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outcome XM-DAC-41146-APA_D_1.1
Women and girls in all their diversity, effectively contribute to, and benefit equally from the full operationalization of global normative frameworks, policies, laws and financial instruments and inclusive governance systems and institutions, at all levels (across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus).
In 2024, the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) made significant progress in empowering women and girls from diverse communities by ensuring their active participation in decision making process and benefit from operationalization of policies, laws, financial institutions, and inclusive governance. The office achieved specific and measurable results across various thematic areas through targeted initiatives, leading to transformative impact and tangible changes. Adoption of the ASEAN Care Declaration and normative national level shifts on care. The ASEAN Care Declaration newly adopted in 2024 is set to benefit women and girls across 12 ASEAN member and observer states to support women’s participation in the labour force as well as promote decent work in the care sector and beyond. In August 2024, the ASEAN Care Declaration on “Strengthening the Care Economy and Resilience Towards the Post-2025 ASEAN Community” was adopted. The Declaration, endorsed at the 3rd ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit, is a crucial step towards transforming care systems for women’s economic empowerment and will guide national laws and policies of ASEAN Member States. Along with ESCAP and Oxfam, UN Women provided technical support in drafting and validation of the Declaration, especially to bring in a gender lens and the crucial interlinkages between care policies and women’s economic empowerment (WEE). UN Women supported drafting sections on WEE, care migration and digitally enabled care enterprises in ASEAN, and emphasized the need for their regulations. Although these are interim results with impacts yet to be fully observed for women and girls, these efforts represent the culmination of UN Women's long-standing engagement in ASEAN across ending violence against women (EVAW), women, peace and security (WPS) , and WEE. On advancing migration governance, in 2024 a major achievement seen that is the initiative to establish of a new thematic area working group (TAWG) on gender equality in the Colombo Process, proposed by the Government of the Philippines to other Member States in November 2024. This initiative marks a major step towards realizing the agenda to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment which could lead Colombo Process Member States (CPMS) to develop dedicated workplan to enhance labour migration policies and practices. Significant progress has been made on WPS in the Asia Pacific region, marked by the adoption of three new National Action Plans (NAPs) on WPS: the First NAP of Viet Nam, the Second NAP of Timor-Leste, and the Fourth NAP of the Republic of Korea. Supported by UN Women, these NAPs were informed by global and regional developments on WPS and address the gender dimensions of non-traditional security risks, including climate change, digital security, and cross-border peace and security challenges that demand innovative responses. Government actors, and women CSOs were equipped with increased knowledge, while women from diverse communities, including young women and women with disabilities, were empowered to actively participate in consultations, contributing their knowledge and experiences. These accomplishments have driven transformative change by advancing an integrated approach to climate, peace and security, fostering sustainable peace and resilience across the region During the reporting year, through UN Women’s normative support, statistics and environmental intergovernmental processes incorporated discussions and decisions on the importance of gender statistics. For example, the outcome document of the 55 th session of the UN Statistical Commission encouraged countries to “apply indicator sets, such as the Asia-Pacific set of gender and environment indicators”; “encouraged the further integration of gender with environment and climate change statistics”; and “encouraged national statistical systems to invest in the development of climate change statistics by enhancing the use of specialized surveys”. All of these initiatives build on UN Women’s technical and methodological work on gender and environment statistics, including the development of a set of guidelines and resources on utilizing surveys for measuring the gender-environment nexus, and a list of Gender-Environment Indicators for countries wishing to measure environmental issues from a gender perspective, including for e.g. SDG indicators, and Sendai Framework indicators. Furthermore, in Cali, the biodiversity data conference (20 October) co-organized with Women4Biodiversity, IUCN, UNDP, and supported with funding from SwedBio through Stockholm Resilience Center/Stockholm University on the sidelines the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the UN Conference on Biological Diversity(UNCBD)(21 October-1 November, Cali), brought together governments, civil society and international organizations and advocated for mainstreaming gender in biodiversity data. UN Women’s publication on Gender and Biodiversity was used actively by Parties during UNCBD-COP16 negotiations to advance gender outcomes. This has contributed to the consideration of the inclusion of at least one gender indicator in the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (final decision expected in February 2025). At the COP 16 to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Riyadh, UN Women further leveraged the data brief at the Women Caucus Session organized by the Secretariat and coordinated with Parties who used it to inform their positions during negotiations. Thus, the outcome document ’s references to gender statistics were strengthened with explicit references to the use of gender-specific indicators for monitoring national progress towards the implementation of the convention. ROAP contributed to the integration of the Sendai Gender Action Plan (GAP) into national disaster risk reduction frameworks, emphasizing gender-responsive approaches in disaster preparedness and recovery. Advocacy at global platforms such as COP29 and Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) 2024 (14-18 October, Manila), highlighting women’s leadership in climate action and disaster resilience.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-APA_D_1.2
State and non-state actors and communities collaborate with women and girls in all their diversity, in promoting zero tolerance of harmful gender (and other) stereotypes, discriminatory social norms and all forms of VAWG.
