https://www.unido.org/news/unidos-leadership-gender-equality-strong-un-s...
Gender equality is more than a principle - it is catalyst for innovation, competitiveness and inclusive growth. UNIDO’s recent achievements and decisions underscore this commitment, from system-wide accountability to global advocacy.
UNIDO’s UN-SWAP Performance in 2024: setting the benchmark
Under the UN System-wide Action Plan for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-SWAP), UNIDO continues to deliver outstanding results.
For the third consecutive year, UNIDO met or exceeded 94% of UN-SWAP indicators, placing the Organization well above the UN system average and positioning UNIDO as a leader among technical agencies. These results reaffirm UNIDO’s leadership in advancing gender equality within the UN technical agencies.
This strong performance reflects UNIDO’s success in embedding gender equality across its operations – from project design and implementation to institutional leadership and staff capacity-building. By consistently delivering on these indicators, UNIDO demonstrates that gender-responsive approaches are not only possible but essential for inclusive and sustainable industrial development.
This outstanding performance reflects UNIDO’s commitment to embedding gender equality within its operations and accountability frameworks. It also underscores the dedication of colleagues across the Organization, especially the Gender Focal Point Network, whose hard work and commitment have been instrumental in driving these results. At the same time, UNIDO acknowledges areas where further progress is needed, including enhancing project implementation to achieve stronger gender results, increasing programmatic expenditures dedicated to gender equality, and continuing efforts toward achieving gender parity by 2028.
UNIDO General Conference adopts landmark resolution: 21 April declared International Day of Women in Industry
Building on this strong foundation, the 21st session of the UNIDO General Conference, held as the Global Industry Summit 2025 from 23 to 27 November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, adopted a historic resolution tabled by Mexico and Norway, declaring 21 April as the International Day of Women in Industry. This initiative, presented by the UNIDO Group of Friends for Gender Equality (co-chaired by Finland and Honduras), creates a global platform to recognize women’s contributions and accelerate gender inclusive industrial transformation. The International Day will serve three purposes: to celebrate women’s roles in industry, to highlight progress and remaining gaps in gender equality, and to mobilize collaboration for practical solutions.
Women’s Empowerment Day: driving change
The Conference further featured a dedicated Women’s Empowerment Day under the theme “Women’s Role in the Future of Industry and Economy.” High-level dialogues showcased good practices and explored solutions for removing barriers, expanding technical training and scaling gender-responsive finance. Speakers emphasized that empowering women in modern supply chains, digital and green industries is not only fair – it is smart economics, driving innovation and competitiveness.
Complementing these discussions, the Conference also featured a dedicated campaign on women’s empowerment, ELLEvate, showcasing 60 powerful portraits and stories of women driving industrial development across UNIDO programmes. Combining portrait photography with compelling storytelling, the campaign highlighted women’s leadership, innovation and impact across sectors, with QR codes linking visitors to extended online stories. With women’s empowerment serving as a central theme of the General Conference, every aspect of the exhibition highlighted women’s narratives and contributions. A dedicated section further highlighted one of UNIDO’s cross-cutting priorities, women and youth empowerment, presenting targeted projects and programmes with a particular emphasis on advancing women’s empowerment worldwide.
