Outcome RD_O_6

Output 2.1. UN-Women KCO 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.

Significant progress was made in 2023 with regard to leveraging and expanding our partners, communications and advocay capabilities. UN Women has leveraged its partnerships withing the UN System through participation in 13 out of 19 joint programmes developed by UNSDCF in 2023. UN Women in partnership with the GTG developed a Gender Checklist, to guide the JPs in their co-creation process to ensure the programmes have a focus on gender equality. This helped the agency position and advocate for GEWE within UNCT and UNSDCF. In addition, the Gender Theme Group was reinstated with strong support from the RC and UNCT. This ensures increased support and financing for GEWE and provides potential collaborations with new agencies. UN Women has also utilized its secretarial position in the Development Partners Group for Gender to influence conversations at the donor level, ensuring more investment for GEWE and raising awareness of emerging gender issues and how donors can support them. Through the Generation Equality Forum, UN Women has leveraged on the Multi-stakeholder advocacy for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, which has led to increased support for GEWE. UN Women has also leveraged its partnership with the government through the National Sector Working Group to ensure that national laws, policies, and frameworks developed are gender-responsive and enforced with a gender lens. UN Women’s partnership with women’s rights organizations has ensured that gender issues are made visible, and the needs of women are lobbied and incorporated into laws and policies.

Output 2.1. UN-Women KCO 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.

Significant progress was made in 2024 with regard to leveraging and expanding our partners, communications and advocacy capabilities. UN Women leveraged its partnerships within the UN System through participation in 14 out of 17 joint programmes (ongoing and under development). UN Women in partnership with the Gender Theme Group developed a Gender Checklist, to guide the JPs to ensure the programmes have a focus on gender equality. This helped the agency position and advocate for GEWE within UNCT and UNSDCF. A total of usd 1.6M was secured during the year from RC MPTF and joint programming. UN Women has also utilized its secretarial position in the Development Partners Gender Group to influence conversations at the donor level, ensuring more investment for GEWE and raising awareness of emerging gender issues and how donors can support them. In 2024, Canada announced a gender call for proposal. Through the Generation Equality Forum, UN Women leveraged on the Multi-stakeholder advocacy for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment, which also led to increased support for GEWE. In partnership with the government, UN Women through the National Sector Working Group, also helped ensure that national laws, policies, and frameworks are gender-responsive. UN Women’s partnership with women’s rights organizations has furthermore ensured that gender issues are made visible, and the needs of women lobbied and incorporated into laws and policies. With regard to youth, UN Women continued to monitor and support the African Girls Can Code Initiative (AGCCI) project beneficiaries. AGCCI is a collaboration between UN Women, the African Union Commission (AUC), and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which has made significant strides in bridging the gender gap in the digital space. Since its commencement in 2023, the initiative has empowered 112 girls across Kenya (15 trained in 2024 Q1), equipping them with technical skills and sparking an interest in pursuing careers in the ICT sector. A highlight of AGCCI’s success was its hands-on, supportive learning environment, which not only developed technical expertise but also inspired greater confidence and curiosity among the participants. Beyond acquiring coding skills, these young women gained critical life skills such as public speaking, networking, and leadership.