Getting the
Gender seal

The Seal is a five-step programme that serves as a learning platform to help development organizations establish baselines, fine-tune strategies, address gender gaps, document innovations and showcase the impacts of interventions for gender equality. Unlike the usual audit or evaluation, the Seal process creates an inclusive and open space for free thinking and stimulates out-of-the-box thinking.
Gender Seal - Process visualization - displays 5 steps with icons
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Call for applicants

The Gender Seal is a voluntary exercise and its important for each organization/office to have ownership over the process. If your organization is interested in learning more about the Gender Seal please contact us.

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Self-Assessment and Feedback

After working with the Gender Seal to establish a benchmarking system aligned to the organizations policies, procedures, and development goals, the organization will carry out a self-assessment. This exercise allows the organization to self-reflect and determine where it stands with respect to the gender equality standards - it is an extensive exercise and requires time and dedication. 

After receiving the organization's self-assessment, a team of assessors will review the documentation, score, and provide substantive feedback for each benchmark as well as overall recommendations.

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Improvement and Learning

Using the recommendations of the self-assessment, organizations will prepare an action plan to improve overall performance of the office. The action plan should be developed to address gaps, challenges, identify ‘pressure points’, and methods to accelerate improvement.

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Final Assessment

After the action plan implementation period is concluded, a final certification assessment will be conducted using the same benchmarking system established for the self-assessment. The certification level will be determined based on the score of the final assessment.

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Awards Ceremony and Certification

Organizations will receive the Gender Equality Seal certification based on their level of achievement and news of Country Office certification will be circulated among UNDP networks globally.

Certification Levels 

Bronze Gender Seal For Development

Bronze

Full compliance with mandatory actions for gender inetrgation; strong partnerships with other key actors; and programmes meets minimum criteria for gender-responsiveness.

Silver Gender Seal For Development

Silver

Fulfils all qualifications for a Bronze. In addition, strong synergies between gender integration actions in different organisational domains; gender concerns effectively integrated into planning cycle; consistent advocacy on gender issues; public visibility and legitimacy as a committed actor for gender equality

Gold

Fulfils all qualifications for a Bronze and a Silver. In addition, proven expertise in designing and managing gender-transformative programmes across issues; credible and rigorous evidence-base to support claims of transformative gendered impacts of interventions; substantive contributions to achievement of national gender goals; pro-active engagement with global agendas; role and contributions acknowledged and respected by government counterparts and development community.