Gender equality is at the centre of human rights and of the UN’s values. A fundamental principle of the United Nations Charter, adopted by world leaders in 1945, is ‘equal rights of men and women’.

Despite this, the rights of women and girls continue to be violated throughout society, and no country or territory has achieved equality for women and girls. All forms of gender discrimination constitute human rights violations, and we are committed to working for gender equality.

To use the words of the Beijing Declaration, ‘We dedicate ourselves unreservedly to addressing these constraints and obstacles and thus enhancing further the advancement and empowerment of women all over the world, and agree that this requires urgent action in the spirit of determination, hope, cooperation and solidarity…’

With this commitment, we provide all our organisational capacity to fostering gender equality, undoing gender stereotypes, empowering women and girls, combatting discrimination and involving men in reaching this equality. UNESCO Etxea believes in making the gender perspective a cross-cutting matter in all areas of the organisation, whether policy, structure, organisation of work, employment policy, work areas or projects.

This commitment is manifested in several tools which are a reference for the inclusion of gender equality in our day-to-day work:

• UNESCO Etxea Position Statement on Gender
• Action Plan for Gender Equality
• Protocol for Gender-Equal Communication

To ensure proper implementation and monitoring of these commitments, we have an Internal Group on Gender comprising one person from the Board of Directors (Virginia Gómez), the Director (Arantza Acha) and the Gender Focal Point (Nekane Viota).