UN Women Transparency Portal

Region:Asia Pacific Current UN Women Plan Period Afghanisthan:2018-2022

World Bank Income Classification:Low Income

Least Developed Country:Yes

Gender Inequality Index:0.575

Gender Development Index:0.723

Population:209,497,025 Male:19,976,265 (9.5%) Female:189,520,760 (90.5%)

Disclaimer

outcome XM-DAC-41146-CHN_D_5.1

China’s international financing, investments and business engagements, including through connectivity initiatives, programmes and projects, contribute to SDG attainment in partner countries

In 2022, some progress has been made by China CO under this outcome area, including the development of a draft of a joint scoping report ‘Chinese Firms’ Overseas Operations: The Responsible Business Conduct Regulatory Framework Scoping Report’ and a training manual ‘Handbook of Responsible Business Conduct, Promoting Responsible Business Conduct of Chinese Overseas Investment for the Contributions to the SDGs’ has been developed jointly by UN Women, UNDP, UNICEF and the ILO, focusing on promoting responsive business conduct of Chinese companies practices, including in their investment and operation overseas. When finalised, the knowledge products will be used to support advocacy and capacity development initiatives for partners, which will ultimately contribute to SDG attainment of China’s international development financing, investments and business engagement in partner countries. At least 12 UN agencies in China and over 900 company representatives have been trained on gender responsive procurement, particularly on the support services for women owned SMEs, by UN Women in partnership with UNDP in support for an implementation of UNDP programme “Knowledge Sharing and Capacity Building Programme on Sustainable Procurement of UN/International Organisations". UN Women provided technical support for training the partners on gender responsive procurement practices. A landscape analysis of gender financing status in China has been initiated by UN Women China CO to identify opportunities as well as potential challenges, for the CO to work in this area more strategically. Outcome of the analysis will draw a roadmap for China CO to identify its strategy, including partners, to promote gender responsive financing in China. Through UN system’s collective efforts and under the leadership of the RC, UN Women contributed to the collective efforts of advocating for SDG principles to be included in follow-up initiatives of the 2021 FOCAC (Forum on China Africa Cooperation) Outcomes. On 18 January 2022, the ‘Symposium Following the 8 th FOCAC Ministerial Conference’ was held in Beijing, and was co-hosted by the African Ambassadors Group in China, the African Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the West Asia and Africa Department of Ministry of Commerce, and the UN in China. The event was attended by a wide range of partners including Chinese and African government, experts, international organisations and private sector. UN Women China CO provided thought leadership at the Symposium and advocated for women’s rights to be put at the centre of China-Africa collaboration.

outcome XM-DAC-41146-CHN_O_1

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

In 2022, adequate guidance, tools, and platforms were established or strengthened for enhancing the coordination, coherence, and accountability of the UN system in China, which includes: 1) Well-functioning Gender Theme Group(GTG) co-chaired by UN Women and UNFPA, with clear Terms of Reference(ToR), an elaborated joint workplan and members from 21 UN agencies, has built synergies across the UN system to advance gender equality and contributed to over 10 joint actions for programme support, advocacy, policy dialogue and advice. From September 2022 to January 2023, the GTG has participated in the piloting of GTG Standards and Procedures(S&P) in Asia-Pacific as one of the four piloting UNCTs in the region. Coordinated by UN Women, senior GTG members shared China GTG’s good practice, and provided inputs and feedback for the roll-out. 2) Established working mechanism of an Inter Agency Team (IAT) coordinated by UN Women completed the 2022 annual assessment of Gender Equality Scorecard. 7 performance indicators were reassessed, previous action points were reported back and the action plan was updated to strengthen the system-wide accountability for the UN Country Team (UNCT) towards gender equality and women's empowerment. As follow-up activities for the previous gender scorecard action points, led by the OMT, with technical support from UN Women, an organizational culture survey for all UN in China personnel was conducted and gender parity data was collected in 2022, demonstrating positive trends towards GEWE within the UN system in China. 3) Localized Gender Equality Marker (GEM) guideline was developed by UN Women with inputs from the RCO to facilitate the process of GEM application in the Joint Work Plan planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting, which contributes to mainstream gender in the UNSDCF. Three technical briefing sessions were carried out to the Results Groups and Programme and Monitoring and Evaluation Group as a part of the preparation for the 2023-2024 UNCT Joint Work Plan. The capacity of key focal points, including GTG, Results Groups, Programme Monitoring and Evaluation Group members, and Thematic Groups, was strengthened through an internal gender training for UN personnel in China, regular group meetings for work discussion and knowledge sharing, as well as technical brief sessions of Gender Scorecard and GEM. As a result, colleagues from all groups have increased knowledge to enhance gender equality and women’s empowerment within and across joint programmes and systematic coordination structures. Furthermore, UN Women and UNFPA, as co-chairs of Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) network of UN in China, successfully led the development and implementation of 2022 UN China PSEA Action Plan. In 2022, PSEA network conducted mapping exercise to identify achievements and gaps in PSEA of UN agencies in China, held UN personnel training to ensure in-depth understanding of PSEA, and held the first implementing partners training in China, which strengthened the collaboration on PSEA between UN and partners in China. As a result, all the participants from across the UN system and 162 participants from 87 implementing partners were informed of PSEA issues, their rights and obligations towards PSEA, and available measures and remedies against prohibited conduct, towards creating a more harmonious work environment conducive to all staff irrespective of gender and other factors of social diversity. (Linked to DRF SN Output 1.1)