The Ending Violence against Women (EVAW) at the Regional Office of Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) will not report on this outcome as social norm change aimed here take/took place at the country level and is related to country level data from prevalence studies. Please refer to annual reports of countries that EVAW unit supported.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-APA_D_1.3
Women and girls in all their diversity, benefit equally from opportunities, goods, services and resources, in full enjoyment of their social and economic rights and freedoms
In 2024, more women and girls now have equitable access to high-quality goods, services, and resources that are responsive to their needs. This includes i) utilization of HIV/AIDS prevention and care services among vulnerable women and women living with HIV, ii) access to child care services through integrated vocational training and child care centers as well as those driven by care enterprises iii) access to clean energy technologies and decent work opportunities iv)skills to navigate the green economy v) improved digital AI skills for women and girls as well as vi) increase knowledge and capacity on ending violence against women for 19 country offices in the region. In the area of gender responsive climate action , UN Women also secured USD 17.5 million through strategic partnerships with financial institutions, enabling the creation of nine financial mechanisms to finance renewable energy initiatives benefiting 40% women-led and marginalized enterprises to access clean energy technologies and decent work. By collaborating with various financial actors, EmPower has improved access to financing for micro to medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), promoting gender equality in the renewable energy sector. EmPower also developed a Guidance Note on ESG assessments, which partner institutions are integrating into their due diligence processes, with planned ESG training sessions to further embed these standards. Additionally, the Girls Go Green Asia Pacific Summit (23-25 October, Bangkok), co-organized by UN Women ROAP, UNICEF, and UNEP, significantly enhanced the capacity of state and private sector actors to promote gender-transformative pathways in the green economy and reached 32 adolescent girls and young women from 20 countries to provide essential tools for navigating gender barriers in green jobs and STEM, resulting in Joint Recommendations on Green Skills . These recommendations will promote inclusive opportunities and gender-responsive green transition policies, with an emphasis on women's economic autonomy and resilience, particularly in renewable energy and green innovation. Additionally, a youth-led session on green ecopreneurship fostered peer learning and innovative thinking. During the year, UN Women continued to work with different stakeholders including UN Agencies, CSOs and Women’s groups to ensure that needs and concerns of women living with HIV/AIDS are reflected in HIV/AIDS progarmmes implemented at country level. In partnership with UNAIDS and UNFPA, support was provided to Government participants and CSOs in ensuring that country level HIV/AIDS prevention plan developed during Regional HIV Prevention Meeting include focus on addressing GBV against WLHIV and vulnerable women including FSWs. UN Women also supported improvement in utilization of HIV/AIDS services among girls and women through reviewing and ensuring that needs of girls and women are addressed through work plans developed by Country level Joint Team. In the area of Women’s Economic Empowerment, UN Women has increased or suppo rted labour force participation for women through driving access to childcare services and encouraging decent jobs in the care sector . UN Women supported Gender-Inclusive Care Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (GICEEP) programme which enabled 3,075 women to enter and stay in the labor force, while reaching 9,683 individuals across Asia-Pacific through 14 care delivery models. A cohort of 11 Care Entrepreneurs have become more gender inclusive in their policies and practices through the GICEEP programme while increasing their revenue with 46.4%; improving their business models and leadership skills and driving decent jobs for women. These enterprises have positioned themselves as gender impact businesses for the first time, developed policies for preventing sexual harassment in their workplace and new partnerships, advocacy modalities and funding opportunities using new messaging with gender equality have been firmly integrated as part of their model. Additionally, UN Women supported the setup of 3 new care enterprises catering to 164 families and 45 women to access integrated skilling and early childhood and education childcare services through “Better Skills Better Care”, to enhance women’s economic participation through an integrated vocational skilling for women and Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) intervention targeted at low-income families in India. Through UN Women's support, implementing partners SAFEEEM and Dharma Life have integrated gender into implementation and also supported partners to become more gender responsive. UN Women played a pivotal role in promoting the gender and climate