UN Women

1.In the past year, has the governing body of your organization taken any decisions to advance sustainable, inclusive, science- and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and ensure that no one is left behind? If yes, please briefly mention these decisions taken by your governing body in 2024 and provide the respective symbols. (max 200 words)

In 2024, the UN-Women Executive Board adopted 12 decisions in total, with 3 of them specifically referencing the Sustainable Development Goals or Sustainable Development Agenda (Decisions 2024/3, 2024/7, and 2024/9). Such references aimed to emphasize the importance of financing for gender equality and women’s empowerment to support progress on Sustainable Development Goal 5 indicators, or to promote UN system-wide coherence in support of the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and to encourage better coordination to support countries whilst delivering on its mandate in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

2. During 2024, what actions have your entities taken to improve coordination among UN system entities across policy and normative activities as well as with ECOSOC subsidiary bodies with a view to increase impact and accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda? Please provide any relevant links.  (max 200 words)

Under the leadership of the Deputy Secretary General, UN Women technically coordinated the development of the first UN system-wide care economy policy guidance, ‘Transforming care systems in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and Our Common Agenda’ which was launched on the margins of the HLPF. UN Women also co-launched the Gender Action Plan to support implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 at CSW68, in partnership with UNDRR and UNFPA. UN Women continued to co-lead the UN Network of Migration working stream on gender, and led on the development of a training module on gender-responsive GCM implementation and a guidance note on including gender equality considerations in the development of national GCM action plans. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee endorsed its new Gender Policy developed under UN Women’s leadership on behalf of the IASC’s Gender Reference Group which guides the work of the broader humanitarian system in promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Under the leadership of UN Women, DPO and UNDP, the Global Focal Point on the Rule of Law (GFP) Gender Justice Working Group adopted a Gender Marker Tracking System to assess and monitor the gender-responsiveness of the technical and strategic support provided by the GFP. UN Women continued to lead the UN Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) in its contribution to knowledge on gender mainstreaming and gender equality issues. As such IANWGE’s forthcoming guidance on intersectional approaches to gender analysis can inform inclusive gender-responsive implementation of the SDGs. Also, UN Women continued to lead the UN Inter-Agency Working Group on Gender and Disability Inclusion Equality (IAWGGD) in its contribution to knowledge on ‘gender and disability’ intersectional work and addressing inclusive development issues. As such IAWGGD’s forthcoming Knowledge Compendium on intersectional approaches to the Beijing Platform for Action’s critical areas of concern can inform gender-disability inclusive implementation of the SDGs. The United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) Finance and Budget Network (FBN) has endorsed the Gender Equality Marker (GEM) as the seventh UN Data Standard. This endorsement mandates the inclusion of GEM in the CEB's annual financial statistics reporting, starting with the 2025 data collection exercise. The GEM serves as a critical tool for tracking and promoting financial investments in gender equality across the UN system.

3. In the past year, has your organization organized any intergovernmentally mandated conferences, forums or events that contributed to the achievement of the SDGs, or has been in the process of planning and organizing any such mandated events to be held next year?  

Please copy the below table to fill out for each event: 

4. In the past year, has your organization published or planned to publish any analytical work, guidance or reference materials, or toolkits to guide and support the implementation of SDGs at national, regional and global levels? Please select up to three to highlight, especially those that address interlinkages among the SDGs.  

Please copy the below table to fill out for each resource:  

5. The United Nations has defined six key transitions, or transformative entry points, that can have catalytic and multiplier effects across the SDGs and which have been guiding the UN development system work since the 2023 SDG Summit. In the past year, how has your organization contributed to these transformative actions and how various actors are being rallied behind them to mobilize further leadership and investment to bring progress to scale? Please provide any relevant links. (max 200 words under each transition)

• Food systems

UN Women is deepening its work to implement the internationally agreed CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Gender Equality and Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in the Context of Food Security and Nutrition (GEWGE) as an entry point to advance gender-responsive food systems. Together with the Rome-based Agencies, UN Women is working to mobilize leadership and greater commitments and investments from Member States to scale up efforts.  

UN Women is also advancing gender-responsive food systems through its contribution to the Making Food Systems Work for Women and Girls Action Coalition of the Food Systems Summit which includes working with Global Health 50/50 and IFPRI to produce annual Global Food 50/50 reports to monitor progress and hold food system organizations accountable for achieving intersectional gender equality toward gender-just and equitable food systems.

