CONCEPT NOTE Workshop 3: Transforming Public Administration to Increase Women s Participation and Leadership for Gender Responsive Public Services

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1 CONCEPT NOTE Workshop 3: Transforming Public Administration to Increase Women s Participation and Leadership for Gender Responsive Public Services Category 3: Promoting Gender Responsive Public Services to Achieve the SDGs Friday, 22 June

2 Language: Conducted in English and French, with interpretation in Arabic, French and English. The United Nations Public Service Award (UNPSA) is a prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. It promotes and rewards innovation and excellence in public services for realizing the SDGs and the principle to leave no one behind, which is at the core of the 2030 Agenda. Through an annual competition, the UNPSA promotes the role, professionalism and visibility of public service. It was launched in 2003 and since then it has encouraged exemplary public service and recognized that democracy and successful governance are built on a competent civil service. The Awards are usually handed out on 23 June, the day designated by the General Assembly as the United Nations Public Service Day to celebrate the value and virtue of public service to the community (A/RES/57/277). The General Assembly, in its resolution 57/277, encourages Member States to organize special events on that Day to highlight the contribution of public service in the development process. The 2018 UNPSA are given to those public institutions that have distinguished themselves in one of the following categories: 1. Reaching the poorest and most vulnerable through inclusive services and partnerships; 2. Making institutions inclusive and ensuring participation in decision-making; 3. Promoting gender responsive public services to achieve the SDGs Improvements in the delivery of public services contribute greatly to good governance for the achievement of sustainable development goals. The UNPSA Program inspires public servants all over the world to work towards perfecting their approaches, methodologies, practices, systems and processes, in the delivery of public services. I. Focus of the workshop: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development highlights the centrality of effective, accountable and inclusive public institutions for good governance and the achievement of all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Public institutions must reflect the society they serve, and address peoples needs in all their diversity. They are central for delivering on national development goals through their respective policies and programmes and the delivery of public services. As such, public administration can provide a model on how to meaningfully engage people and respond to their needs and priorities effectively. However, research and experience show that often public administration fails to do so and instead reinforces inequalities in society more broadly. To enhance the ability of the public sector to deliver people-focused, quality services, the active participation of women must be ensured. However, when viewing systems of public administration from 1

3 a gender equality perspective the following gaps often emerge: 1) weak policy and legislative frameworks for gender equality; 2) low levels of women s participation and representation in decision making positions; 3) limited capacity within institutions to conduct gender analysis and produce sex disaggregated data; and 4) limited capacity to implement planning and budgeting for gender responsive services. Data shows that women represent an average of 43% of civil servant positions in all countries 1 but glass ceilings and walls mean that they face sectoral segregation, particularly in fields traditionally considered as soft areas of public administration, and are over-represented in less prestigious and lower paid positions. 2 These challenges translate into under-representation and/or absence of women s priorities and needs in the design and delivery of public policies and services. Countries are addressing these challenges and making demonstrable progress in strengthening gender responsiveness of public administration. The project Promoting women s access to governance bodies in the Maghreb and Mashreq, highlights important regional efforts to integrate gender equality into public administration towards strengthening representation of women in senior positions. Initiated in 2014, it is the result of a partnership between UN Women and the Ministry of Administration Reform and Public Service, in collaboration with national institutions of Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia. This project receives financial support from the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affair in the framework of the Priority Solidarity Fund Women of the future in the Mediterranean. This regional project gathered data on the status of women civil servants in the four countries and identified several gaps. Based on the Moroccan experience and to ensure effective monitoring, the project initiated implementation of national networks as part of a regional network to share experiences and strategies for increasing women leadership in public sector institutions. It strengthened capacities of women civil servants through a cycle of leadership training and supported the production of knowledge, data and tools to promote women s access to decision-making positions in the public administration. The 2018 UN Public Service Award Winners demonstrate excellence in advancing gender equality and women s empowerment in public service. The Switzerland Advancing Gender Equal Pay (SAGE) programme works to break down the pervasive average 7% pay gap between women and men. By signing a public charter and conducting regular compliance checks on pay equity, the public sector is setting an important example for other public and private institutions in Switzerland. Kenya s Agriculture Sector Development Support Programme has included the priorities of women and youth in agriculture sectoral policies and strategies. These actions have supported women s increased engagement in the agricultural value chain, resulting in improved incomes for women-headed households as well as increases in overall household nutritional security. Thailand s Roi Et Provincial Health Office has increased accessibility and timeliness of cervical cancer screenings for women through a simple screening/treatment approach thus improving prevention and treatment for women and girls. 1 Women in Public Service Project UNDP

