Solutions to achieve gender parity amongst national UNICEF Nepal staff

The United Nations (UN) has fallen short in meeting commitments - which date back to 1970 - to achieve gender parity. Conversely, UNICEF globally has achieved gender parity. This global average
however hides a gender imbalanced workforce at the regional level, in country offices and in functional areas. At UNICEF Nepal, men are over-represented in the workforce. The most significant gender imbalance lies within the category of national staff. Based on analysis of Human Resources (HR) recruitment and workforce data and interviews with UN staff, the research identified potential reasons for the under-representation of Nepalese women. Nepalese women are not leaving their jobs any more than men, career development opportunities are similar for men and women, selection procedures do not discriminate against women, there are policies in place for flexible work arrangements. From this elimination process, the main reason for the under-representation of women at UNICEF Nepal is that only a small number of women are applying to positions in the first place. From an array of potential reasons for women not applying to UNICEF Nepal, UNICEF can address the perception that UNICEF is a boys’ club that is inflexible in terms of working arrangements. Next, the research explored solutions from other UNICEF country offices, UN entities, the private sector and academia. The study presented practical solutions for UNICEF Nepal to adopt: Temporarily hiring only women, talent outreach, adapting and creating new traineeship and fellowship programmes, better communicating UNICEF’s goals on gender parity and job advertisements tailored to women. Beyond its direct application to UNICEF Nepal, this paper could inspire reflection at the country office, regional office and headquarters on solutions to achieve a more diverse workforce respecting gender balance, equitable geographical distribution, caste and others. In sum, it could guide reflection on solutions for UNICEF to have a workforce more representative of the society.