Strategy - Global Priority Gender Equality

Extracts from Approved Programme and Budget 2012-2013
36 C/5
Major Programme IV

Global Priority Gender Equality

04035 - UNESCO will address the global gender priority through its work in the domains of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, museums, creative industries and cultural policies, HIV and AIDS prevention, intercultural dialogue and indigenous issues.

04036 - UNESCO’s action to mainstream gender equality in cultural heritage policies will continue to focus on developing the capacities of women and girls, by preparing them for significantly greater involvement in the conservation and management of cultural, natural and intangible heritage at national and international level. This will include specific targets for the participation of women in UNESCO organized workshops and meetings, including as trainers and experts, as well as for their increased involvement as managers and/or experts in projects financed from the Funds of the relevant UNESCO Conventions.

04037 - Special efforts will be targeted on promoting women’s empowerment through their involvement in safeguarding living heritage, given their acknowledged role as transmitters of knowledge and knowhow, and in managing museums.

04038 - Action in the field of the creative industries will seek to heighten the socio-economic impact of small craft enterprises, giving priority to women craft workers and thereby contributing to their social and economic empowerment. To that effect, preliminary data on women as entrepreneurs of small enterprises in the field of crafts will be collected.

04039 - In the field of cultural policies, the 2005 Convention specifically calls on Parties to introduce measures that encourage women to create, produce, disseminate, enjoy and have access to diverse cultural expressions. Information on the extent to which Parties have done so will be reported on in the Periodic reports; the first ones to be submitted in June 2012. The analysis to be prepared by the Secretariat will report on such measures that will enable the monitoring of developments in this field. Cases of best practice that promote women will be included in all information exchange activities.

04040 - The development of culturally appropriate and gender-responsive policies and actions at country level in HIV and AIDS prevention and care as well as in maternal health will be pursued in particular in the framework of the “Delivering as One” approach at country level. Training materials integrating cultural diversity, gender equality and human rights will be developed and used in promoting the role of culture in larger development strategies.

04041 - UNESCO will support efforts to prevent and combat gender inequality and gender-based violence through dialogue and partnerships with indigenous peoples. Cooperation with women’s associations involved in intercultural and interreligious dialogue, in view of their key role in conflict resolution, reconciliation and peace building will be continued.

04042 - Bringing together the findings and experiences in all the above-mentioned domains, both at the level of international practices and of national cultural policies, UNESCO will compile its first report on gender and culture in 2013.

■  Expected results at the end of the biennium

• Involvement of women in the conservation and management of tangible and intangible cultural heritage increased
• Culturally appropriate and gender-responsive policies and actions at country level designed and implemented
• Indigenous women’s movement and faith-based organizations engaged in reconciliation and peace-building initiatives
• Policy-making informed by a report on Gender and Culture promoting gender equality in the field of culture

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