4 These experiences provide evidence and guidance on entry points for bringing gender equality into the public sector. The lessons learned and promising practices from these initiatives can support other countries learning as they embark on similar projects. II. Objective: Global objective The workshop, organized by the Moroccan Ministry of the Administration Reform and Civil Service, UN Women and the French Government, brings together government representatives, senior staff of public institutions and civil society organizations to share innovative practices, lessons learned, and challenges in strengthening gender responsive public administration and delivering effective public services for women and girls. It will provide participants with practical knowledge and skills to leverage and build on key strategies and approaches to accelerate efforts to achieve the gender equality commitments of the 2030 Agenda. Specific objectives Present global context on accelerating progress towards SDG implementation from a gender perspective; Share research from the MENA region on women s access to leadership roles in public administration in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia; Launch the action plan of the regional network for gender mainstreaming in public service in the MENA region; Feature interactive dialogue with the gender category UNPSA winners to learn from their experiences; and Identify opportunities and recommend key actions in delivering services to respond to the priorities and needs of women and girls. Expected results A summary report capturing the innovative practices, lessons learned, and challenges in genderresponsive public administration and service delivery; Increased understanding of opportunities and challenges in promoting women s access to positions of responsibility in public administration in the MENA region; Recommendations on strengthening the role of women in public administration and the delivery of gender-responsive services at national and local levels. The final declaration of the UN Public Service Forum will incorporate these recommendations. 3

5 III. Structure: Guiding questions: 1. What are critical entry points for increasing women s leadership in public administration? 2. How can the establishment of networks of women in public administration in and across countries strengthen public sector institutions and delivery of services? 3. What specific innovative approaches have been applied to strengthen policies and the delivery of gender responsive public services in your respective country? 4. What challenges have been confronted in these efforts and what recommendations do you have to address these going forward? Targeted audience: High-level government officials and international experts working in the fields of public service delivery, governance, and gender equality and women s rights around the world; Heads and senior staff of public service of 4 MENA countries; Priority Solidarity Fund Partners; Representatives of organisations that participated in and won 2018 United Nations Public Service Awards; United Nations staff; Development partners; and Civil society organizations. Number of participants for the seminar: National network members: 85 Conference Guests: 115 Total: 200 IV. Organization: The workshop will be structured around four interactive and participatory sessions focusing on: 1. Overview of the global context with a focus on accelerating progress towards gender responsive public services; 2. Presentation of the conclusions of the research on the issues and challenges of women s access to public administration in the Maghreb and Mashreq experiences of Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia; 3. Presentation of the regional network and action plan on gender mainstreaming in MENA public services; and 4

6 4. Panel discussion featuring Category 3 UNPSA Winners to discuss achievements and challenges in innovative gender responsive public service delivery. Workshop participants will then be able to speak with experts from each of the sessions in the World Café/Partnership Corner. The workshop will be conducted in English and French. Interpreting services will be provided in Arabic, French and English. V. Contact Person/s: Katherine Gifford Policy Specialist UN Women katherine.gifford@unwomen.org Amina Lotfi Programme Coordinator UN Women Multi-Country Office for the Maghreb amina.lotfi@unwomen.org Sofia Kriem Programme Associate UN Women Multi-Country Office for the Maghreb sofia.kriem@unwomen.org