Gender Team: What are some of the changes and progress you have seen in terms of promoting gender equality since the adoption of the first UNOV/UNODC Gender Mainstreaming Strategy? Are there any moments and achievements that stand out?
Ashita Mittal: With the adoption of the first Gender Strategy, the UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia (ROCA) has been making a conscious effort to mainstream gender in all of its work, including representation of women accross the security and justice sectors.
We have also worked on enhancing the capacity of national partners with gender sensitive evidence-based policymaking, including in crime statistics systems, coducting victimization surveys and gender-sensitive budgeting. To ensure an effective approach, we consulted with women's rights movements, associations of women in law enforcement and independent gender experts and research institutes. We also included them in our programme delivery.
Furthermore, with the COVID-19 pandemic, ROCA has been delievring the much-needed support to governments in the region in strengthening crime prevention and criminal justice responses to gender-based violence against women, as well as providing victim-centred technical assistance through global and field-based programmes. In line with this, our Office is helping to draft national action plans, strengthening referral systems, supporting forensics professionals and specialised clinics, and training prosecutors, police officers and emergency call operators.
Gender Team: What do you think are the next big steps towards closing the gender gap in the work that your Regional Office does and where would you like to be in 2026 in terms of gender equality?
Ashita Mittal: Gender equality is an essential part of the UNODC Programme for Central Asia 2022-2025. Within this programme, UNODC ROCA aims to carry out a range of gender-related activities, such as preventing and addressing violence against women, promoting women's access to justice and supporting the implementation of National Strategies on Gender Equality.
Looking ahead, there is a need to work on the costing of UNODC interventions through a gender lens and the introduction of more specific gender indicators. Gender audits and budgeting are thus important steps in the right direction. It is also critical that staff, both men and women, are trained on gender and how to practically mainstream gender into programmes so that we can challenge and change gender stereotypes.Gender Team: How do you view the role of leadership in successfully promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in UNOV/UNODC’s work and its working environment?
Ashita Mittal: I believe that if we are to make real progress towards achieving gender equality and the empowerment of womne, we need what I call a "resocialization of the organization". This would mean a change in the way of thinking, behaving, and acting in our organizational culture. And leadership plays a vital role in achieving this.
A keyway to achieve gender diversity at all levels is to ensure the success of women leaders in the earliest stages of their management career. Women continue to face significant barriers to carrying out leadership roles due to the law enforcement mandate of our organization. To address this, we require a prolonged and multi-faceted commitment by both men and women leaders to identify the obstacles faced by women in leadership roles. There is also a need to establish clear job performance evaluation criteria and start specialized training programmes to prepare women for leadership roles. As with men, women are more likely to be promoted if they are actively coached on career development. Senior leaders must ensure that emerging women leaders are given the same opportunities as their male counterparts to showcase their abilities, stretch their roles, network with senior leaders, and promote their visibility at the executive level.
