The United Nations Secretariat, in September 1999, promulgated Administrative Instruction (AI) on "Special Measures for the Achievement Of Gender Equality" (ST/AI/1999/9, also Gender Equality A/I), to strengthen and expedite measures to achieve gender equality in the United Nations' staff, especially in posts in the Professional category. Gender Equality A/I (ST/AI/1999/9), which superseded ST/AI/412 of 5 January 1996, came into effect on 1 October 1999. In 2012, Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in his Annual Reports to the General Assembly, titled "Improvement of the status of women in the United Nations system" stated that Special Measures are "procedures designed to accelerate the achievement of gender parity at the Professional levels and above" and that the aim of these procedures was to ensure "gender balance in recruitment and promotion" and rectify "past and current forms and effects of discrimination against women". The Secretary General reiterated that Special measures for gender equality would remain in effect until the "goal of gender parity is achieved, and would be sustained for a period of time".

Gender Equality A/I echoes the goals of, and is in conformity with, mandate of Articles 8 and 101 of the Charter of the United Nations, and Article 4 paragraph 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

Article 4 paragraph 1, CEDAW The CEDAW or the Convention, also known as the international Bill of Women's Rights, is a legally binding international treaty ratified by 187 States Parties, that entered into force in 1981. All parties to CEDAW, including the UN, are bound to honor it. The UN Doctrine of Gender Equality, and 'Special Measures for Gender Equality' are inspired by and rooted in the CEDAW, specifically in Article 4 paragraph 1, which states:

General Recommendation No. 25, on Article 4, paragraph 1 of CEDAW The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), an expert body composed of 23 experts on women's issues established in 1982 to monitor the progress of the CEDAW's implementation, in 2004, adopted General Recommendation 25, on Temporary Special Measures, on Article 4 paragraph 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The general recommendation "clarifies the nature and meaning of article 4, paragraph 1, in order to facilitate and ensure the implementation of Temporary special measures and accelerate progress in achieving gender equality in employment and professional fields".

The purpose of the "special measures", which are 'temporary' is "to accelerate the improvement of the position of women to achieve their "substantive equality with men, and to effect the structural, social and cultural changes necessary to correct past and current forms and effects of discrimination against women, as well as to provide them with compensation." These are not an exception 'to the norm of non-discrimination', but rather 'part of a necessary strategy' to achieve 'substantive equality of women'. The 'temporary special measures', includes 'preferential treatment; targeted recruitment, hiring and promotion; numerical goals connected with time frames; and quota systems'.

UN and Article 4, paragraph 1 on Special Measures The UN Committee on CEDAW in its general recommendations number 25 commended the Secretary General on his initiative to implement 'temporary special measures', noting "The use of temporary special measures by the Secretary-General of the United Nations is a practical example in the area of women's employment, including through administrative instructions on the recruitment, promotion and placement of women in the Secretariat. These measures aim at achieving the goal of 50/50 gender distribution at all levels, but at the higher echelons in particular".

In 2012, the UN Secretary General drawing attention to Article 4 paragraph 1 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) assured the General Assembly that Special Measures were temporary, and will "be discontinued when gender parity has been achieved and sustained for a period of time".

Gender inequality in the UN Gender equality in the United Nations (UN), particularly at managerial and decision-making positions at the D-1 level and above level, has been a United Nations General Assembly goal since 1970 and a recurring concern since then. In 1984, the UN Secretariat, in order to better focus efforts to wards achieving Gender Equality, prepared its first five-year "Action plan to improve the status of women for the period 1985–90". Since then there have been several Five Year Plans, including Strategic Plans, to Improve the Status of Women in the UN. In 1990, the United Nations General Assembly after years of slow progress, urged the Secretary General to "accord priority" to increase "the participation of women at the D-1 level and above to 25 per cent" by 1995. In December 1994, the UN General Assembly "disappointment" that the targets set in 1990 were not achieved and that women in posts at the D-1 level were "still well below the 25 per cent goal", urged the Secretary General to prioritize the recruitment and promotion of women to reach to 50/50 representation in D1 and above posts by 2000. In February 2004, in the context of the continuing sluggish progress in achieving the target of gender parity the General Assembly revised the target for achieving 50/50 goal to 2015. Gender parity in the UN has become a distant goal, and since 2005 the UN has stopped indicating the target year when gender parity will be achieved.

Representation of women in decision-making positions Women's representation in the UN secretariat, at the D1 level, in 2000, was 30.3 percent. By 2009, the representation of women in the secretariat at D1 level decreased to 26.7 percent; by way comparison the representation in the entire UN system in 2009 was 29.2 percent.

The representation of women in 2011 in the secretariat at D2 level was 24.4 percent. In December 2011, the representation of women in the Secretariat at the D1 level was 27.4 percent, an increase of .6 percent over a two-year period. At the current rate of progress, according to the secretary general's report, gender parity at the D-1 to higher levels will be achieved after 102 years.

Reasons for continuing gender equality Reasons most frequently cited for failure to meet the General Assembly targets for Gender Equality, and slide in women's representation at the D1 and above level, according to the Secretary General, are: [a] failure by some "entities" in the "implementation of special measures for gender equality", and [b] tardy implementation of five year Actions Plans [para 143]. In 2010–2011, only two out of thirty departments in the UN applied the "target of gender parity" [A/67/347, p. 46, paragraph 110(b)]. The UN Secretariat, the largest entity in the United Nations system, in which 38.7 percent of the staff is women, according to the report, claimed to be one of them.

Special measures for the achievement of gender equality The Special Measures in ST/AI/1999/9, which has four sections, apply throughout the Secretariat "for the filling of all vacant posts in the Professional category and above", including temporary posts. Sections 1.6 and 1.8 of the ST/AI makes clear that special measures "shall apply to the selection of staff for posts in all categories where women are under-represented".

Goal The Goal of the Special Measures as set by the General Assembly is to achieve a 50/50 gender distribution in the entire organization and all departments, and in all "posts in the professional category and above, including posts at the D1 level and above. This goal applies throughout the Organization, and in every department, office or regional commission, overall and at each level. It applies not only to posts subject to geographical distribution but to all categories of posts, irrespective of the type or duration of the appointment ..., the series of the Staff Rules under which the appointment is to be given ... or the source of funding. ..."

Cumulative seniority Section 1.6 of ST/AI/1999/9 mandates that "Cumulative seniority shall be taken into account when considering women candidates for promotion, except when it would adversely affect their situation. Cumulative seniority shall be calculated as the average of the years of the staff member accrued in her present Professional grade and in her immediately preceding Professional grade".

Selection appointment Section 1.8 of ST/AI/1999/9 mandates "Vacancies in the Professional category and above shall be filled, when there are one or more women candidates, by one of those candidates" when "Her qualifications meet the requirements for the vacant post"; and "her qualifications are substantially equal (emphasis added) or superior to those of competing male candidates" (Section 1.8 (i)(ii)).

Implementation and monitoring The Heads of Departments (HODs) of UN entities are responsible, and accountable, for the implementation of the special measures, and the Office of Human Resources (OHRM), under the Department of Management (DM), is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the special measures. The Steering Committee for the Improvement of the Status of Women in the Secretariat (ST/SGB/1999/9) is responsible for monitoring and implementation of policies of gender equality, including Special Measures.

Status

Appointments, placement and promotion The current policies for appointments, placement and promotion to obtain gender equality in the United Nations system are outlined in ST/SGB/282 (Policies to Achieve Gender Equality in the United Nations), and ST/AI/1999/9 (Special Measures for Achievement of Gender Equality), which entered into force on 1 October 1999. Gender Equality A/I is listed under the heading "Appointments, placement and promotion" in the Index to Administrative Issuance in effect as on 31 December 2013. The Gender Equality A/I is in force, and will remain in effect, as the UN secretariat has made clear, "until specifically amended or abolished".

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, known as UN Women, the United Nations entity responsible for 'gender equality', and holding "the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality" has also promulgated that the Gender Parity A/I will "remain in effect until the Secretary-General is satisfied that substantial progress towards the goal of gender balance has been made".

Secretary General Report on Special Measures Special Measures have found regular affirmation by the Secretary General in his reports to the General Assembly. In 2011, Secretary-General's Policy Committee, of which all heads of departments (HOD) are members, including HOD of management, decided on "specific actions" to "accelerate progress towards the goal of gender parity". An important measure identified for action was measures for more effective implementations of Special Measures. The Secretary General in the "Report of the Secretary General" to the General Assembly, in September 2012, to accelerate the goal of gender parity, affirmed the following: Special measures, include "targeted recruitment and promotion" Temporary special measures, paraphrasing section 1.8 of ST/AI 1999/9, "should be effectively utilized for the placement of women candidates who are equally or substantially better qualified and should be introduced or restored in entities and at levels where progress is slow".