• Energy access and affordability

UN Women has worked with partners to build the evidence base through knowledge products including as part of our partnership with the Gender and Energy Compact, a multi-stakeholder coalition that joins forces to catalyze action towards gender equality and women's empowerment for sustainable energy transitions. For example, UN Women and UNIDO joined forces to produce a guide on “Gender equality in the sustainable energy transition”, which provides an overview of key and emerging issues in the gender and sustainable energy nexus, illustrated by research findings and case studies. UN Women also reviewed progress on SDG 7 from a gender lens in its "Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2024".  

UN Women’s work on sustainable energy transitions also includes working directly with Governments to integrate gender equality and sustainable energy into policies programmes and strategies, as well as coordinating across the UN system as a member of UN-Energy. UN Women is working together with partners to improve gender data in the energy sector and expanding the gender lens on energy data collection, this includes advancing discussions now to ensure that a post-2030 agenda integrates an indicator on gender and energy which is sorely missing from SDG7.  

• Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution

UN Women’s work to advance the transition on climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is firmly building on its expertise on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls and seeks to secure the co-benefits of gender equality and climate action for sustainable development.  

UN Women continues to deepen its work on advancing gender-responsive synergies across the Rio Conventions: Gender equality at the intersection of climate action, biodiversity protection and sustainable land management including through building the evidence base through such recent publications as the Gender and biodiversity: A data brief. On the normative agenda, UN Women is working to ensure that the COPs in 2024 deliver an inclusive and equitable agenda that not only tackles environmental issues but also strengthens the resilience and empowerment of women and girls as key drivers of environmental action and sustainable development. At all three conferences, UN Women is working to integrate gender equality considerations in negotiations and decisions and ensure that women’s and girls’ rights shape all policies and programmes on biodiversity, climate change, and desertification.

6. Please provide strategies (policies, guidance, plan) and/or collective actions taken to implement the 2024 Ministerial Declaration of the Economic and Social Council and the high-level political forum on sustainable development convened under the auspices of the Council. Please note any challenges foreseen and provide any relevant links.  (max 200 words)  

The 2024 edition of the quinquennial World Survey on the Role of Women in Development on the theme of “Harnessing social protection for gender equality, resilience and transformation” was presented at the Joint Meeting of the Second Committee of the General Assembly and the ECOSOC and provides important guidance for the implementation of the Ministerial Declaration, on how to design, deliver and finance social protection to address the diverse needs of women and girls.

Following Resolution (A/RES/77/317) adopted by the UN General Assembly in October 2023, UN Women in collaboration with the ILO, OHCHR and the co-sponsorship of Brazil, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Philippines and Spain organized on the 29th of October, the second UN Observance the International Day of Care and Support at the ECOSOC Chamber. Under the theme “Transforming care systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in the context of Beijing+30” this high-level event built on the UN system-wide policy guidance on Transforming Care Systems as a critical lever for gender equality.  At regional and country level UN Women offices also engaged in organizing and participating in over 40 events and activities to commemorate this day including the launch of publications and discussions on new normative frameworks to multi-stakeholder dialogues and advocacy campaigns.

7. What collective efforts is your entity undertaking to support countries in accelerating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially in the areas of Goal 3 (Good health and well-being), Goal 5 (Gender equality), Goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth), Goal 14 (Life below water) and Goal 17 (Partnerships), which will go under in-depth review at the HLPF in 2025? Please note any achievements, challenges and gaps and provide any relevant links. (max 200 words)  

UN-Women continues to safeguard and advance progress on SDG5 and the 2030 Agenda as a whole, leveraging its triple mandate across four impact areas: governance and participation in public life, women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women, and WPS, humanitarian and disaster risk reduction. UN Women works across these to advance systematic outcomes for women, including gender-responsive laws policies and institutions, financing for gender equality, positive social norms, women’s equitable access to services goods and resources, women’s voice leadership and agency, production analysis and use of gender statistics, and UN system coordination for gender equality.

Since the start of the Strategic Plan 2022-2025, UN-Women has expanded and deepened partnerships with government, civil society, private sector and United Nations partners to advance results. These include: in 78 countries, 2.8 billion women and girls now have a more supportive legislative and policy environment. Furthermore, 82 countries have strengthened national mechanisms, processes and/or guidelines for the achievement of gender equality, including gender-responsive national reviews, financing assessments and inclusive peacebuilding processes. Alongside this, over 13,600 partner organizations in 92 countries have increased capacities to safeguard women’s rights, including delivering quality goods, services, and resources for women in humanitarian and development settings.  

If your organization has been part of any initiatives or multi-stakeholder partnerships in the past year that support these goals, please copy the below table to fill out for each initiative/partnership.