Angolan Public Institutions Take First Steps Towards the Gender Equality Seal Certification

In July, the UNDP Pro-PALOP-TL Team, in partnership with the Global Gender Equality Seal Team, engaged key Angolan public institutions to explore interest and opportunities for strengthening their gender equality results through the Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions. This process was initiated during a UNDP-led workshop under the Pro PALOP-TL SAI project, with the financial support of the European Union. The initiative supports governance reforms in the five Portuguese-speaking African countries and Timor-Leste, with a focus on transparency, accountability, and the integration of gender equality into public finance management. The workshop brought together a range of mainly fiscal policy related public institutions, civil society organizations, and gender experts for intensive training, institutional dialogue, and strategic planning. 

From the public sector, the workshop convened a wide range of institutions at the heart of Angola’s governance system. From the Ministry of Finance, which shapes fiscal policy, to the Court of Auditors, which ensures spending is both legal and equitable, each plays a vital role in making budgets work better for gender equality. The National Assembly, with its new Technical Office for Budgetary Support and the active engagement of the Group of Women Parliamentarians, is also stepping up its capacity to integrate equality into legislative oversight. Alongside them, the Ministry of Social Action, Family and Women’s Promotion (MASFAMU) drives the national agenda on gender equality and women’s rights. 

Each of these institutions is strategically positioned to contribute to Angola’s gender equality commitments and goals, ensuring that fiscal governance actively addresses pervasive gender inequalities in the country and advances women’s economic autonomy. 

Training Activities and High-Level Engagement  

The three-day workshop in Luanda was dedicated to Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) and the Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions. The sessions combined presentations, case studies and good practices, practical exercises, and open discussion sessions. Participants learned about the findings of the Gender Sensitive State budget analysis 2025, the UNDP EQUANOMICS initiative, and engaged in hands-on activities applying the Seal’s five dimensions to their own institutional contexts, exploring concrete steps for meeting the certification benchmarks. 

As Ricardo Godinho Gomes, Senior Technical Advisor for Pro PALOP-TL, explained:  

The Seal is a tool developed to structure and transform public institutions into agents promoting gender equality, both in their daily practices and in the public policies they implement.

Through interactive tools, the workshop also gathered participants’ views on gender-equitable taxation and public spending. Many highlighted the importance of ensuring that tax systems do not unintentionally deepen inequalities, the value of sex-disaggregated data, and the need for stronger technical capacities to ensure that fiscal policies truly benefit women and men. Participants also underlined the importance of building institutional leadership, strengthening gender awareness, and embedding equality as a strategic commitment across public institutions. 

In addition to the workshop, targeted meetings between UNDP representatives and Angola’s Ministry of Finance, Court of Auditors, Ministry of Social Action, Family and Women’s Promotion (MASFAMU), and the Group of Women Parliamentarians took place. A highlight was the engagement with the National Assembly, which expressed interest in becoming the first African parliamentary institution to implement the Gender Equality Seal. This builds on years of cooperation between UNDP and the Assembly, including support for parliamentary training, gender-sensitive legislative processes, and the recent creation of the Technical Office for Budgetary Support – a new structure aimed at improving the quality and impact of legislative oversight. 

This is a good partnership because it is a way for us, as women, to be empowered and advocate for gender issues. Cooperation with UNDP also includes technical training, assistance in drafting gender-sensitive legislative proposals, and support for the Group of Women Parliamentarians.

Teresa Neto, Chair of the Group of Women Parliamentarians

A Foundation for Lasting Change 

This first engagement marks the beginning of a process that could position these four institutions as leaders in gender-responsive governance in Angola. By applying the Gender Seal, they will formalize gender equality as a core operational standard, increase transparency and accountability in resource allocation, and gain recognition for measurable progress toward national and international commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals and CEDAW obligations. 

The mission demonstrated how technical training, peer learning, and targeted institutional dialogue can translate the principle of gender equality into concrete governance reforms. As the institutions prepare to engage in the implementation of the Gender Equality Seal, they have the opportunity to strengthen Angola’s commitment to inclusive governance and to contribute to the growing global community of public institutions that place gender equality at the center of their work.