protection program
Additional Women’s Commission with UNHCR and other UN agencies
Additional Collaboration with UNHCR
The Women’s Commission is working with UNHCR to promote the use of a plan by the UN, governments and nongovernmental organizations to improve the protection of refugees and asylum seekers around the world. Read more about the Women’s Commission contributions to the implementation of this plan, called the “Agenda for Protection”, here.
The Women’s Commission is also collaborating with UNHCR for a more rights-based policy on urban refugees, as well as an updated version of the agency’s 1991 Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women, based on the review conducted of policy undertaken by the Women’s Commission in 2002. UNHCR’s Guidelines on Refugee Women were developed to help integrate the resources and needs of refugee women into all aspects of programming to ensure equitable protection and assistance activities. The Guidelines also recognize that special efforts may be needed to resolve problems faced specifically by refugee women.
The Women’s Commission is also contributing to the drafting of UNHCR’s Guidelines on the Best Interest Determinations for Unaccompanied and Separated Children.
Examining Gender in other UN Agencies
The Women’s Commission is also linking UNHCR’s gender mainstreaming work with that of other UN agencies to further promote equitable gender policies and practices by all those working in humanitarian assistance. The Women’s Commission is encouraging the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA) to mainstream age and gender in its Humanitarian Response Review for crisis affected populations including internally displaced persons – refer to "Mainstreaming Gender in Humanitarian Response."
The Women’s Commission has also undertaken studies of the gender mainstreaming approaches employed by two other UN agencies, the World Food Program (WFP) and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), to assess how the agencies can learn from each other and compliment approaches. Download "Moving Up the Food Chain: Lessons from Gender Mainstreaming at the World Food Program" and "Room to Maneuver: Lessons from Gender Mainstreaming in the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations."