The Group of Friends on Gender Parity held a virtual event on the sidelines of the 66th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW 66). Gender equality and empowerment for women and girls is the subject of SDG 5 and of several proposals in the UN Secretary-General’s report on ‘Our Common Agenda.’

The 148-member Group of Friends was established in 2016. It is co-led by Qatar and Rwanda.

The meeting on 15 March 2022 to assess progress since launching the UN’s Gender Parity Strategy in 2017, discuss current challenges, and consider the proposals in ‘Our Common Agenda’ on advancing gender quality and women’s empowerment. 

In remarks to the Group, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a case of deeply rooted patriarchy, as are all of the other challenges facing the world today, including unequal COVID-19 recovery and climate change. He cited positive trends towards gender parity in the professional and mid-management levels, and said parity across the Secretariat is expected by 2027. He reported that according to an updated version of the Temporary Special Measures to achieve gender parity, managers will be held accountable to the long-standing requirement of selecting a female candidate if she is equally or better qualified than a male candidate, for a post at a level at which the entity is beneath parity. Guterres added that almost 4,000 international staff will retire in the next nine years, the majority of whom are men, and the Secretariat is working to identify qualified women candidates to replace them. Guterres asked governments to put forward women candidates for senior positions and consider gender parity in the composition of delegations and panels.

In the area of peace operations, the gender gap is wider, and Guterres pointed to UN Women’s Field-specific Enabling Environment Guidelines to help transform the culture of field operations. There is also a 2018-2028 strategy for parity in uniformed personnel, and a Global Call process for nominations of special representatives. In 2021, the UN reached parity among heads or deputy heads of mission for the first time in UN history.

Guterres highlighted the five actions for gender equality proposed in his report on ‘Our Common Agenda.’ These are: repealing all gender-discriminatory laws; promoting gender parity in every sector and at all levels of decision-making; facilitating women’s economic inclusion; ensuring that younger women are included and their voices heard; and for each country to implement an emergency response plan to prevent and end gender-based violence. 

UN Women and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have developed a system-wide dashboard on gender parity that monitors data from approximately 40 UN entities.

CSW 66 is underway from 14-25 March 2022 in a hybrid format. The priority theme for this year’s session is ‘Achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes.’ [CSW 66 webpage] [Remarks of UN Secretary-General] [UN News story] [Meeting webcast]