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Background and Context
UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.
Achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment is an essential element of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – the roadmap to a more equal, just, peaceful, and sustainable world.
The overarching objective of Intergovernmental Programme in UN Women is: To accelerate progress on the 2030 agenda, especially SDG 5, by strengthening women’s leadership in the areas of economic, social, and political rights. The programme is being implemented in India over three years.
The Programme includes leadership development labs for aspiring women leaders and youth communities, building their competencies across local governance systems, public service delivery, public financial management, and rights-based advocacy. Grounded in an ecosystem approach to gender-responsive governance, the Programme works simultaneously at the individual, institutional and systemic levels to ensure meaningful participation of women in public and political life.
A cornerstone of this intervention is the establishment of structured platforms connecting emerging leaders with seasoned elected representatives, subject experts and public officials. These platforms serve as a critical bridge between lived governance experience and emerging leadership, fostering sustained peer learning, mentorship, and cross-sectoral dialogue. By building enabling conditions across governance institutions, the Programme seeks to institutionalise gender-responsive governance at all levels, positioning women as at the centre of policy and programme.
The Programme furthers UN Women’s mandate of advancing women’s political leadership, and fostering gender responsive institutions at all levels, inlcuding the Indian Parliament, State Legislative Assemblies and the Panchayati Raj Institutions.
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