The UN Gender Thematic Working Group (GTWG) in Zimbabwe concluded its 2-day retreat on 24 May 2022. The UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA) was represented at the retreat by its Deputy Gender Focal Point, Ms. Fridah Manenji. During the retreat, the Task Force reviewed its terms of reference aligning it with the Zimbabwe United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (ZUNSDCF). It also reflected on how to implement the new UN Country Team (UNCT) gender mainstreaming strategy and developed its 2022 annual work plan.

The Gender Thematic Working Group also discussed and finalized the mapping exercise of UN gender interventions in Zimbabwe for 2022 and shared current information on gender equality and women’s empowerment ( GEWE) as part of information management and sharing and capacity building of GTWG members.

The United Nations in Zimbabwe is committed to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women, in line with national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG5. The UN Country Team conducted a gender analysis for the 2020/2021 Common Country Analysis (CCA) to mainstream gender and ensure availability of sex-disaggregated data and sensitive information to gender for the development of the ZUNSDCF. CCA prioritized gender equality and women’s empowerment and identified key groups that were lagging behind or considered at risk of being left behind, including women.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Framework for Zimbabwe (2022-2026) effectively mainstreams gender across the four pillars (People, Prosperity, Planet and Peace), at outcome and output level and further prioritizes the gender equality as a cross-cutting issue for the Cooperation Framework. according to the theory of change (ToC).

The Gender Thematic Working Group (GTWG) has its origins in the broader context of United Nations (UN) reform processes and the global normative framework for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls . In line with the 2020 General Assembly resolution on the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR, A/75/233), accelerating progress on gender equality is a core function of UN country teams. United Nations. In addition, the UN Secretary-General has also mandated the UN Country Team to advance GEWE through the UN Country Team Gender Accountability Dashboard , with a clear reporting requirement.

The UN Country Team in Zimbabwe has been consistently committed to advancing GEWE through deliberate measures and mechanisms, including relevant strategies, frameworks and institutional mechanisms such as the GTWG. The GTWG in Zimbabwe plays an important role in promoting GEWE within the context of the UN Secretary-General’s mandate for gender equality and the empowerment of women and plays a central role in providing strategic support and advice to the UN Country Team for the effective implementation of GEWE and the achievement of SDG 5 on gender equality in line with the new cooperation framework and UN reforms, as well as conventions and GEWE resolutions. The GTWG’s mandate is guided and supported by the UN Country Team.

As part of advancing the new agenda, the UN Country Team is seeking to strengthen its technical working and results groups, including the GTWG. The GTWG should spearhead the operationalization of UNCT gender equality obligations through the UNSDCF, UNCT gender mainstreaming strategy and work plan Annual UNCT Gender Equality Scorecard.