Highlights of UNICEF’s results in advancing gender equality, empoweringadolescent girls and achieving equitable outcomes for women and children

GENDEREQUALITY

2016

UNICEF continued its commitment to building capacity to deliver high-value gender equality results. Through strategic investments, UNICEF boosted gender expertise across the organization and made progress in four other areas.

• In 2016, UNICEF achieved its goal of having a Regional Gender Advisor in each of its 7 Regional Offi ces to support work on gender equality. Fourteen country offi ces had Gender Specialists (compared to only 7 in 2015), and 76 had Gender Focal Points supporting fi eld-level work on gender.

• UNICEF has a strong record of efforts to achieve gender parity in senior posts, with 48% of posts at P5 level or higher occupied by women (compared to 45% in 2014).

• In 2016, 79% of UNICEF country programme management plans included an accountability for gender programming and results (compared to 58% in 2014).

• In 2016, expenditures on programmes with gender as a primary focus reached 8.9% of the $5.1 billion UNICEF spent on programming (compared to 8.2% in 2013).

• To advance knowledge sharing and communications, UNICEF developed and disseminated tools, issued gender advocacy and media reports, co-sponsored the 2016 Women Deliver Conference in London, and was well represented at the sixtieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

UNICEF data show that girls spend 550 million hours a day on chores – 160 million hours more than boys their age.

On the International Day of the Girl, 11 October 2016, UNICEF launched Harnessing the Power of Data for Girls: Taking stock and looking ahead to 2030. The report makes two key contri-butions to work on girls’ empowerment. First, it assesses the available data on the 44 SDG indicators most relevant to girls and fl ags signifi cant gaps in the global community’s ability to track progress in these areas: high-quality data is available for only 1/3 of the indicators. Secondly, it revealed new data on girls’ unequal burden of household chores: girls (5-9) spend 30 per cent more time on chores than boys their age. This differ-ential rises to 50% in adolescence (10-14), curtailing girls’ time for study and play and reinforcing gender stereotypes and the double-burden on women and girls across generations.

Results on strengthening UNICEF to “do gender” betterHighlights of 2016 achievements in integrating gender across UNICEF’s programme sectors

Social protection benefits to women & girlsSOCIAL

INCLUSION

Expansion of cash transfers to women in more than

70 countries.

In 20 emergency-affected contexts,

822,400 women & girls of reproductive age were reached with menstrual hygiene management materials and messaging.

With UNICEF support to improved WASH services in 7,100 schools,

1.3 million girlsgained access to WASH facilities in schools during the year.

25 gender reviews of national nutrition policies were undertaken with UNICEF support.

40 countries with a

50% or higher exclusive breastfeeding rate among children 0-5 months old [met target of 40 countries].

Improved maternal nutrition for mothers and children

At least 80% coverage of live births by skilled birth attendants reached in 100 countries in which UNICEF works [exceeds target of 60 countries].

Approx. 162 million people reached with Zika prevention messaging

31,000 pregnant women reached by UNICEF interventions to prevent Zika virus infections.

60

100

Reduced gender-based violence, child labour

Psychosocial support and family reunification services provided to

96,000 girls & boys in 5 countries in Europe.

UNICEF supported the revision of child protection-related policies based on gender analysis in

42 countries.

At least 80% coverage of lifelong ART for all pregnant women living with HIV in 10 countries prioritized for elimination of mother-to-child transmission (EMTCT) -- [exceeds target of 9 countries].

62% of HIV-positive pregnant women targeted by UNICEF in humanitarian situations received treatment to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

NUTRITION

CHILD PROTECTION

HEALTH

Promotion of maternal health & child survival

HIV a& AIDS

Coverage ofPMTCT & ART

WASH

Access to water and sanitation at home and schools

Mainstreaming themeSector Select gender mainstreaming results

EDUCATION

5.6 million girls (and 6.1 million boys) were supported with basic education in humanitarian situations.

UNICEF spent

$39 million

on girls’ education.

Gender equality in education

A dvancing gender equality and the empowerment of girls and women is central to the achievement of

the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With gender equality at the core of its mandate and mission, and with a strong fi eld presence and scope of work across multiple sectors, UNICEF is well positioned to foster gender-equitable child outcomes as a catalyst to a more just and equal world – not only today, but also in the long term. It does this by supporting girls and boys to realize their full potential, and helping societies to redefi ne gender roles and power relations for the women and men of tomorrow.

UNICEF’s commitment and approach to advancing gender equality is encapsulated in its Strategic Plan 2014–2017 and Gender Action Plan (GAP) 2014–2017. The GAP is based on the premise that smart, creative strategies, and well-resourced, practical solutions are required to achieve the ambitious goals and targets for gender equality and a sustainable world.

The GAP specifi es three areas for UNICEF’s work on gender equality: (1) empowering adolescent girls with a focus on four targeted gender priorities; (2) mainstreaming gender across UNICEF’s seven outcome areas; and (3) institutional strengthening by investing in ‘doing gender’ better.

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Adolescence is a pivotal stage of life that, while bringing new opportunities and new risks for both girls and boys, intensifi es many gender inequalities that result in lifelong negative consequences for adolescent girls. UNICEF’s four interlinked, targeted priorities—ending child marriage, advancing girls’ secondary education, promoting gender-responsive adolescent health and addressing gender-based violence in emergencies—complement and reinforce each other to catalyze a transformative shift in gender relations and the life trajectories of adolescent

girls, dismantling persistent barriers to their empowerment and supporting them to live up to their full potential.

Advancing adolescent girls’ empowerment at scale remains a signifi cant challenge for the global community, as programming in this area has historically been small-scale, with limited resources and few pathways to sustainability. UNICEF programming and advocacy aims to shift global and national efforts towards addressing the needs of millions, rather than a few thousand girls.

