Methodology for Tracking Financing for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in UN Programming

As a blueprint for development, the UN Secretary-General made a commitment in 2010 to ensure that at least 15 percent of UN-managed funds is dedicated to projects addressing women’s specific needs and advancing GEWE. However, the question remains as to what concrete mechanisms development actors can use to track financing for GEWE more effectively in programming, and so demonstrate greater accountability for gender equality commitments?

This working paper proposes a methodology using step-by-step guidelines to track planned and actual expenditure on GEWE in UN programming. It attempts to integrate United Nations Country Team (UNCT) Gender Equality Marker (GEM) processes within the UN INFO reporting system into this new methodology and is divided into three sections. The first section briefly reviews existing tracking systems and processes for gender equality. The second section proposes a detailed methodology for tracking UN system financing for GEWE, applied across the major phases of programming: from planning to implementation and closure. The third section attempts to apply the methodology to the example of PBF programming.

The paper concludes with recommendations in response to gaps and challenges in tracking financing for GEWE.