The Contribution of UN Women to Increasing Women’s Leadership and Participation in Peace and Security and in Humanitarian Response

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) was created in July 2010 and became operational in January 2011. The new entity consolidates the mandates of the four United Nations entities which previously focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment, namely: the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI), the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). In addition to its normative support and operational functions, UN Women is also responsible for leading, coordinating and promoting accountability of the United Nations system in its work on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
The purpose of the evaluation was to: (i) document and assess the contribution of UN Women and its predecessor entities to women’s leadership and participation in peace and security between 2008 and 2012; and (ii) identify lessons learnt and present forward-looking recommendations. The evaluation was led by an external independent team and took place between September 2012 and September 2013, during which there were two main phases of data collection and analysis.