Highlights of 2016 achievements in empowering adolescent girls

Increases inthe proportion of girls who:

complete secondary school and learn key skills

receive access to menstrual hygiene management

receive human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination to prevent cervical cancer

receive quality antenatal, delivery and postnatal care

A reduction in the proportion of girls who:

marry as children

become mothers during adolescence

acquire HIV and die from AIDS

suffer from anaemia and malnutrition

are subjected to female genital mutilation/cutting

seco

ndar

y ed

ucatio

n

Adv

anci

ng

girls’

marriage

Ending child

Addressing g

ende

r-bas

ed

violence in

em

erge

ncie

s

Prom

oting

gender-responsive

adolescent health

ADVANCING GIRLS’ SECONDARY EDUCATION

• In 2016, UNICEF supported the most marginalized girls to transition to and complete secondary education in 60 countries (compared to 53 in 2015), including through partnerships to address school-related gender-based violence and make school curricula more gender equitable and free of harmful stereotypes. In some countries, providing cash transfers to vulnerable families served as incentives to keep girls in school.

• UNICEF directly supported schools in 14 countries to improve girls’ access to menstrual hygiene management supplies and facilities. Social stigma around menstruation was addressed through training, sensitization and education that reached girls, boys, teachers, government decision-makers and families.

• As the host of the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) Secretariat, UNICEF continued to lead worldwide advocacy efforts on gender equality in education. UNICEF and UNGEI embarked on a three-year research initiative with the Global Partnership for Education to generate evidence on promising practices for ending gender-based violence in schools in Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Togo and Zambia.

PROMOTING GENDER-RESPONSIVE ADOLESCENT HEALTH• In 2016, gender-responsive adolescent health was a

targeted priority for 73 UNICEF programme countries (compared to 65 in 2015). UNICEF worked across the globe promoting various aspects of adolescent girls’ health, including pregnancy prevention and quality maternal care, nutrition, HIV prevention and treatment, delivery of the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, and prevention of female-genital mutilation/cutting.

• 32 UNICEF-supported countries achieved 80% antenatal coverage for adolescent girls, and 54 countries achieved 80% skilled birth attendance for adolescent girls.

• In 2016, UNICEF worked in 25 countries at national and community levels on the abandonment of FGM/C. Public declarations of abandonment of the harmful practice were made in 2,900 communities across the 17 UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme countries. In a breakthrough, two of the countries, Egypt and Sudan, showed a decline of at least 10% of girls 0-14 years of age undergoing FGM/C.

• UNICEF delivered menstrual hygiene supplies to nearly one million girls and women in humanitarian emergencies in 31 countries.

• UNICEF played vital roles in international mechanisms and partnerships dedicated to advancing adolescent girls’ health, including contributing technical guidance on adolescent health to the United Nations Secretary General’s ‘Every Woman Every Child’ movement.

ADDRESSING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCEIN EMERGENCIES• Refl ecting the increase in humanitarian crises globally,

in 2016 UNICEF reached 4.6 million girls, women and boys in humanitarian crises across 53 countries with a package of services to prevent and respond to sexual violence. This doubled the number served in 2015, itself a doubling of the 2014 number.

• 3.2 million girls and women benefi tted from improved hygiene and sanitation facilities in emergency contexts, including additional safety features to reduce risks of gender-based violence.

• UNICEF continues to play a leading global role in keeping gender-based violence a core priority among humanitarian response actors. In 2016, UNICEF became co-chair of the new International Organizations Group to implement the Road Map of the Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies.

• UNICEF played vital roles in international mechanisms

INDICATOR: UNICEF-supported countries with budgeted plans to reduce adolescent pregnancy

INDICATOR: UNICEF-supported countries with national HIV/AIDS strategies with proven high-impact, evidence-based interventions addressing HIV among adolescent girls and boys

2016

2015

2014 83

84

91

2016

2015

2014 26

31

33

INDICATOR: Women, girls and boys in humanitarian situations who experienced or were at risk of sexual violence who received at least one kind of multisectoral support service (health, psychosocial, economic, justice-related)

2016

2015

2014 432,757

1,958,663

4,614,221

ENDING CHILD MARRIAGE

• In 2016, 60 UNICEF supported country programmes focused on ending child marriage as a targeted priority, engaging in prevention efforts and supporting girls already in unions (up from 44 countries in 2014).

• UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) offi cially launched the Global Programme to Accelerate Action to End Child Marriage, covering 12 high-prevalence countries. In 2016, the Programme reached more than one million girls at risk of marriage with health, education and other services, and cash transfers (small, predictable sums of money). It also reached 1.7 million community members with advocacy messages and activities on ending child marriage.

• Through the Global Programme, UNICEF supported systems strengthening for girls’ education as a strategy to combat child marriage, resulting in 7,551 schools in eight countries improving the quality of education for adolescent girls through investments in physical infrastructure; water, sanitation and hygiene interventions; menstrual hygiene management provision; teacher training; gender-responsive teaching curricula and textbook reform. Similar efforts were undertaken in many other UNICEF programme countries.

• As custodian of the indicator for child marriage in SDG target 5.3, in 2016 UNICEF supported fi nalization of the indicator and set the baseline for tracking progress in reducing child marriage across 120 countries.

INDICATOR: Countries with at least 25% prevalence that have costed national strategies/plans on child marriage

2016

2015

2014 2

5

11

INDICATOR: Proportion of countries with education sector policies/plans that specify prevention and response mechanisms to address school-related gender-based violence

2016

2015

2014 20%

22%

25%

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