change discussions, particularly at the Beijing+30 regional review where a grant for feminist journalists to cover the intersection of gender and climate change was announced. This initiative will be crucial moving forward to develop critical stories that illuminate the challenges faced by women and other marginalized groups, such as Indigenous Peoples, persons living with disabilities, and persons with diverse SOGIESC, in the Asia-Pacific region due to climate change. Initiatives such as the UN Women AI School 2024, a groundbreaking program were piloted to provide access to and skills in AI to more than 600 UN/UN Women staff and youth and and civil society partners. This initiative demonstrated tangible, transformative impacts by enhancing AI literacy, technical capacity, and the ethical adoption of AI across diverse stakeholder groups. The program demonstrated tangible impacts, including a 100% satisfaction rate and a substantial increase in participants' AI literacy and confidence in applying AI concepts. The school also produced innovative outputs like the CSW Beijing+30 GPT, which simplified complex gender and climate issues for users, further promoting the organization’s commitment to gender advocacy through digital innovation. Additionally, UN Women’s Center of Excellence (COE) supported a national workshop in Manila, Philippines, “Building Bridges: Gender-Responsive Climate Action and Disaster Resilience Training Workshop”, bringing together 44 officials and CSO representatives where strategies to integrate gender into DRR and climate initiatives were discussed and the EmPower Programme’s contributions to fostering gender equality and strategic partnerships were highlighted. This will support in advancing the discussion on gender responsiveness of the DRR and climate actions in the Philippines (TBC/to be edited). Through the UN Women PROTECT project support under EVAW, ASEAN launched the ASEAN Guidelines for Developing National Standard Operating Procedures for a Coordinated Response to Violence Against Women and Girls , enabling survivor-centred, multi-sectoral coordination across health, police, justice, and social service sectors. By establishing clear SOPs and performance standards, it strengthens service providers’ capacity to respond effectively to violence, ensuring women receive timely, coordinated, and survivor-centred support from essential services, reducing barriers to access and promoting their safety and well-being.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-APA_D_1.4
Women and girls in all their diversity, and representatives of the women’s rights movement, exercise their leadership, voice and agency, without fear of retaliation, in development and crises-affected contexts.
In 2024, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) made substantial steps in ensuring that women and girls, in all their diversity, and representatives of the women’s rights movement, could exercise their leadership, voice, and agency without fear of retaliation. These achievements were realized through concerted efforts in governance, peace, security, humanitarian action, disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate action, and gender-responsive policy advocacy, thereby creating inclusive and transformative frameworks for development and crisis-affected contexts. In pursuit of collective achievement, civil society organizations (CSOs) played a pivotal role in advancing gender-responsive anticipatory action and frameworks for GBV prevention in disaster risk reduction. Their contributions led to the development of the Sendai Gender Action Plan (GAP) , a key tool for integrating gender into DRR strategies across the Asia-Pacific region. Through active engagement in high-profile dialogues, including the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on DRR (APMCDRR) , CSOs advocated for and influenced frameworks such as the Gender Equality Call to Action. Women-led organizations, including indigenous groups, were instrumental in drafting declarations and roadmaps for equitable energy transitions. Capacity-building sessions further equipped DRR practitioners to implement the Sendai GAP and align disaster management with SDGs on gender equality and climate action. Collaborations with UN entities such as United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), along with support to national disaster management offices in countries like the Philippines, India, and Pakistan, strengthened anticipatory actions and preparedness systems, addressing the unique needs of women and marginalized groups. Regional mechanisms such as the Gender Observatory and the Gender Help Desk further institutionalized gender-responsive DRR efforts, fostering a sustainable community of practice. Additionally, the launch of the WE-Respond Dashboard , developed in partnership with the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), has strengthened coordination among humanitarian actors by mapping women- and girl-focused organizations, laying the groundwork for enhanced responses and resilience-building. UN Women also led transformative efforts in governance, peace, and security. Through the adoption of the National Action Plans on Women, Peace, and Security for Timor-Leste and Viet Nam, CEDAW General Recommendation No. 40 , and the Pasay Declaration on Women, Peace, and Security, the organization reinforced the leadership and influence of civil society organizations in shaping inclusive and resilient governance systems. These achievements were underpinned by regional consultations facilitated by UN Women, which brought together CSOs, UN agencies, and experts to address barriers to women’s inclusion in decision-making and tackle intersectionality, gender-based violence, and parity. UN Women enhanced the capacity of women’s rights organizations (WROs) through initiatives such as the PROTECT project , which strengthened advocacy for gender-responsive migration policies. In collaboration with Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada , 12 civil society and women’s rights organizations from eight countries (Thailand, the Philippines, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, and Malaysia) were empowered to lead efforts in promoting gender-responsive labour migration governance. As part of the Safe and Fair programme , a desk review on gender-based violence (GBV) cross-border referral systems in the Mekong Region (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam) highlighted the need for improved coordination among service providers and the creation of safe, effective referral pathways for migrant and displaced GBV survivors in both development and humanitarian settings. These initiatives amplified the voices of women migrant workers in key intergovernmental platforms, including the Colombo Process, ASEAN Forum on Migrant Labour , and the Global Compact for Migration review, ensuring their challenges and priorities were addressed. In climate action, UN Women co-convened the transformative Gender Equality and Climate Action Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue with Asian-Pacific Resource & Research Centre for Women (ARROW) , UNFPA, and UNEP, producing a Call to Action prominently presented at COP29. It emphasizes empowering leadership by promoting evidence on the links between climate change, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), and GBV, with a focus on gender-disaggregated data. It integrates these priorities into national climate policies. Strategic dialogues advanced partnerships and developed actionable strategies for integrating gender-responsive priorities into global climate discussions, further advancing commitments to gender equality and sustainability. At the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) , UN Women demonstrated leadership in advancing gender-responsive climate action through key contributions to the UNFCCC. A 2025 submission on the Gender Action Plan (GAP) highlighted progress from initiatives like the EmPower and Women’s Resilience to Disasters Programmes, informing the Synthesis Report and COP29 decisions on gender and climate change. Another submission on gender-responsive climate financing shaped the 2024 Standing Committee on Finance (SCF) Annual Forum , where UN Women played a central role as an official partner, delivering insights and showcasing innovative financing models. These efforts reinforced UN Women’s commitment to placing women and marginalized groups at the forefront of global climate solutions. Youth engagement also featured prominently in UN Women efforts, highlighted by the Beijing+30 Young Feminist Forum , which mobilized over 150 young leaders and 300 CSOs toward actionable regional acceleration plans. Participants advocated for government accountability and developed youth-driven recommendations for the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review. These initiatives advanced sustained collaboration among youth leaders, Gender Equality Forum ( GEF) Commitment Makers, and CSOs, amplifying their influence on gender equality policy and practice through digital advocacy campaigns and strategic partnerships. The Centre of Excellence (COE) advanced the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Agenda, advocating for the meaningful participation of women military officers. The " Second Korea Peacekeeping Forum for Women’s Empowerment ", engaged over 150 military leaders, emphasizing women's critical role in peace operations. The forum marked the conclusion of the Uniformed Women Peacekeepers’ Training Programme, equipping 22 women military officers from 13 countries with leadership and operational skills. These officers are expected to enhance women's representation and leadership in the countries’ military forces and in UN peacekeeping. COE also co-organized a high-level panel on the intersection of climate change and WPS, empowering women as agents of peace, resilience, and transformation. Across these diverse initiatives, UN Women demonstrated a steadfast commitment to advancing gender equality and enabling women and girls to lead without fear of retaliation. By advocating for policy integration, building capacities, supporting national strategies, and fostering impactful dialogues, UN Women has created a strong stage for women and girls to exercise their leadership and agency. These achievements have significantly shaped a gender-responsive landscape in governance, humanitarian, DRR, climate action, migration, and peacebuilding, reinforcing resilience and inclusivity in both development and crises-affected contexts.
