The UN Global Compact commits to drive gender-responsive leadership through its own structures and across the private sector globally. This will include targeted engagement through the UN Global Compact’s coordination with over 160 countries and 25,000+ business participants across the globe to commit to the Forward Faster targets on Gender Equality: increase women’s representation, participation and leadership at all levels of management and equal pay for work of equal value by 2030 and high-level commitment to the Women’s Empowerment Principles. Dedicated capacity development sessions will equip companies with the knowledge, business case and tools necessary to make progress on these targets, which will be measured through the required Communication on Progress reporting mechanism. Internally, The UN Global Compact embeds gender equality as critical to the organization’s values, as exemplified through its non-discriminatory hiring practices and a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment.

The UN Global Compact commits to establishing an accountability mechanism in 2025 to spur action on gender equality throughout the private sector and measure its progress on advancing the Gender Equality Acceleration Plan. Additionally, the UN Global Compact will address structural barriers and enhance intersectional approaches to advancing gender equality through a dedicated Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force, and will continue to conduct and submit annual reporting on the UN SWAP exercise for gender equality across the UN system. It also commits to building partnerships, engaging with stakeholders throughout the UN and beyond to provide private sector support for normative gains on gender equality in intergovernmental spaces, such as the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) and UN General Assembly.