outcome XM-DAC-41146-CHN_O_2

Increased engagement of partners in support of UN-Women’s mandate

In 2022, all teams within UN Women China CO has actively engaged wide range of partners in support of UN Women's mandate and operations in China. Government partners have been engaged in advocacy events and programs in topics include major legislation amendment, women’s economic empowerment, climate change, EVAW, and peacekeeping. Private sector partners were reached and mobilized to provide financial and/or technical support to UN Women’s operation in China, or to improve their own internal governance and external practices for them to be more gender responsive, to contribute to GEWE. Consultations were carried out with CSOs partners, especially women-led organizations, to understand challenges they face as well as their needs, and leveraged private sector partner to provide capacity development for CSOs. UN Women also provided opportunities for women-led organization, especially the ones work with vulnerable women, for them to better showcase their work to wider audience. Consider media’s important role and their impact on the general public, UN Women held workshop with 30 journalists, editors, key opinion leaders and PR agency staff and discussed what media could do to stop gender bias and discrimination and to advance gender equality in reporting. As of 2022, UN Women has also introduced a professional media monitoring system to track mentions of our work in Chinese media. Our team uses new data and insights for analysis of the media landscape as well as reporting and evaluation. In March, 17 UN partners, Goodwill Ambassadors and influencers were mobilized to support our communications efforts during our signature IWD (International Women's Day) campaign.

outcome XM-DAC-41146-CHN_O_3

High quality of programmes through knowledge, innovation, results-based management, and evaluation.

2022 is the first year of China CO to operate as a full-fledged country office since Delegation of Authority was granted in Oct 2021. We carried out capacity development for staff covering internal controls, results-based management (RBM), monitoring and evaluation (M&E), project management and operations management etc., and ensured a smooth transition and full adherence to business operations standards. Nine project managers and young professionals participated M&E training in March and RBM & project management in Sep, staff capacity to develop and implement comprehensive M&E work, application of RBM approach in project management are further strengthened. In 2022, the office submitted six quality donor reports timely in line with corporate guidance on donor reporting and submission, incl. UN Women DV Prevention and Response in Post CoVID-19 China Programme; WeCare-Mobilizing companies to address unpaid care work and violence against women in the workplace; project under China Gender Fund; and project in supporting Women to recover from Socio-Economic Impacts of COVID-19 in China. For reporting monitoring, in addition to the compulsory of semi-annual reporting for Q2 and Q4, China office also did Q1 reporting for additional oversight on the workplan implementation. The quality reporting was timely submitted in Result Management System (RMS). In line with 2022 corporate evaluation guidance, the thematic evaluation of Women's Economic Empowerment portfolio in China was conducted based on UN Women´s WEE strategy (2021-2025) and focused on two WEE projects e.g. WeCare project and Supporting Women to recover from socio-economic Impacts of COVID-19. The evaluation draws mainly on analysis of information collected on these two projects, while linking it to the broader WEE thematic area in order to provide a holistic and strategic recommendations to decision making, learning and accountability for the WEE portfolio of UN Women China country office. The evaluation report is under quality review by Regional Office, and the office aims to produce quality evaluation report with quality assurance support from both regional level and country office level.

