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Response of the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in New York to the audit of the Gender Pledge

"Let's walk the talk"

September, 2021

In September 2018, the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations in New York (PRMNY) officially launched its Gender Pledge.  At the time, ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ had already adopted a Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) and a Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP), and multiple government departments were signatories to Canada's National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (2017-2022). 

The Gender Pledge, with the goal of affirming gender equality not only in policy but also to articulate it in practice, encompassed the Mission's commitments to gender equality through two dimension.  First, a set of commitments in institutional gender mainstreaming and the promotion of gender equality within the Mission's operations and work practices.  Second, commitments on targeted and integrated initiatives to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls of diverse backgrounds across the work of the Mission in the United Nations system and with external stakeholders. 

The audit was triggered by a Management commitment in the pledge to "regularly conduct a gender audit every two years to assess and review the differential impact of working methods and working conditions on men and women, to encourage work-life balance, and to review the institutionalization of gender equality in the policies, programs, structures, and interactions of the mission."  The Mission is pleased that the findings of the audit demonstrate that the existence and implementation of the Gender Pledge has had significant impact on the staff working at the Mission and in the duties performed within the UN system.  It is seen as being critically important to the Mission's efforts to promote gender equality, and the empowerment of women and girls.  The Mission is also pleased that the application of a gender lens or gender analysis, supported by factual information, is becoming a routine part of the staff work across all Mission's files.  The audit also revealed that regular and intensive consultations with civil society partners on gender equality and the rights of women and girls are a routine part of many officers work to inform the Mission's position on many files at the UN.

The Mission intends to continue the key aspects of the Gender Pledge that the audit recommends be maintained:

To ensure that the Gender Pledge is delivered upon in concrete terms, the Mission will:

In the implementation of the Pledge, the Mission will conduct outreach to other missions, within the UN system and amongst senior UN officials on Canada's approach to gender equality to encourage others to support Canada in our advocacy efforts across different files.

The Mission will evaluate progress in a stock-taking session in mid-2022.  This will enable us to reflect on overall progress against the audit, the efficacy of specific efforts taken since the audit, and any changes required to strengthen our collective commitment to the Pledge.

We, all Mission staff, remain deeply committed to the Gender Pledge, as achieving gender equality is not the sole responsibility of gender experts but of everyone of us.

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