The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office in Samoa has credited collaboration with local partners for a gender equality in-house award that it won recently.

The UNDP Multi-Country Office in Samoa said in a statement issued on Friday that it received the Gender Equality Seal Gold Certification at the end of last month, which is recognition for its work in advancing gender equality in the countries that it serves namely the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tokelau. 

The gold is the highest level of certification under the UNDP Gender Equality Seal, a corporate standard for gender equality that organisations can qualify for and be benchmarked against, to receive certification in accordance with best practices on gender equality inside an organisation.

As the Samoa Victim Support Group’s Torch of Peace made its way around Samoa this week, and preparations began for the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence at the end of the month, the UNDP said it was privileged to support both events through the Spotlight Initiative. This collaboration with national partners, especially with civil society organisations (CSOs) is at the core of UNDP’s work.

UNDP Resident Representative, Aliona Niculita said the award the UNDP Multi-Country Office won is due to the office's ability to unite organisations. 

“This award, and the work we do with national partners for gender equality, is a testament to the convening role of UNDP in bringing together CSOs that champion women’s empowerment and movement-building towards the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Ms. Niculita.

“For Samoa, the journey continues as much work still remains to be done as we strive to ensure we are making a positive impact in the lives of the women, girls, men, boys and diverse groups and ensuring we do not leave anyone behind.”  

One of the Samoa MCO’s key strengths in this gender equality seal process, was its ability to engage partners using a contextualized approach, rooted in the cultural values of consultation, participation, reciprocity, compassion, and love.

The certification process began in 2021, with the Samoa MCO joining the Gender Equality Seal for the first time. A key prerequisite for meeting the seal benchmark criteria was having in place a Gender Equality Strategy and Plan of Action to guide the work of the organisation in this area.

The seal encourages all offices to mainstream gender in every aspect of their work, from programming to operations to communications and ensures the interventions are relevant and gender transformative within the local context.

Since 2011, the Gender Equality Seal has worked with 57 UNDP Country Offices across all regions. To receive a Gender Equality Seal, standards must be met in seven outcome areas that include management systems, in-house capacities, enabling environment, communications and knowledge management, programmes, partnerships, and gender impacts and results.  

The UNDP Samoa MCO wishes to acknowledge the strong partnerships with the  Governments of Samoa, Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau, CSOs, the private sector, the National Human Rights Institution, women’s movement organisations, faith-based leaders, academia and researchers, women and individual enablers and influencers, as well as development partners, and other UN agencies, who have contributed to UNDP Samoa’s gold mission journey.