Bhutan partners with UNDP and UNDESA to build capacities for promoting the presence and leadership of women in public administration at both national and local levels.
Photo: UNDP Bhutan/Hiroshi Ito
Officials from the Royal Civil Service Commission (RCSC) and National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC) recently came together for a workshop on promoting gender equality in public administration on 17 – 20 October 2023. This is part of the project, “Building capacities for promoting the presence and leadership of women within public institutions at national and local levels”. Funded by the Government of Italy, the project is being implemented by UNDP, UNDESA and NCWC.
Whilst women’s representation in the civil service in Bhutan increased from 38 per cent in 2019 to 40 per cent in 2022, and in decision-making executive and executive specialist categories from 14 per cent in 2019 to 20 per cent in 2022, women continue to be underrepresented particularly in decision-making levels.
The project aims to develop an action plan to address gender gaps in public administration and workshop participants engaged in in-depth discussions on gaps, policies and initiatives to enhance women’s leadership roles in the public sector. Recommendations included:
Gender balance in the Human Resource Committee (HRC)
Gender friendly working environment
Awareness and sensitization on gender equality for HRC
Capacity building and mentoring programmes for women civil servants
Enhanced referral and reporting mechanism for sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment to address gender-based violence at the workplace
Strengthen collection and analysis of gender disaggregated data.
Next steps include country-specific support to develop and implement action plans that prioritize gender equality in public administration.
Get in touch with us to find out more about the project.
Thanks to UNDP Bhutan for the news story: you can read more from UNDP Bhutan here
