In 2022 UNICC met its targets, paving the path towards full gender parity in 2028
Dozens of gender champions attended the Biannual International Gender Champions (IGC) meeting on 26 January, hosted by UNICC Director Sameer Chauhan on behalf of the Geneva Steering Group. The International Gender Champions is a leadership community, with over 322 champions and 343 alumni, that brings together women and men decision-makers determined to break down gender barriers and make gender equality a working reality in their spheres of influence.
At the IGC meeting, gender champions were invited to speak in their personal capacities, share their intended commitments for 2023 and consider ways that IGC can achieve more collective impact as a key, multi-lateral hub.
After a welcome by Martin Chungong, Secretary-General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Chair of the IGC Global Board, keynote speaker Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), talked about breaking the glass ceiling as the first woman to lead the ITU.
New impact groups were launched, including one on climate and gender as well as a second one on women, peace and security. This was followed by an open discussion on IGC’s strategic objectives for 2023 led by Esther Dingemans, Executive Director of the Global Survivors Fund.
UNICC’s Path towards Gender Parity
Sameer Chauhan joined IGC in 2020, making gender, diversity and inclusiveness central to UNICC’s mission and committing to the ambitious goal of achieving full gender parity at all levels within the organization by 2028.
At the January 2023 IGC meeting, Sameer announced UNICC’s goals for 2023. First, he said that UNICC will work closely with organizations that champion gender equity specifically in the field of data and analytics, working to ensure equitable participation of women in data collection and data solutions ideation and design.
Second, he noted that he remains committed to an organizational objective of achieving gender parity by 2028 and in order to reach that milestone, he will redouble the focus on retaining women in UNICC’s workforce by making it a more inclusive workplace.
As a starting point, UNICC is partnering with UNFPA in its Equity Alliance’s Equity 2030 Call for Action to ensure that the Global Digital Compact includes women’s voices to advance gender equity in design, data and financing.
UNICC has fulfilled its 2022 goals, which were to implement a gender parity strategy and to appoint a Gender and Inclusion Champion within each of the five UNICC divisions: Management and Strategy, Digital Delivery, Operations, Digital Solutions Centre and Cybersecurity.
UNICC is committed to bringing gender parity, diversity and inclusiveness into the digital business field. Ending discrimination is crucial to an equitable, sustainable future and it is an accelerator towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.