outcome XM-DAC-41146-APA_D_1.5
Both state and non-state actors contribute to the production, analyses and leveraging of gender statistics and sex-disaggregated data to inform decision-making, budgeting, monitoring and reporting on normative commitments to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment
During 2024, UN Women contributed to significant progress under the outcome. Intergovernmental processes and outcome documents integrated discussions on gender statistics and indicators, including monitoring frameworks for global commitments. The UN Statistical Commission fifty-fifth session report encourages countries to use tools, such as the Asia-Pacific set of gender and environment indicators by UN Women and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), for better mainstreaming gender across climate change statistics. This builds on the advocacy and methodological contributions by UN Women, including its guidelines and resources for measuring the gender-environment nexus, and a recently released list of Gender-Environment Indicators . UN Women and partners advanced the mainstreaming of gender in monitoring frameworks and related discussions associated with the three Rio Conventions on climate change, biodiversity, and desertification. At COP16 (Biodiversity), UN Women co-organized a Gender and Environment Data Conference wherein policymakers, experts, and practitioners exchanged knowledge and strengthened capacities and collaboration for mainstreaming gender in biodiversity data. UN Women evidence (see Gender and Biodiversity Data Brief ) launched at the event, was used by Parties in negotiations to advance gender considerations. UN Women continues to work with others towards the inclusion of a gender indicator in the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (ongoing in 2025). At COP16 (Desertification), UN Women presented key findings during the Women Caucus Session, which Parties used during negotiations, contributing to explicit calls for the use of gender-specific indicators for monitoring progress. At COP29 (Climate change), UN Women co-organized a global training on gender and environment data to support national governments and other key actors to produce related statistics, including for reporting towards the Paris Agreement (once mechanisms are finalized). Jointly, UN Women, partners and national governments advanced statistical methodologies for measuring gender and environment issues. In recent years, a series of survey tools were published, including a Model Questionnaire on Gender and the Environment , Enumerator Manual and Sampling Guidelines , and in 2024, a list of 100 Gender and Environment Indicators that National Statistics Offices can use to produce related statistics per national priorities. Some of these indicators are currently under consideration for inclusion in global monitoring frameworks, such as those related to the Rio Conventions. At the national level, with UN Women and ESCAP support, Fiji, Indonesia and the Philippines are identifying and producing gender-responsive indicators for monitoring national climate change priorities. Through national consultations, including line ministries and civil society, a set of priority indicators were identified in 2024. In 2025, UN Women will continue to support the National Statistics Offices to finalise indicator sets and generate related national statistics. Cambodia, Kiribati, and Mongolia implemented national official surveys on Gender and the Environment (using UN Women’s Model Questionnaire) and are working to release reports in 2025, adding to the evidence base of the Tonga and Samoa Surveys launched nationally in May and October 2024. Findings from Tonga are informing relevant priorities, plans, and reporting , including for e.g., on the Beijing Plan of Action. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and UN Women produced and disseminated timely evidence on the progress made across the SDGs for women and girls, with a focus on those being left furthest behind. The ASEAN Gender Outlook 2024 was launched in Malaysia and during the 79 th session of the General Assembly , where ASEAN Member States reaffirmed their commitment to women and girls, leveraging the report’s evidence to accelerate progress toward the 2030 Agenda and ensure gender-responsive implementation of the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 . The report was cited in at least five independent media articles and informed dialogues around Beijing +30, including a regional youth forum in Seoul reaching over 90 youth led by the Centre of Excellence and the UN Women media workshop during the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+30 Review in Bangkok reaching 30 members of the press. Institutions in the region are building strong capacities to produce and use gender statistics. At least 202 students, government officials, and journalists gained skills in this area. Seven institutions built these capacities using the UN Women and SIAP Gender Statistics Training Curriculum . For example, statistical offices in Albania and Bangladesh enhanced their staff’s capacities, and the National University of Mongolia developed statistical skills among graduate students. UN Women steering of the Sub-group on Gender Statistics Training (SGGST), co-chaired with the United Nations Statistical Institute for Asia and the Pacific (SIAP), was instrumental in these results. In 2025, UN Women will continue to promote more and better gender data, and encourage their use for policymaking, advocacy and accountability.Showing 1 - 5 of 11