GENDER STRATEGY OF THE GIZ

Gender equality is a prerequisite for the fair, inclusive, sustainable development of our society. GIZ’s Gender Strategy gives us a mandatory framework for eradicating any gender-based disadvantages inside the company and in our work, and for realising equal opportunities and rights irrespective of gender, sexual orientation or gender identity.

The way we deal with gender is an important part of our corporate culture and a hallmark of our work. Within GIZ, we have clear structures for raising gender issues, with responsible officers in every organisational unit and at every level. They encourage measures to address the issue and ensure, in conjunction with the management of the company, that gender is taken into account in all processes.

The following approaches will help us develop gender competence within GIZ further:

• We organise working groups, networks and events on gender. In 2021, almost 500 staff members took part in the company-wide Gender Network Meeting, along with representatives of our commissioning parties and partners, who were again invited to get involved in the event.
• As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we took targeted steps to further develop our digital knowledge architecture and culture of cooperation and held numerous webinars and peer-to-peer discussions on gender and on topics relevant to gender equality, such as gender-transformative approaches, gender-sensitive event management, gender in sectors, and gender, sexual orientation and gender identity in international cooperation.
• We organise training courses for gender focal points and women in managerial positions as well as courses on sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) and gender in commission management.
• We implement HR policy measures on gender equality and have achieved successes with these measures. At the end of 2021, 54 per cent of all managerial and executive positions at GIZ sites in Germany and 41.5 per cent of managerial positions in GIZ’s field structure were held by women.