The UN Environment celebrated this year’s International Women’s Day like it had never done before! International Women’s Day commemorated on the 8th of March 2017 was ushered in by week-long activities organized to stimulate staff to join the ‘gender conversation’. This year’s global theme ‘Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030’ was testament to the unrecognized and unpaid work that women undertake daily.
In Nairobi, the campaign focused on ‘Gender Equality and Parity in the Workplace’ and consisted of a number of exciting activities that were held before, during and after International Women’s Day.
Planet Unplugged[1] Session on Gender Equality in the Workplace on 1st March
In conjunction with the Communication Division, this session was graced by 3 speakers including the Head of UN Environment, Mr. Erik Solheim; Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer for Strauss Energy, Ms. Charity Wanjiku; and Regional Director of the International Organization for Migration, Mr. Jeffrey Labovitz.
The speakers were inspiring and audience engagement was remarkable; special thanks go out to Ms. Amber Anderson of Communication Division, who moderated the session.
The session concluded in style with Mr. Solheim and Mr. Labovitz signing the ‘HeForShe[2]’ pledge officiated by UN Women representatives.
Opportunity for Staff to Celebrate their Gender Champions
UN Environment staff members were also given the opportunity to celebrate their gender champions within the workplace. Colleagues were encouraged to ‘pay it forward’ by naming those who had enriched their gender experience or done various activities in support of gender, be it in their day-to-day work or through projects and other avenues. This was a unique opportunity to acknowledge peers efforts hosted within the UN Environment intranet.
Global Goals World Cup on 5th March 2017
Sunday 5th March saw a number of UN Environment female colleagues put their ‘best foot forward’ at the Global Goals World cup where a number of volunteers from various agencies, missions, and non-governmental organisations played for the Sustainable Development Goals. UN Environment team was energetic and determined and won their first match which was also a tribute to the International Women’s Day and in support of Goal 14 – life below water, in solidarity with the clean seas campaign. The ‘amateur’ ladies team decked themselves in artistic cut-outs of marine life and discarded plastic to depict hazardous impact of plastics in our seas.
Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, UN Environment’s Deputy Executive Director graced the occasion as an honourable referee in a number of games, alongside famous Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (known by his screen name Jaime Lannister in the series Game of Thrones) and Victor Ochen, Nobel prize nominee for the African Youth Initiative. This important occasion was further commemorated by Mr. Thiaw’s signing of the ‘HeForShe3’ pledge by UN Women.
The exciting day’s events concluded with some inspiring words from Mr. Thiaw and Ms. Janet Kabeberi-Macharia (Head of Gender and Safeguards unit) ‘live’ from the event at the Impala Club in Nairobi; captured on youtube.
Heartfelt thanks go out to our UN Environment soccer team volunteers consisting of: Ms. Juliette Biao - Director of Africa Office, Ms. Abeer Zalatimo and Ms. Marte Sendstad – Executive Office, Ms. Amber Anderson and Ms. Bruna Lecossois - Communication Division and Ms. Damaris Mungai – Africa Office; and to all those who turned up to show their support. Very special thanks go to Ms. Amber Anderson and colleagues from the Communication Division for coordinating and supporting this very special event.
Video Message from UN Environment Head on International Women’s Day - the 8th of March 2017
To celebrate the International Women’s Day, a video message commemorating the International Women’s Day by UN Environment’s Head, Mr. Erik Solheim was shared with all staff. Touching on various real life stories and scenarios depicting the linkages between women and the environment, Mr. Solheim’s message delivered a particularly impactful and memorable byline “What is good for the planet, is good for women”,
Nairobi was also very privileged to have the UN Secretary General, Mr. with us on this important day. During his town-hall meeting with staff, Mr. Guterres reiterated his support to the cause of gender parity, as demonstrated in his new appointments.
The Africa Office organised tea and snacks to raise awareness on the significance of International Women's Day, with many thanks to Ms. Damaris Mungai for taking the lead. Colleagues were intrigued by its history as well as theme on gender parity at the work place. The session was very interactive and male colleagues took time to echo statements towards urging their female colleagues to be 'Bold for Change’. Statements like, ‘Be Bold for Change, Coz my daughter is watching’ were echoed. This very lively session was crowned by some inspiring words from Ms. Juliette Biao, Director of Africa Office, who focused on gender parity in UN Environment, how to engage diversity and shared interesting statistics on the African Continent.
Engage! Staff Voices Session on 13th March, 2017
Originally planned for the 8th of March, the ‘Engage! Staff Voices’ session took place on the 13th March. This milestone event was also the maiden session in an organization-wide series, led by Ms. Bruna Lecossois - Communication Division, chaired by Mr. Victor Tsang, Programme Officer, Gender and Safeguards Unit and supported by Human Resources colleagues, Ms. Monica Otemba, Ms. Maria Cunningham and Mr. Gert Pieltjes. This was a great opportunity for staff to have a frank conversation about gender-related concerns and to propose solutions to help bring about change. The session was very productive and the feedback received will be shared with senior management.
UN Environment Global News
UN Environment offices globally were not to be left behind! Various offices and regions observed the International Women’s Day in style. Feedback from the regions as received by the gender team include:
- In Athens: The Mediterranean Action Plan office, under the leadership of Mr. Gaetano Leone, observed International Women's Day by completing the "I know Gender" online training, culminating in an enviable 100% compliance rate! Staff members also took this opportunity to commit to mainstreaming gender in their daily work. Other milestones included: the introduction of the UN Environment Gender Policy to the Heads of the Regional Activity Centres; the inclusion of a presentation from the gender focal point in the staff meeting at the Coordinating Unit; and inclusion of an item on gender equality in the agenda of the upcoming 17th Meeting of the Mediterranean Commission on Sustainable Development to be held in July 2017. These impressive and actionable goals depict genuine commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of women. Special thanks go to Ms. Gyorgyi Gurban, MAP Gender Focal Point for all her fruitful efforts!
- In Geneva: Gender parity presentation and discussion was held on International Women’s Day, and was facilitated by Ms. Linda Kaseva, Gender and Environment Officer. Not to be left behind, the Europe Office celebrated gender and environment advocates and in their honor, an exhibition was launched at the International Environment House and was graced by Ms. Elena Manaenkova, Deputy Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization. To demonstrate their continued commitment, on Friday 10th March, the Geneva Women’s Informal Network was launched, and monthly meetings were planned.
- In Bangkok: The Asia & Pacific Office created social media outreach pertaining to the International Women’s Day, and commemorated the day with an event held at their offices.
All in all, this year’s International Women’s Day was observed by the UN Environment in style and the message reached a wider audience than in previous years. We look forward to next years’ event and would be pleased to post any stories you might want to share.
Useful resources:
- Why Gender Equality is Good for Everyone Men Included: Ted Talk
- Message from UN Environment Head: official video message
- Global Gender and Environment Outlook: Global Gender and Environment Outlook
- Gender Portal on UN Environment: gender website
- Gender and Programming on: Gender Marker
- Gender Publications on UN Environment's website: closing gender gap and women preserve biodiversity
[1] ‘Planet Unplugged’ sessions are informal information-sharing gatherings, centred on the work of the UN Environment.
[2]The ‘HeForShe’ pledge is a solidarity campaign calling for men and boys to come together as change agents in support of the advancement of women and girls.
