Vienna (Austria), 23 October 2020 – The Enabling Environment Guidelines (EEGs) were launched in Vienna in 2019 by UN Women, UNOV/UNODC and UNIDO, to address inclusivity and diversity within the UN by changing the organizational culture and engaging in a corporate transformation.
Katja Pehrman, UN Women Senior Adviser, explains that the EEGs are “about creating a working environment that embraces equality, eradicates bias and is inclusive of all staff.”
To that effect, and to mark the one-year anniversary of their launch, the Vienna-based Organizations’ Gender Focal Points and Focal Points for Women (VBO GFPs) hosted an Enabling Environment Week, between the 19th and 23rd of October 2020.
The virtual dialogues held throughout the week served to highlight the topics covered in the EEGs —workplace flexibility, talent management, standard of conduct, inclusivity, family-friendly policies and recruitment— while the online setting rendered the events inclusive and accessible for UNODC staff members in the field.
The thematic discussions addressed field staff-specific needs and LGBTIQ+ staff’s concerns: inclusivity, after all, is at the core of the EEGs and its main driver to get a broader buy-in at all levels of the organization.
“We really need everyone involved,” says Ms. Pehrman. “All levels of leadership, Human Resources and every single staff member of the organization. We recognize that the success of the EEGs is a joint effort.”
The Enabling Environment Guidelines (EEGs) give recommendations for organizations, managers and individuals on the following three thematic areas to increase inclusivity and diversity within the UN: (1) flexible working arrangements, (2) family-friendly policies, and (3) standards of conduct.Supplementary guidance on the EEGs has also been provided by UN Women where further concrete actions are recommended and best practices are given. This guidance covers the original 3 topics of the EEGs plus (4) recruitment and (5) talent management.
The EGGs for the United Nations System were developed in 2019 in response to the Secretary General’s Gender Parity Strategy. The EEGs provide UN system-wide guidance on the creation of an enabling environment — one that promotes a more diverse, inclusive and respectful work environment. This is vital for achieving gender parity, and also a key to sustaining it.
