Resource Library
Reports
2025
The latest UN system-wide achievements on gender equality and empowerment of women from 75 UN Entities, collected via the 2023 UN-SWAP reporting. A total of 50 useful data points on the number and name of entities per detailed achievements, across 17 business functional indicator areas.
Reports
2025
A series featuring in-depth analysis of the 2024 UN-SWAP results, organized by indicator sets.
The second issue focuses on UN-SWAP 2.0 PI 8, 13 and the new indicator under UN-SWAP 3.0: Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Sexual Harassment (SH).
Reports
2025
A series featuring in-depth analysis of the 2024 UN-SWAP results, organized by indicator sets. The first issue focuses on results-related indicators: PI 1, 2, and 3,
Reports
2025
The report assesses progress in mainstreaming gender perspectives in the operational activities of the United Nations development system, and in the achievement of performance requirements set forward by accountability frameworks for gender mainstreaming of the United Nations system at the global and country levels.
Policy Reports
2024
Preventing and responding to violence against women with disabilities requires a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach. It includes:
- strengthening legal frameworks,
- enhancing support services,
- ensuring that an inclusive lens is applied to prevention efforts,
- raising societal awareness,
- improving data collection, and
- promoting intersectoral collaboration.
It is also crucial to prioritize the voices, experiences, and agency of women with disabilities in developing and implementing policies and interventions.
This publication provides recommendations for policymakers to address the findings highlighted through the project “Addressing stigma and discrimination experienced by women with disabilities (ASDWD)”, which was developed in partnership with researchers from University College London, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women offices, local organizations of people with disabilities, and individual women with disabilities who contributed across Pakistan, Palestine, Republic of Moldova, and Samoa, with funding from the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD).
Research and data
2024
The “Women with disabilities stigma inventory” (WDSI) was developed as part of the project “Addressing stigma and discrimination experienced by women with disabilities” (ASDWD) project, which was jointly led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Women, with funding from the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN PRPD).
The ASDWD project focused on the intersection of disability and gender-based stigma and discrimination. A key objective was to create a survey tool to assess the experiences of women and girls with disabilities regarding stigma, discrimination, and gender-based violence. To this end, alongside developing the WDSI using a participatory approach, a methodological note and ethical guidelines were also produced to ensure a human rights–based approach and minimize harm.
This toolkit includes:
- Women with disabilities stigma inventory (WDSI)
- WDSI methodological note
- Ethical standards guide for the ASDWD project
The WDSI is a stand-alone, self-reporting survey tool that can be used to collect data about the experiences of women with disabilities globally in relation to stigma, discrimination, and violence.
The purpose of the methodological note is to provide an overview of the WDSI, its development process, and how to implement the tool and analyse results.
The “Ethical standards guide” was used throughout the ASDWD project to minimize the risk of harm while engaging women with disabilities. The human rights–based approach and the “Do no harm” principle guided the conceptualization and implementation of these guidelines.
Reports
2023
Seventy-three UN entities, which make up 96% of the UN system, reported against UN-SWAP 2.0 in 2022.
This web page contains a summary of 2022 UN system-wide reporting results, as well as the report scorecard per each individual entity.
Good practices Policy Reports
2023
One in five women is estimated to be living with a disability, making it crucial to study the increased risks of various forms of violence that they face.
This synthesis review contains key insights and lessons from the experiences of 22 diverse civil society and women’s rights organizations in various contexts that were supported by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) special window to end violence against women and girls with disabilities between 2018 and 2023. In particular, it highlights the lessons learned about fostering collaboration, shifting mindsets, empowering women and girls with disabilities, engaging with legal and policy systems, and allowing for flexible adaptation and learning in addressing violence against women and girls with disabilities.
These findings mean that the review:
- contributes to developing programming that is disability specific and disability inclusive;
- promotes the development of a knowledge base that is grounded in the realities of practitioners in the Global South; and
- offers practical recommendations to practitioners, researchers, donors and policymakers.
Reports
2023
The latest UN system-wide achievements on gender equality and empowerment of women, collected via the 2022 UN-SWAP reporting. A total of 41 useful data points on the number and name of entities per detailed achievements, across 17 business functional indicator areas.