outcome XM-DAC-41146-CHN_O_4

Improved management of financial and human resources in pursuit of results

2022 is the first year of China CO to operate as a full-fledged country office since Delegation of Authority was granted in Oct 2021. The office established internal control measures and standardized operating procedures (SOP) for each business stream, ensured smooth transition and full adherence to UN Women’s standards for business operations. Among the SOPs developed for each business stream, the office also established the first ever China office local project appraisal committee (LPAC) for Pro Docu review and approval and partner agreement selection approval within Delegation of Authority (DoA) threshold. In 2022, UN Women China office maintained effective management on its financial resources and other resources with accountability, efficiency and transparency. The office developed effective monitoring tool to closely monitor financial resources planning, allocation, budgeting, commitment and expenditure. The office effectively implemented total planned budget of $3.5 million for the year of 2022 from regular resources and other resources, with total delivery rate at 91% and budget utilization rate at 100%. The office exercised rigid and standardized review and verification for all financial transactions to ensure fully abide by corporate financial rules and regulations. Moreover, the office strictly followed the requirements on monthly checklist to verify the indicators for all categories on financial management and project management are achieved. With quality assurance in place, the office has achieved targets for key performance indicators in 2022. Besides, the office has one Responsible Partner (RP) was included in UN Women's partner audit plan. The final audit opinion is unqualified opinion without any findings. Moreover, the office doesn’t have outstanding internal audit recommendations. To further strengthen cash transfer management to the RPs to ensure the entrusted fund from UN Women China office is properly utilized, the office organized two tailored clinical training to the existing two RPs in Aug on Fund Authorization and Certification of Expenditure (FACE) submission and UN Women's requirements on mandatory documentation review. The training built mutual understanding between the RPs and UN Women, and strengthened capacity of the RPs in FACE preparation and supporting documentation submission, and therefore increased efficiency and effectiveness of cash management to the RPs. The office ensured services and supplies available for smooth operations. Besides, the office implemented accessibility improvement plan based on accessibility assessment report which was led by UN Disability Theme Group (UNDTG), and UN Women China office was selected as best practice and shared experiences in UN Operations Management Team (UNOMT). China office has set up a solid business continuity plan (BCP) and contingency plan for remote working set-up when required, and exercises maximum flexibility for all staff to be accountable to their work whilst managing personal lives in the current challenging environment. In line with the duty of care, the office has invested in team building activities, daily stretch for all staff as part of promoting exercise/wellbeing and encouraging all staff to participate in the regional office led mental health wellbeing programmes. The office has 100% compliance rate in Business Continuity and Crisis Management (BCCMA). We are also fully compliant with the requirements under Security Risk Management (SRM) China. The office has warden system and emergency telephone tree in place and regularly updated. Moreover, to improve the staff skill in emergency situation, the office organized First Aid Training in Aug 2022. With UN Women China office transited from project office to a full-fledged country office, the office reclassified one core position contractual modality and upgraded one core position in line with the organization’s corporate staffing structure and ensured the office has adequate core staff to perform the critical functions. In 2022 the office timely recruited three new service contract staff members, fifteen consultants, four new UNVs, four interns and processed contract amendments for existing contract holders to ensure full human resource capacity in place to deliver UN Women mandates. The average time in recruiting different categories of contract types have been greatly shortened, i.e. FTA 3.2 months, SC 1.7 months, UNV and Interns 1.5 months. The office established Staff Learning and Team Building Committee to maintain an inclusive, empowering and engaging working environment, which consists of a variety of team members incl. operations staff, HR, young consultant and intern, and project managers etc. The committee conducted needs assessment survey in the beginning of the year to promote participatory decision-making process and to better understand staff learning needs. Based on the survey results and in line with the planned activities in 2022 work plan, the office organized a broad range of team building activities and training sessions, which further enhanced solidarity and inspired a sense of joyfulness in working together and strengthened staff capacity in increasing efficiency and effectiveness. Besides, experiences shared in brown bag sessions also strengthened bonds among teams and the three informal meetings planned in a year between supervisors and team members further built trust among the teams to better support each other to achieve results.

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