisory services to UNCTs for their cooperation frameworks. As part of the group, the RO leveraged gender mainstreaming in several CCAs and UNSDCFs in the region through its participation in workshops with the UNCTs: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Caribbean and El Salvador. Furthermore, the gender perspective was positioned by the Regional Office for the 2023 CCAs and UNSDCFs by participating in a regional workshop organized by DCO with the objective of developing capacities of UNCTs to design, develop and formulate a strategic, demand-driven, integrated, and transformative UN cooperation aligned with the UN Reform and national implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDGs. The coordination mandate was strengthened and positioned in those countries where there is no physical presence (NRAs): Paraguay, Peru, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Cuba. In addition to the work carried out through the Regional PSG, the Regional Office has been leveraging gender equality in the UNS through its participation in the UNCTs. As a result, the work carried out in Peru, where UN Women signed the new UNSDCF and became part of the country team configuration, was particularly noteworthy, resulting in the integration of the gender perspective into each of the outcomes of the cooperation framework. Additionally, as part of the regional office’s work in the NRA countries, an UN to UN Agreement was signed with the Resident Coordinator’s Office to Support to the GEWE priorities in the UNCT Cuba, thus strengthening the close and long-standing relationship with the RCO in the country. Finally, the UNCT SWAP Scorecard was positioned in the UNCTs of Argentina and Paraguay, encouraging ownership by all agencies and the RCO. UNCT SWAP comprehensive reports were presented to the UNCTs and a re-evaluation of a total of 5 indicators was proposed.