Outcome LAC_O_3

Advancing business transformation

The regional office places significant importance on continuous improvement, knowledge management, and innovation. During the period, it strengthened the knowledge management tool, leveraging big data and artificial intelligence. The "Plan" tab of the tool was updated, and support activities in programmatic areas led to a 100% increase in items loaded compared to the same period in 2023. The use of a social listening tool helped leverage big data for advocacy and knowledge sharing, providing insights into social dynamics and creating targeted strategies. UN Women also positioned care in the bi-regional European, Latin America, and the Caribbean (EU-LAC) agenda, promoting a Bi-regional Pact for Care in collaboration with ECLAC and the EU-LAC Foundation. From January to December 2023, 37 knowledge products were initiated, and 43 were completed, totaling 80 new knowledge products. In 2024, ACRO maintained activities in various communities of practice, including Innovation & Technology, Internal Ops Comms ROLAC, and COP UNW LAC Programme, with member participation in themes like Environmentalists, Knowledge Management, and Quantum. The regional office delivered 7 operational trainings in person and conducted multiple webinars in areas such as procurement, finance, HR management, and policy-related topics. Overall, the total number of visits to all knowledge products amounts to 64,119 visits. The knowledge products with the most visits in 2024 were: Perfil regional de igualdad de género América Latina y el Caribe (5,414), La agenda 2030 para el desarrollo sostenible (3,471) and Cuidados y Políticas públicas (1,885). Supporting document: https://unwomen-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/personal/rodrigo_herrera_unwomen_org/ETrQslRXJ0NBk5XDlOFJIqEBMMiLmzdtLnTJjsZG5aeuew?e=t954Uc

Advancing business transformation

In 2025, ACRO continued advancing business transformation by strengthening the linkages between strategic planning, resource allocation, results management, coordination, and knowledge practices. The region further operationalized the corporate pivot to regions and countries by applying a subregional lens to its support model. This helped bring capacities and decision-making processes closer to country offices, while ensuring the Regional Office maintained its core role in providing quality assurance, oversight, and technical backstopping. The direction of travel is fully reflected in the new Regional Strategic Note 2026–2029, which was developed jointly with country offices and places strong emphasis on consistent, integrated regional support across COs and NPPs. Continuous improvement, knowledge management, and innovation are at the heart of ACRO's actions. During 2025, 71 knowledge products were developed, containing new analyses, data, and arguments that push the boundaries of knowledge, contribute to the regional debate, and position UN Women as a knowledge leader. For example, UN Women is the only voice that has delved deeply into the financing of comprehensive care systems, providing arguments and recommendations for States, as well as our Care and Business Sector product, which is unique in this area. Of these 71 documents, 17 were developed under UN Women's leadership in coordination with other United Nations agencies, resulting in multidisciplinary perspectives and comprehensive responses to gender issues. Knowledge dissemination strategies are varied and include social media, mass media, and training. However, intergovernmental forums such as the Regional Conference on Women, held in Mexico, and the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP 30), held in Brazil, stand out as ideal settings for disseminating and presenting innovative knowledge. Furthermore, progress was made during this period in designing the knowledge management strategy, which outlines a vision, specific results, and deliverables aligned with the strategic note, placing the transformative impact of knowledge, innovation, and staff empowerment at its core. Bringing capacity and decision-making closer to Country Offices resulted in faster, more tailored technical support, improved responsiveness to emerging needs, and more consistent quality across programmes, while at the regional level the RO also generated efficiencies by promoting cross-country knowledge sharing, joint products, and coordinated approaches that reduced duplication and maximized the use of regional expertise and resources.

Advancing business transformation

The work with other regions, specifically with Europe and the UN Women office in Brussels, is highlighted by initiatives such as the "Bi-regional Care Pact". With the thematic intervention of the areas of governance, political participation and economic empowerment of women, this bi-regional interaction has been key to promoting technical and financial cooperation between the regions. ACRO's leadership in care and the unprecedented advances in the region have made it possible to overcome the vertical gaze of the North towards the global South and proposing new horizons of cross-regional work. Work is being done to ensure that field offices meet their RM and implementation typology targets. There is more information provide under another output of the activities done by Partnership to increase the capacities in the CO's in RM. In terms of achieving implementation typology targets - the RO is having regular monthly meetings with OMs across the region, to identify bottlenecks in implementation and support with resolving those. Furthermore, the Strategic Support Unit, responsible to project management and project implementation in the RO is provide support with developement of acceleration plans for non-core projects with large projects in countries.