Introduction
Standards Development is generally dominated by men and standards have typically been produced to be “gender neutral” or “unisex.” The lack of balanced participation and the lack of gender-responsive standards has resulted in unnecessary health and safety risks for women and girls and led to standards having unequal impacts and/or unintended consequences such as negative financial impacts or lower quality of life. Historically, standard-setting bodies have operated without a policy for mainstreaming gender in their activities and in the management of their organizations.
The WP.6 “Gender-Responsive Standards” aims at providing a practical way forward for standards bodies wishing to take a step towards gender equality through the standards they develop and their standards development process. WP.6 also seeks to provide a forum for interested parties to come together to collaboratively develop expertise and guidance which can be shared.
In Focus
The Team of Specialists on Gender-Responsive Standards had its first meeting on 14 December 2022. The report is available on the event web page. Ms. Michelle Parkouda (Canada) was appointed chair, Ms. Stephanie Eynon (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) was appointed vice-chair and Ms. Lucy He (New Zealand) was appointed vice-chair.
- Key deliverables
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Symbol & Title
Issued date
ENG
FRA
RUS
ECE/CTCS/WP.6/2018/6/Rev.1
Recommendation U on Gender-Responsive Standards2018
Declaration on Gender-Responsive Standards and Standards Development and signatory database
2019
Case study repository of standards-related gender action plans
2022
Guidelines on Developing Gender-Responsive Standards
2022
ECE_TRADE_474
Why Gender-Responsive Standards are Better for Everyone2023 PDF - Other resources
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Author
Title
Issued date
Organization
Link
“A United Nations Program for Gender Equality in Standardization”, Standardization News, page 21
03-04/2018
ASTM
“Encouraging Action – on Standards”, International Gender Champions 2017 Annual Report, 2017, page 13
2017
International Gender Champions
Jachia, Lorenza
Standards & Gender Equality (PowerPoint)
2019
UNECE
Barraja, Magali
A Gender Lens to Sustainability Codes and Auditing Methodologies (PowerPoint)
11/2018
BSR
Mohan, Sara
The Gender Impact of Standards (PowerPoint)
11/2018
International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD)
PDF Braun, Patrice
APEC Gender Inclusion Guidelines (GIG) (Powerpoint)
26/03/2018
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
Hutchinson, Kimberley
Gender-Based Analysis Plus (PowerPoint)
23/10/2017
Status of Women Canada
He, Lucy
Gender Bias in Standardisation (PowerPoint)
09/2017
EnergySafety New Zealand
Promoting Entrepreneurship Among Young People and Women (Project Document)
2017
Réseau Normalisation et Francophonie (RNF)
Eynon, Stephanie
Standards-Makers Diversity & Inclusion
21/11/2019
British Standards Institute (BSI)
- History
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In 2016, WP.6 launched the Gender-Responsive Standards Initiative (GRSI). This is an important contribution to SDG 5, “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”. This has resulted in the publication in 2018 of the Recommendation U on Gender-Responsive Standards and the Declaration for Gender-Responsive Standards and Standards Development which has to date over eighty signatories.
- Impact
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Text forthcoming
- Events
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- First Annual meeting of the Team of Specialists on Gender-Responsive Standards, 24 May 2023
- Regular Team of Specialists on Gender-Responsive Standards meeting, 18 April 2023
- Regular Team of Specialists on Gender-Responsive Standards meeting, 8 February 2023
- Regular Gender-Responsive Standards Team of Specialists meeting, 14 December 2022
- Regular meeting of the Gender-Responsive Standards Initiative, 15 September 2022
- Gender, digitalization, environment: ensuring a sustainable future for all, 8 June 2022
- Gender-responsive standards for the inclusive workspace: How gender-responsive standards support occupational health and safety in the times of COVID-19, 25 November 2021
- Gender-Responsive Standards Initiative, 2 November 2020
- Meeting of Signatories of the Declaration on Gender-Responsive Standards and Standards Development, 20 November 2019
- Gender-Responsive Standards Initiative meeting, 14 November 2018
- Gender-Responsive Standards Initiative meeting, 28 November 2017
- First meeting of the Gender-Responsive Standards Initiative, 4 April 2017
- Policies and procedures
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Symbol & Title
Issued date
ENG
FRA
RUS
ECE/CTCS/2021/2/ADD.1
Terms of reference of the Team of Specialists on Gender-Responsive Standards2021