Reports
2023
UN Women, in its founding resolution, was mandated to ensure accountability and coordination across the UN system to lead progress on gender equality. The report reflects on the various forms in which it’s coordination efforts manifest across the UN system to advance gender equality, sharing also stories of good practice and the multiple drivers which catalyse and advance the work undertaken globally and in partnership with others
Reports
2022
This report presents a rapid gender analysis of Joint Programmes (JPs) reported in the UNSDG Information Management System (IMS) exploring the extent to which gender and SDG 5 are reported as a focus of the JPs and what the proportion of overall funding is to JPs with a gender or SDG 5 focus. The analysis was developed by the UN Women UN System Coordination Division to strengthen evidence-based analysis, provide a baseline for similar follow-up analysis of IMS data from 2022 and identify trends with the overall objective to inform UN System policies and engagement with UNCTs on strengthening gender equality in JPs.
Reports
2022
The current study is a part of the 2019-2021 Mapping and Costing Studies of Gender Equality Architecture - the existing arrangements and resources within UN entities to implement the gender mainstreaming function in the UN system. This results has been enormously revealing, including the implications of expanding gender remits, the emerging discussion on gender staffing standards, and the harmonized implementation of the gender equality marker and financial targets allowing for better understanding of investments on gender equality.
Reports
2022
This is the powerpoint presentation of the 2019-2021 Mapping and Costing Studies of Gender Equality Architecture - the existing arrangements and resources within UN entities to implement the gender mainstreaming function in the UN system. The results have been enormously revealing, including the implications of expanding gender remits, the emerging discussion on gender staffing standards, and the harmonized implementation of the gender equality marker and financial targets allowing for better understanding of investments on gender equality.
Reports
2022
The report assesses progress in mainstreaming gender perspectives in the operational activities of the United Nations development system, and in the achievement of performance requirements set forward by accountability frameworks for gender mainstreaming of the United Nations system at the global and country levels.
Manuals and Guidance Research and data
2022
The new Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming for Gender Equality Results prepared under the leadership of the UN System Coordination Division seeks to promote and propel systematic and effective gender mainstreaming throughout the United Nations system and within all sectors.
In line with our new Strategic Plan, the Handbook contributes to UN Women’s thought leadership and capacity building on gender mainstreaming that will benefit the UN system and Member States. Notably, the Handbook comes at an opportune time when ECOSOC marks the 25th anniversary of the adoption its Agreed Conclusions on gender mainstreaming this year, and systematic gender mainstreaming is increasingly recognized as critical to accelerating progress on gender equality, including in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and Our Common Agenda where the emphasis is on a new social contract that is inclusive of women and girls.
Specifically, the Handbook identifies the key concepts, principles and approaches underlying the gender mainstreaming strategy. It outlines opportunities to apply gender analyses across different contexts and manage for gender equality results. It also shows how to identify opportunities for organizational change, enhance financing for gender equality, and strengthen monitoring and evaluation for the oversight of the results of gender mainstreaming.
While the Handbook is focused specifically on the more traditional areas of development policy and practice, the discussions, findings, and recommendations are equally applicable in the context of humanitarian responses and programmes in conflict and peace-building contexts.
Reports
2022
The study presents knowledge on the different forms of violence, its underlying causes, and the ability to access services as well as the experiences of women with disabilities in Egypt, focusing on the intersectionality between gender, disability and poverty.
Reports Research and data
2021
UN Women conducted a research analysis of UN Joint Programmes (JPs) from an overall perspective and with a focus on gender equality and SDG results. The main source of this analysis comes from data included in the Common Country Programming Profile Joint Programme 2019 and collected through the UNSDG Information Management System (IMS).
Research and data
2021
In 2021, UN Women supported the UNSDG Fiduciary Management and Oversight Group (FMOG) Working Group in launching the first survey to all MPTFs’ Administrative Agents. This survey received responces from a total of 115 UN inter-agency pooled funds, equivalent to 70% of the estimated 164 active UN inter-agency pooled funds during the period 2020-2021. Of the total of complete responses received, 49 (or 43%) were from MPTFs and 66 (or 57%) were from standalone Joint Programmes (JPs).
Reports
2021
The report assesses progress in mainstreaming gender perspectives in the operational activities of the United Nations development system, including in the context of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and in the achievement of performance requirements set forward by accountability frameworks for gender mainstreaming of the United Nations system at the global and country levels.
Reports
2021
This document was written in collaboration with UN Women's Disability Inclusion and Intersectionality Portfolio (DIIP) within the context of the Disability-Inclusive COVID-19 Response and Recovery Global Programme in the country, with support from the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD). Considering the intersection of disability, gender and violence from a human rights perspective for a life free of violence for all women