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Presentations

Working Group Presentations at the UN

2021: Virtual Presentation to UNDP Colleagues Worldwide, March 18

The GEPA Working Group presented, "Gender Equality in Public Administration in the COVID-19 Era," the culmination of the Working Group's research from the 2020-2021 academic year. This was a closed presentation to UNDP staff and leadership. The presentation focused on links between gender equality in public adminsitration and COVID-19, including:

  • public administrators in the health sector;
  • COVID-19 task forces; and
  • gender-sensitive policy responses to COVID-19 targeting civil servants.

2019: 63rd Commission on the Status of Women, New York, March 14-16

GIRL Co-Directors Müge Finkel and Melanie Hughes participated in a High-Level Roundtable Discussion on Gender Equality in Public Institutions for Sustaining Peace. The event was livestreamed by iKNOW Politics. The event moderator was Raquel Lagunas, Senior Advisor on Gender at UNDP. Other roundtable participants included:

  • H.E. Ms. Ana Maria Tribin Uribe, President's High Advisor for Women’s Equality, Republic of Colombia
  • H.E. Ms. Janet Camilo Hernández, Minister of Women, Dominican Republic
  • H.E. Ms. Awut Deng Achuil, Gender, Child and Social Welfare, Republic of South Sudan
  • H.E. Mr. Charlie Flanagan T.D., Minister for Justice and Equality, Ireland  

The GEPA Working Group presented their research, "Opportunities and Challenges in Conflict-Affected Countries," on the links between armed conflict and gender equality in public administration. The event was co-organized by GIRL, UNDP, and UNPBSO. The Working Group Presentation summarized the findings from three semesters of research. Although similarly themed to their 2018 presentation at the UN Secretariat, the Working Group revised and expanded their presentation to include research on how the presence and intensity of conflict could affect gender equality in public administration. The Working Group investigated several conflict-related factors, including:

  • the presence, intensity, and geography of conflict;
  • peace processes; and
  • efforts to build inclusive institutions after peace.

2018: UN Headquarters, New York, May 3

The GEPA Working Group presented, "Opportunities and Challenges in Conflict-Affected Countries," the culmination of the Working Group's research from the 2017-2018 academic year. This was the Working Group's first presentation on the links between armed conflict and GEPA. The presentation included:

  • a global overview of the relationship between armed conflict and women's participation and leadership in public administration;
  • evidence of effects of armed conflict on GEPA data availability and quality; and
  • an in-depth look into ways that armed conflict might shape the gender inclusiveness of public institutions.

2017: UN Headquarters, New York, May 2

The GEPA Working Group presented, "Gender Equality in Public Administration: Tracking Inclusion Towards SDG 16." Returning to the UN Secretariat for a second time, the Working Group presented the findings from the 2016-2017 academic year. Over the course of the academic year, the Working Group researched several different topics, including:

  • What counts as public administration in different countries?
  • How do gender and age intersect to shape patterns of inequality in public administration participation and leadership?
  • What data on gender equality in public administration are available at the subnational level of government?
  • In addition to its ongoing focus on gender, a select group also consulted with the UNDP on their efforts to build inclusive institutions for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, and intersex (LGBTI) workers. 

2016: UN Headquarters, New York, May 3

The GEPA Working Group presented, "Gender Equality in Public Administration: A Global Assessment of Publically Available Data." This was the Working Group's first presentation of its research findings at the UN Secretariat. The 2015-2016 Working Group included 20 graduate students from Public Policy, Sociology, Political Science, and Public Health. Their presentation drew on roughly 1400 person-hours of research and a combination of data sources (UNDP country offices, online research, desk research) to better understand the qualities of good public administration data. The Working Group's presentation:

  • argued that "good data" are available, accessible, downloadable, customizable, intuitively organized, and disaggregated by level, sector, and work status.
  • likened the search for good data to the children's story of Goldilocks and classified data tracking systems into those that made available too little data, too much data, and just enough data; 
  • summarized the availability and quality of data on gender equality in public administration as of 2015-2016; and
  • closed with questions for further discussion.

Presentations at the University of Pittsburgh

2020: "Gender Equality in Public Administration in the COVID-19 Era." Presented to UNDP colleagues.

2019: "GEPA in the Context of Opportunities and Challenges for the 2020 UN Development Agenda." Presented to UNDP colleagues at the Mini-Conference on Opportunities and Challenges for the 2020 UN Development Agenda.

2017: "Gender Equality in Public Administration: A Moving Target" and "Gender Equality in Public Administration: Conflict-Affected Countries." Presented at the Gender Equality in Public Institutions Workshop.

2016: "Gender Equality in Public Administration: Fall 2016 Research & Findings." Presented to UNDP colleagues.

2015: "Multi Disciplinary Graduate Student Working Group on Gender Equality in Public Administration Research & Findings." Presented to UNDP colleagues.