Unless you’ve been living under a rock– disconnected from UNDP realm and the corporate world -- chances are you already knew a thing or two about UNDP’s Gender Equality Seal.

UNDP’s Gender Seal provides a structured journey in tackling inequalities faced by women at companies and public administrations. The Seal was developed in collaboration with the private sector and governments, to create certification incentives when actions towards gender equality at workforce are met.

The Seal certificate is divided into three tiers;  bronze, silver and gold. Getting the gold may not be an easy feat, nonetheless with careful planning and execution, the gold certificate should be a realistic goal for all of UNDP Country Offices.

Our UNDP Indonesia colleagues have shared some tips to obtain the not so elusive Gold Gender Seal.

1.     BUILD GENDER EQUALITY DNA ACROSS THE BOARD

The key to building a gender equality DNA across the board at your office is to have continuous agenda of learning for all to raise the awareness on gender equality . There is no end to mastering the key aspects of gender equality, so make sure your annual learning agenda for staff is jammed with gender focused activities

2.     INCLUDE A GENDER SEAL REMINDER IN ALL ACTIVITIES

Once the Gender Seal DNA is bolstered throughout the Office, it’d be easier to include gender seal reminder in all of our activities. Whether it’s the Office retreat or internal celebration of National Days, always bring up the Gender Seal in the agenda. Always ask a question, how does this contribute to the ongoing seal process?  Are our activities in line with the Seal principles?

3.        APPOINT GENDER CHAMPIONS

Appoint someone at your office as the ‘Gender Champion’ of gender equality. We’re not talking about the official Gender Officer of the Country. They should be the non-specialist people who have expert knowledge on Gender Seal certificate. They should be the ‘go to’ persons for our staff in case they need immediate clarification and aspects of the Seal.

4.        AND APPOINT GENDER CHAMPIONS IN YOUR PROJECTS.

Everybody loves good inspiring stories.  So, why not create a monthly calendar of Gender Champion stories for your website? Not only it’s a great way to raise the visibility of our work, it can also inspire other projects to put our beneficiaries in non-traditional role. It’s also a good reminder for ourselves to avoid gender stereotypes in our thinking.

5.        CREATE A WATCHDOG SYSTEM

Having a small group of ‘gender police’ who act as the watch dog is a great way to keep key aspects of our Office and visibility and outreach, in line with the Seal. For example, our communication team is the gender police of ‘men’s spanel’. Whenever we see UNDP events or UNDP-affiliated events featuring all male panels, we’d be sure to stop them from happening.

6.        HAVE A SET OF GENDER DATA READY FOR YOUR OUTREACH.

UNDP is home to a wealth of rich data on human development and environment. Create a simple table of gender-related data, ranging from your country’s gender inequality indexes to women’s in politics. They could serve as a great starting point to imbue your visibility/ outreach products with gender equality messages in speeches and press releases.

7.        STRONG LEADERSHIP

They say a ship can’t navigate well without a good captain. Our last point is a tribute to the solid leadership within our Country Office that was instrumental in navigating our journey to the Gold. While our staff was constantly reminded of our goal to grab the gold, our senior management lent their support and guidance and motivated us continuously. Key to the success was also the strong guidance and input from the Regional Bureau Asia Pacific, particularly from the regional gender advisor.