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Core Commitments

for Children

are the core UNICEF policy and framework for humanitarian action

GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWERMENT OF GIRLS AND WOMEN

Strategic Result

Children, adolescents and their communities benefit from gender-responsive programmes and services 

Commitment

Benchmarks

  • Programmes are designed to prevent and mitigate the risks of GBV

  • Coordination is established with GBV actors to ensure that GBV is mainstreamed in all sectors

  • All sectors’ frontline workers and personnel are trained and equipped with information on available GBV response services and referral procedures to support GBV survivors

1:  Ending Gender-Based Violence

 

GBV prevention and risk mitigation[88] for all[89] is included in programmes, with a focus on the safety and resilience of girls and women

 

See 2.3.1 Needs assessments, planning, monitoring and evaluation

  • Organisations representing adolescent girls, women’s rights and youth are engaged in programme design, delivery and monitoring

  • Women and adolescent girls are equitably represented in community feedback and complaints mechanisms 

  • Men and boys are mobilised to support and promote gender equality and the rights and engagement of women and girls 

2: Community engagement and AAP with girls and women

 

Adolescent girls, women and their respective organisations are actively engaged in the design and delivery of programmes

 

See 2.2.7 Community engagement for behaviour and social change and 2.1.6 AAP

  • Context-specific gender analysis informs the design and delivery of programmes in all sectors

  • Planning, monitoring and evaluation of programmes, as well as reporting, include sex- and age-disaggregated data and strategic gender indicators, in accordance with the UNICEF Gender Action Plan

  • Programmes intentionally promote positive behaviour and social change toward gender equality, especially by empowering adolescent girls

  • Programmes and enabling environment services provided and/or supported are gender-responsive and address the different needs of girls, boys, men and women

3: Gender-responsive programming, including a lens on adolescent girls

 

Analyses, needs assessments, programming and enabling environments (e.g. partnerships, communications) respond to the distinct needs and experiences of girls, women, boys and men

 

See 2.3.1 Needs assessments, planning, monitoring and evaluation

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Key Considerations

Advocacy

  • Promote understanding of gender-power dynamics, including the socialization of some men and boys towards violence, and opportunities to reverse these harmful social norms by engaging across the sex and age continuum.

  • Promote understanding that while humanitarian contexts may exacerbate pre-existing gender inequality, there may also be an opportunity for transformational change, particularly when working with and for adolescent girls and boys.

  • Ensure UNICEF demonstrates the principles of gender equality in the management of human resources as well as in leadership and career development.

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Coordination and Partnerships 

  • Collaborate closely with other UNICEF, interagency and intersectoral coordination mechanisms (e.g. Gender Theme Group, AAP).

  • Identify and partner with local women’s organizations and youth networks.

  • Promote the use of the IASC Gender with Age Marker (GAM).

 

Quality Programming and Standards

  • Ensure that sex-, age-, disability- and other context-specific disaggregated data are collected, analysed and used.

  • Systematically include a gender analysis, including GBV in emergencies, in all preparedness and response plans.

  • Ensure all programming recognises systemic exposure to and risk of GBV that is differentiated by sex, age and disability.

  • Ensure humanitarian responses are based on a gender analysis and recognise and respond to the specific vulnerabilities of girls and boys due to gender norms and cultural practices.

  • Work with GBV actors and coordination mechanisms to reduce risks of GBV and ensure provision of care for survivors of GBV. Equip and train frontline workers with up-to-date information on available GBV response services and referral procedures to support GBV survivors. If there are no GBV actors available, train all personnel on the GBV Pocket Guide.

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Linking Humanitarian and Development

  • Strengthen all multisectoral systems to deliver gender-responsive services across all sectors, especially for GBV risk mitigation, prevention and survivor response, as GBV is exacerbated in humanitarian settings.

  • Empower and equip all adolescents to become agents of positive social change before, during and after crises, to address gender inequities and gaps.

  • In contexts affected by conflict, fragility, or major challenges to social cohesion, ensure that the situation of women and girls is systematically included in conflict analysis.

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Footnotes

[88] Comprehensive GBV programming includes prevention, risk mitigation and response services for survivors. This commitment reinforces the need for quality multisectoral programming in the areas of prevention and risk mitigation, which has lagged behind response services. See GBV AoR, The Interagency Minimum Standards for Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies Programming, 2019. 

[89] GBV, including sexual violence, does not discriminate by sex or age. However, reported and unreported rates of GBV are significantly higher for girls and women. Therefore, as per UNICEF programming guidance, an intentional programming approach with and for girls and women must be prioritised, in addition to engaging boys and men.

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