4 May 2023, Geneva, Switzerland – UNITAR officially launched the One UNITAR Gender Initiative, the first UNITAR initiative that engages all UNITAR Divisions to promote innovative learning solutions on women’s empowerment, building on extensive experiences and knowledge of all UNITAR Divisions.  

One UNITAR Gender aims to empower more women around the world, especially in developing countries and least developed countries, to strengthen their leadership skills and feel empowered to apply and share their knowledge with others. 

Supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and coordinated by the Office of Executive Director, the Division for Peace, the Division for People, the Division for Planet, the Division for Prosperity and its Hiroshima Office, the Division for Multilateral Diplomacy with its Multilateral Diplomacy Programme and the New York Office, the Division for Satellite Analysis and Applied Research with the Agenda 2030 Unit and UNOSAT, and the Division on NCD, Digital Health, and Capacity Building, all contributed to developing and launching the One UNITAR Gender Initiative.  

One UNITAR Gender launches with the Women2Lead Community under the UNSDG: Learn platform, serving as a one-stop location for accessing a variety of learning resources designed to empower women to take a leading role in society. 

A great variety of UNITAR and partnered learning resources focused on Women’s Leadership, Economic Empowerment, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding, Women’s Political Participation, and Ending Violence Against Women will be available in different languages on Women2Lead, to help women strengthen their leadership skills and the space for sharing knowledge and learning from one another. Women2Lead features a Forum space to encourage dialogue and discussion between learners from all over the world and reinforce meaningful interactions on crucial topics of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. 

Taking into consideration the remaining challenges and existing gaps in resources’ linguistic facilitation and the resources’ inaccessibility due to the lack of internet connectivity in many places around the world, Women2Lead will enable online and low bandwidth learning, as well as offline learning through connecting to EdApp offline mobile learning.  

The One UNITAR Gender Initiative also addresses the lack of country and context-tailored specific training, by implementing hybrid learning for developing and least-developed countries through in-person tailored training and established communities of practitioners who can continue their learning journey through engaging in the Community and Mentoring Forums of the Women2Lead Community site. 

For 2023, the in-person pilot training will be implemented in collaboration with local partners in Rwanda and South Sudan.  

By equipping women, especially those structurally disadvantaged, with access to leadership training, mentoring, and a community for sharing experiences, more women will feel empowered to participate in decision-making and increase their leadership abilities. One UNITAR Gender will serve UN member states, regional, national, and local organizations, and individuals in their pursuit of Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women. 

To partner and learn more about the initiative, contact Afroditi Anastasaki at: afroditi.anastasaki@unitar.org