Attachments
1.0 BACKGROUND
UNHCR’s efforts to promote Gender Equality are guided by its policy on Age, Gender and Diversity (AGD) 2018. For UNHCR, gender equality refers to the equal enjoyment of rights, responsibilities and opportunities of all affected people and that the interests, needs and priorities of all are respected, regardless of their gender. UNHCR acknowledges that gender inequalities, which are compounded in contexts of displacement, disproportionately disadvantage women and girls, but that men and boys are also impacted by entrenched gender-based discrimination. This recognition forms the basis for UNHCR’s adoption of the five (5) core actions on gender equality within the AGD policy, which affirm the entitlement of women and girls to:
• Participate equally and meaningfully in all decision-making, community management and leadership structures, as well as community-based committees.
• Be provided with individual registration and documentation, directly or through support provided by UNHCR.
• Have equal access to and control over provision and management of food, core-relief items and cash-based interventions.
• Have equal access to economic opportunities, decent work and good quality education and health services.
• Have access to comprehensive Gender based Violence (GBV) prevention and response services.
The AGD policy core action one (1) equally commits that, all data collected by UNHCR will be disaggregated by age and sex and by other diversity considerations, as contextually appropriate and possible, for purposes of analysis and programming. The UNHCR 2024 regional dashboard indicates that women and girls make up more than 47 per cent of displaced persons in the region, and in some contexts, such as the armed conflict in Sudan, women and children have represented up to a staggering 90 per cent of those displaced. Forcibly displaced and stateless women and girls face multiple barriers, gender inequalities and intersecting forms of discrimination that are aggravated in displacement. Women and girls, when empowered, have the potential to be powerful agents of change who can transform communities, countries and the entire world. Despite progress made over the past decade in health, education and representation in parliaments, many women and girls continue to be held back from realizing their full potential by gender and socio-economic barriers.
In 2024, the EHAGL Regional Director signed up as an International Gender Champion -Nairobi chapter. He committed to forge dynamic partnerships with displaced women-led organizations and to advance girls' and young women’s access to education, particularly at secondary and higher education levels. At the same time, he committed to enhancing gender parity in the recruitment and retention of national and professional officer positions within the Regional Bureau. Additionally, he pledged to uphold the organization’s commitment towards zero tolerance to gender-based violence, gender bias and sexism.
The Year 2024 also recorded some high investments in capacity building efforts for staff, RLOs (Refugee Led Organizations) and other partners in Gender Equality within the EHAGL region. Forty gender equality focal points across the region were trained in gender markers and mainstreaming Gender equality in programming. An additional twenty-four (24) staff under the Prospects 2.0 program were sensitized on gender integration in program specific pillars of intervention in collaboration with regional partners including UNICEF and ILO. In Collaboration with UN Women, the region trained 30 staff and partners under Prospects program in Ethiopia, on gender integration in humanitarian action. Six Women led organizations in the region participated in the digital gender inclusion bootcamp aimed at addressing access, affordability, safety, and digital skills barriers for refugee women and girls.