UNICC has made gender, diversity and inclusiveness central to its mission. In 2020, UNICC’s Director Sameer Chauhan joined the International Gender Champions (IGC) network and signed the IGC Panel Parity Pledge. IGC is a leadership community that brings together female and male decision-makers determined to break down gender barriers and make gender equality a working reality in their spheres of influence. 

In becoming a Champion, Sameer had set two clearly defined objectives for 2021 to improve gender parity in UNICC, both of which were achieved within the timeframe established. The first organizational goal was to have a fair representation of women among UNICC Directors, of at least 30%. UNICC’s Executive Committee has now a total of five members, two of which (40%) are women: Milena Grecuccio, Chief of Staff and Chief, Management and Strategy Division and Tima Soni, Chief, Cybersecurity Division. The second objective for 2021 was to have more than 30% women in all recruitment panels at UNICC, excluding human resources representatives, a goal that was also achieved and is a guiding requirement for all recruitment panels in the future.

UNICC has made gender, diversity and inclusiveness central to its mission in serving its more than 80+ Clients and Partner Organizations. Internally, it focuses on increasing its gender and diversity rates. UNICC, as an equal opportunity employer, seeks out individuals across race, gender, nationality, age and sexual orientation. Externally, UNICC also champions gender, diversity and inclusiveness in its outreach and advocacy, through strategic partnerships and alliances with a growing number of organizations and collaborative activities worldwide.

The 2030 Agenda provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. Technology has enormous potential to achieve the SDGs, with new technologies such as blockchain, automation, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data. UNICC and its strategic partners are finding technology solutions for supporting each of the Global Goals.

For example, technology-based solutions can tackle key gender inequalities. Cybersecurity supports safe online spaces to report discrimination with strict privacy controls. Mobile apps allow remote delivery of healthcare. Digital literacy and tech skills can enhance women’s ability to earn money and protect their health and welfare, improve their social and economic status.

Here are some UNICC partnerships on gender parity, diversity and inclusiveness:

• UNRWA and UNICC Partnership Strengthens Common Objectives
• UN Women – UNICC Workshop for Safer Public Spaces
• Girls and Women Talking Tech – 100 Interviews – Over 20 from UNICC
• Girls and Women Talking Tech – Girls in ICT
• ICT for Girls Day 2022, 2019 and 2018  
• UNICC Participates in ‘Gendering ICT’ Workshop at WomENcourage 2019
• BreakthroughTech (WiTNY) Interns at UNICC NY 2020 and 2021
• UN Women and UNICC Sponsor a Safe Cities for Women Thinkathon

Research by Daniela Mezzadri

There is an unquestionable difference across continents related to the demographics of internet usage. The digitalization process must be accelerated with the connectivity gap in mind across different geographic areas. There are plenty of issues that exacerbate the digital divide. 

“The Age of Digital Interdependence” for a sustainable development

As reported in the UN Secretary General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, installing traditional broadband connections is costly and countries and companies often face difficulties in financing optimum fibre optic cables. Most importantly here, the lack of a digital workforce plus pervasive digital skills in the population can limit the adoption of digital tools. Despite the difficulties clearly exposed in the Roadmap, UN SG Antonio Gutierrez is confident that the UN can play a constructive role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as is manifest from his words: “I believe the UN can be a platform for discussion, with the business community and governments, within the Sustainable Development Goals discussion, in order to try to address the massive impact that the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have on societies and economies; and to try to prevent instead of react...  I think that the World Economic Forum has been doing a lot to raise awareness and to find solutions.” This sounds like an appeal to global support to every actor, agent and stakeholder who can support this challenging digital transformation. 

Tech4Good

French Ambassador to the United States, Philippe Etienne, affirmed during an event called Democracy and Human Rights: The Role of Technology and Social Media, that “the fight for democracy is a horizontal battle where every single person is involved, it is about real issues of people, inequality, insecurity, recovery after pandemic, technology and social media… civil society, enterprises and institutions need to closely interact.” Etienne here outlines the importance of being aligned to a tech4good approach promoted by the United Nations, which is the focus of applying technology explicitly for the greater good. 

Evidence-based metrics for policymaking

In looking at at post-COVID-19 economic support for developing countries, the UN SG’s report on digital cooperation explicitly mentions that “digital tools have to be leveraged for these countries, as well as for underserved groups, so that recovery efforts build an inclusive digital infrastructure [can] accelerate progress for all.” Indeed, the below picture extracted from the Roadmap for Digital Cooperation shows a significant gender gap for the access to internet. 

It is important to mention what the report includes: a set of metrics to measure digital inclusion for evidence-based policymaking. Metrics priorities, it is explained in the report, will focus on the fundamental premise that everyone should have an equal opportunity to become empowered through technology or ICT. In this regard UN-SWAP  is crucial for achieving such a goal. 

UNICC aspires to bring gender equity and equality, diversity and inclusiveness into the digital business field. We know what a challenge it is; we know it requires a massive change of mindsets and habits in corporate culture. - Milena Grecuccio, Chief of Staff and Chief, Management and Strategy Division, UNICC

UNICC is pleased to work with UN-SWAP to measure its progress towards outstanding goals in the gender equality and to share them within the entire UN community and international fora. It will constitute an instrument and a guidance, consistently contributing to forge new values.

UN-SWAP helps UNICC make a public commitment, as reference for its gender parity governance and an instrument for tracking the improvements in the policy-making process. The partnership will be significant not only for internal measures and initiatives but also for comparative approaches that might be crucial in the values co-creation procedure. UNICC is proud to forge new standards in its governance  by adopting measures of accountability proposed by UN-SWAP. 

In addition to joining UN-SWAP, Director Sameer Chauhan also signed the new IGC Gender-based Violence (GBV) pledge in 2021, as a commitment to have zero tolerance of GBV or sexist attitudes and behavior, so as to tackle some of the deepest and most harmful norms that prevent the equal rights of women and girls.

"UNICC is tasked with delivering scalable digital solutions for the UN family, as effectively and creatively as possible. We can live up to these expectations only by ensuring we have adequate diversity of perspectives – by gender as well as by sexual orientation, nationality and race” - Sameer Chauhan, Director, UNICC

After fulfilling the 2021 goals, the organization has set new ambitious objectives for 2022: to appoint a Gender and Inclusion Champion within each of the four UNICC divisions (Management and Strategy, Operations, Clients and Projects as well as Cybersecurity) and to publish and start implementing a gender parity strategy.

The long-term goal of UNICC to which all the yearly objectives contribute is to achieve full gender parity at all levels within the organization by 2028. Alongside achieving parity in workforces, UNICC is also determined to strengthen its efforts in promoting women and girls in the technology sector. Below are some of our long-term initiatives in this regard:

Girls and Women Talking Tech interview series. In support of International Girls in ICT Day and the EQUALS Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age, ITU, UNICC and the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy of Youth present Girls & Women Talking Tech, an inter-generational interview series sharing women’s insights on how to build successful careers in tech. See EQUALS YouTube site and read more here.

Women in Tech Internships. UNICC hosts internships to help young women experience tech. Students have come from Polytechnic University of Valencia, New York University, Columbia University, City University of New York and other European academic institutions. UNICC has an ongoing “Winternship” program with Break Through Tech in New York. Read about 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 Winternships.

International Girls and Women in ICT Events. UNICC has worked on women in tech initiatives in New York and in Geneva. Strategic partners or contributors include ITU, UNDP, UNICEF, UN Women, Barclays Financial, Build n Blaze, Microsoft, New York City Mayor’s Office on International Affairs, Facebook, Google and others, to bring thought leaders together with young women and disadvantaged students. Read about 2018 and 2019 events.

Women in Data Science. The Women in Data Science (WiDS) initiative aims to inspire and educate data scientists worldwide, regardless of gender, and support women in the field. In the last years, UNICC has taken part in WiDS initiatives in Valencia, together with the Polytechnic University of Valencia and other organizations. WiDS includes a global conference with 150+ regional events worldwide. Read more here.