20 March 2024, Vienna (Austria). On 11-22 March 2024, governments, civil society organizations and experts from across the world gather for the 68th annual Commission on the Status of Women, the UN's largest annual gathering on gender equality and women's empowerment. This year's event focuses on "Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective".
The UNODC Global Programme on Implementing the Organized Crime Convention has been making significant strides towards this goal and has been supporting Member States in the strengthening of institutions to achieve gender and human rights sensitive approaches to organized crime. The Gender and Human Rights Project, generously funded by the governments of the United Kingdom and Canada, aims to support policymakers, legislators and legislative drafters in the mainstreaming of intersectional gender and human rights considerations in the development of law and policies against organized crime. To this end, UNODC launched the Toolkit on Mainstreaming Gender and Human Rights in the Implementation of the Organized Crime Convention.
In light of Women's History Month and the 68th Commission on the Status of Women, UNODC sat down with the women leaders who have played a key role in seeing this project come to light: Ambassador Corinne Kitsell from the United Kingdom and Xiaohong Li, the Chief of the Conference Support Section, Organized Crime and Illicit Trafficking Branch of UNODC.
Xiaohong Li: Women and girls represent half of the world's population and therefore also half of its potential. Achieving gender equality is not a favour to women but it is good for us all. We all have witnessed and experienced the progress made towards this common goal. But unfortunately, women and girls continue to face discrimination and human rights violations and abuses. We still have a long way to go. At the current rate of change, full equality for women is 300 years away. It is of paramount importance to drastically step up the pace of change. The achievement of gender equality is fundamental to the work of the United Nations.
Knowing that one day we can achieve a society where everyone is free and equal is my motivation for advocating for this cause. At UNODC, we recognise that gender inequality is an enabler of organized crime, and only if we advocate for and work on equality can we achieve a society that is just and safe for all.
As a female professional like Ambassador Kitsell, I have first-hand experience of the social benefits of mainstreaming a gender perspective into all aspects of work. Meanwhile, I also empathise the intersectional gender barriers faced by women and girls. I recognise the key role that senior leadership plays in supporting the mainstreaming of gender across the work that we do. For this reason, I am committed to supporting my colleagues and partners in these efforts, and utilising my position to ensure that gender is a cross cutting consideration across all aspects of our work.
Ambassador Kitsell: Gender equality impacts every single one of us. No matter our gender. But sadly, I see that gender equality is becoming a more divisive issue around the world.
I see that the UK has a role to play in countering these efforts, we are well-placed to step up and defend the gains made and drive forward progress for women and girls. We helped secure the dedicated SDG 5 on gender equality, and the mainstreaming of gender equality across Agenda 2030. We will continue to use our membership of UN bodies, including of course UNODC, and other multilateral organizations to promote women's and girl's rights.
Last year, the UK published the Women and Girls Strategy (2023-2030). It sets out that: "We can only build a fairer, safer, wealthier and greener world, where everyone benefits and no one is left behind, if we put women and girls at the forefront of our efforts."
On a personal level, I have experienced first-hand that having women in leadership roles is essential to break down gender barriers and foster more inclusive approaches. At the start of my career, back in the 1990s, it was rare to see female leaders in diplomatic circles. Over time I think we realised that you can't make good policy without considering the different perspectives and impacts that female voices bring. And now we see many female leaders, providing strong role models to the next generation.
Xiaohong Li: Recognising the experiences of all persons, including women, girls, men and boys, is vital in the fight against organized crime. Through looking at the different gendered experiences and other intersectional attributes such as race, ethnicity and disability, we are able to identify trends in organized criminal activity, such as who is affected by organized crime, who is perpetrating organized crime, and how organized crime differently impacts women, girls, men and boys. An intersectional gender approach is key for the development of effective responses to organized crime.
The experiences of women continue to be overlooked due to gender stereotypes of what it means to be a woman. Through the association of women as vulnerable, we overlook the significant role that women can play in organized criminal groups. History has shown us that women can be organized criminal leaders as well, just look at the cases of Griselda Blanco, Yang Fenglan, and Sister Ping to name a few.
Ambassador Kitsell: Xiaohong has highlighted an extremely valid point but we should also not shy away from the fact that women and girls are often victims of organized crime as well. Therefore, it is imperative that their experiences are taken into account. This will promote effective, long-lasting solutions that ensure that the rights of everyone are respected and protected throughout the criminal justice process. Including the perspectives of women and girls isn't a nice to have: it is a necessity to tackle the growing global problem.
Ambassador Kitsell: Those working on tackling organized crime, such as policymakers and law enforcement, need to make sure that the responses they are designing are inclusive and fair. That can only be done by mainstreaming gender and human rights in their work.
Xiaohong Li: Yes, for this reason I am proud to say that the Gender and Human Rights Project is one of the first UNODC projects to specifically focus on gender and human rights mainstreaming in preventing and combating organized crime. The Gender and Human Rights Toolkit has been vital in UNODC's efforts to bring gender and human rights mainstreaming to the forefront of the fight against organized crime.
The Toolkit highlights opportunities to mainstream gender and human rights at all stages of the law and policymaking cycle and offers guidance on mainstreaming gender and human rights in normative and policy efforts to implement the Convention. With the Toolkit and the targeted dissemination activities carried out by the project team, national policymakers and legislative drafters are given the skills to develop inclusive responses to organized crime.
Ambassador Kitsell: Since its official launch at the UN General Assembly in New York last year, the project has been rolled out to three regions: South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The mainstreaming of gender and human rights in policies and legislation might differ regionally. So it is important to discuss best practices and share challenges and approaches. The regional dissemination is a fantastic way to bring people together with the same aim of fighting organized crime and to discuss how they can integrate gender and human rights mainstreaming to achieve these ends.
Xiaohong Li: Yes, I completely agree. In the past four months the project team has already trained over 130 stakeholders so far. The next couple of months will be a busy period, as UNODC will be rolling out the Toolkit in Eastern and Southern Africa, Central Asia, South-Eastern Europe, West and Central Africa and the Pacific.
One of the biggest changes is the community of policymakers and legislators that has been created as a result of this project. In November 2023, UNODC launched the Network of Women in Law and Policy against Organized Crime for West and Central Africa with the aim of increasing female participation and representation in law and policy development. This has been a really important step towards effective gender mainstreaming because the reality is, without the equitable participation of women, we are unable to achieve effective and representative approaches to combat organized crime.
Xiaohong Li: We have already seen great results brought by the project, with several countries adopting organized crime strategies that include gender and human rights considerations. The Project is expected to significantly increase the number of States that mainstream gender in policies, legislation and strategies to prevent and combat organized crime. The work is contributing to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the full equality of rights and opportunities between men and women.
Ambassador Kitsell: We want States to have the knowledge and tools to strengthen and mainstream gender and human rights in legislation and policies against organized crime. So, we will continue with the international rollout of the project and UNDOC will look to assist individual countries with more focused and targeted assistance. I hope that this work will contribute to a more just, peaceful and inclusive world for all.
Thank you to Xiaohong Li and Ambassador Kitsell for your support in the project. Find out more about the Gender and Human Rights Project.
