Leaving no one behind: Access to social protection for all migrant women

Date: Monday, January 20, 2020

Social protection is a universal human right and a key element of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. While this right unequivocally applies to migrants, irrespective of migration status, migrant women in particular often remain excluded. Against this backdrop, this policy brief discusses the barriers that migrant women face in accessing social protection and provides recommendations for States to meet their obligation to overcome these, particularly in relation to health care, maternity protection and essential services for victims and survivors of violence.

The big conversation: Handbook to address violence against women in and through the media

Date: Thursday, December 5, 2019

Modern day society is surrounded by media (television, film, radio, print and social media); consuming information, entertainment and ever-increasing channels of communication. These platforms, and the content they deliver, present both unrelenting challenges and incredible opportunities for achieving gender equality and eliminating violence against women and girls. This handbook is designed to provide specific guidance on how to work with media for the achievement of these goals.

Transnational families, care arrangements and the state in Costa Rica and Nicaragua

Date: Thursday, December 5, 2019

This paper concerns the implications of migration within Central America for family life. Focusing on the case of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, it shows how Nicaraguan families develop strategies based on a history of informal and flexible caregiving. While these informal strategies allow families to navigate the challenges migration and family separation entail, they also contribute to continued vulnerability and reinforce the gendered burdens of caregiving within transnational families.

Enabling environment in action: Flexible working arrangements and inclusive engagement

Date: Monday, December 2, 2019

This report provides a summary of the 2019 Global Annual Meeting of Gender Focal Points and Focal Points for Women in the United Nations, organized in September 2019. It includes conclusions from the sessions and action points for accelerating gender parity efforts and implementing an enabling environment across the UN system. The report concludes with remarks by the UN Women Executive Director and recognition of good examples of implementing the “Enabling environment guidelines”.

Family-oriented cash transfers from a gender perspective: Are conditionalities justified?

Date: Thursday, November 21, 2019

This brief reviews a decade of feminist research on conditional cash transfers that has raised serious questions about the assumptions that underpin the use of conditionalities and their impact on poor women’s lives. It highlights concerns about the detrimental effects that conditionalities may have in contexts where quality public services are lacking and where multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination mean that well-intended programme requirements easily slip into coercive and disempowering implementation practices.

The effect of cash-based interventions on gender outcomes in development and humanitarian settings

Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2019

This discussion paper begins by presenting an overview of the latest research on cash transfers, gender protection, and empowerment outcomes. It continues by discussing some of the programme design features to consider when seeking to improve gender outcomes. Finally, the paper concludes with a set of research questions that can help shape future research and practice in this area.

Fiscal space for social protection: A handbook for assessing financing options

Date: Thursday, October 31, 2019

This handbook provides practical guidance, elaborated with case studies, on how additional fiscal space can be created for a universal social protection system. The analyses should help governments on how they can increase spending on priority sectors for women, children, and vulnerable groups.

TRANSFORM – The magazine for gender-responsive evaluation – Issue 17, October 2019

Date: Wednesday, October 30, 2019

This issue of TRANSFORM summarizes the corporate evaluation of UN Women’s contribution to humanitarian action as part of its Corporate Evaluation Plan. The evaluation assessed the relevance, appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency, connectedness, and sustainability of UN Women’s approach to humanitarian action at global, regional, and country levels. The evaluation’s scope was from 2014 to the present, with a brief review of work conducted from 2011 to 2013.

TRANSFORM – The magazine for gender-responsive evaluation – Issue 16, September 2019

Date: Monday, September 30, 2019

This issue of TRANSFORM focuses on the meta-synthesis of UN Women evaluations completed during 2017 and 2018. The meta-synthesis reviewed and aggregated insights from 39 evaluation reports against selected development and organizational effectiveness and efficiency criteria. The issue also discusses internal and external enablers that drive or impede progress towards the achievement of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Leveraging digital finance for gender equality and women’s empowerment

Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2019

This working paper provides a basis to review the barriers, risks, and opportunities related to gender and the accessibility and utilization of digital finance, and to help identify pathways that could be leveraged for potential impactful investment returns for women.

Gender mainstreaming principles, dimensions and priorities for PVE

Date: Thursday, September 19, 2019

This guidance note offers comprehensive background information and resources, along with guidelines and guidance for the UN system, in supporting Member States in their efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism and terrorism (P/CVE)—with a primary focus on preventing violent extremism (PVE).

Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2019

Date: Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Are we on track to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls? This report brings together the latest available evidence on gender equality across all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, underscoring the progress made as well as the action still needed to accelerate progress.

What will it take? Promoting cultural change to end sexual harassment

Date: Tuesday, September 17, 2019

This discussion paper on cultural change needed to end sexual harassment offers inputs on training, victim-focused work, rational reporting and collective ownership. It recognizes the work of the global women’s movements that put the issue in the spotlight, the women who led the international clamour for recognition of their voices and accountability for all perpetrators.

A manual for gender-responsive land degradation neutrality transformative projects and programmes

Date: Thursday, September 5, 2019

This manual provides step-by-step guidance to Parties to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on integrating gender issues and promoting gender equality in the design of transformative land degradation neutrality (LDN) projects. It builds on work launched by UN Women, the UNCCD, and the International Union on the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in advising governments on transformative efforts to avoid, reduce, and reverse land degradation through gender- and socially equitable means.

Corporate thematic evaluation of UN Women’s contribution to humanitarian action

Date: Saturday, August 31, 2019

This corporate evaluation assesses the relevance, appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency, connectedness, and sustainability of UN Women’s approach to humanitarian action at global, regional, and country level.

Meta-synthesis of UN Women evaluations 2017/2018

Date: Saturday, August 31, 2019

This meta-synthesis reviewed and aggregated insights from 39 evaluation reports completed during 2017 and 2018 against selected development and organizational effectiveness and efficiency criteria. The purpose of the report is to contribute to organizational learning and effective knowledge management through the identification of recurring findings, lessons learned, and evidence on the key areas of work of UN Women.

Costing of a package of family-friendly transfers and services to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment: An introduction to the calculations and results

Date: Friday, August 30, 2019

This discussion paper presents a costing analysis for a set of family-friendly services and transfers: income protection for children, people of working age, and older persons; universal health coverage; and early childhood care and education and long-term care services. The costing shows that such a package is affordable in many countries.

Compendium of financial partner contributions 2018

Date: Friday, August 16, 2019

This report outlines the financial contributions provided by public and private sector partners to UN Women in 2018. The report speaks to the importance of flexible and predictable funding. In so doing, the report showcases results enabled by our funding partners, including how those results are achieved, with improved transparency and efficiency, and greater use of innovation.

TRANSFORM – The magazine for gender-responsive evaluation – Issue 15, August 2019

Date: Thursday, August 8, 2019

Issue 15 of TRANSFORM focuses on governance and national planning (GNP), an area of work that has contributed to UN Women’s identity and for which it is recognized and valued. The evaluation of UN Women’s GNP portfolio from 2011 to 2017 assessed the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, and extent to which human rights approach and gender equality principles were integrated adequately in UN Women’s approach to GNP.

Women in development: Report of the Secretary-General (2019)

Date: Monday, August 5, 2019

In this report, the Secretary-General underscores measures taken at the national level to incorporate a gender perspective into national sustainable development policies and strategies; promote sustainable, inclusive and equitable economic growth strategies that benefit women and active labour market policies on full and productive employment and decent work for women; eliminate gender-based occupational segregation and gender wage gaps; accelerate the transition of women from informal to formal employment; prevent and eliminate all forms of violence, discrimination and sexual harassment against women at work; and promote the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities.