WHO’s Progress on UN-SWAP

The United Nations System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-SWAP) is the foundational accountability framework for gender equality and the empowerment of women across the United Nations. Established in 2012, the Plan implements the 2006 United Nations System-wide Policy on GEEW of its highest executive body, the UN Chief Executives Board (CEB), which is chaired by the UN Secretary‑General. UN-SWAP provides a standardized set of criteria to monitor and accelerate gender mainstreaming across all UN entities.

Since its inception, the framework has evolved to reflect higher standards of institutional performance:

UN-SWAP 1.0 (2012–2017): Focused on 15 initial performance indicators
UN-SWAP 2.0 (2018–2023): Expanded to 17 indicators
UN-SWAP 3.0 (2024–Present): Introduced 18 indicators, shifting the focus from process-based compliance to a results-driven accountability model aligned with the Secretary-General’s Gender Equality Acceleration Plan

Currently, 75 UN entities provide data annually against the UN-SWAP 3.0 framework. This process is led by UN Women, and it ensures the integrity of annual findings through a rigorous audit of evidence, culminating in the publication of a comprehensive annual report.

WHO’s Performance

WHO has maintained consistent institutional performance despite the transition to the more stringent UN-SWAP 3.0 framework. The Organization’s 2025 score of 72% represents the same level of commitment as the 82% achieved in 2024 under the previous, less rigorous criteria. Having reported actively since 2018, WHO views these current metrics as a high-ambition baseline. The shift in numerical scoring is strictly attributable to elevated benchmarks rather than a decline in performance.

Progress is assessed using three progressive levels of achievement:

Approaching Requirements: Fulfillment of minimum criteria
Meeting Requirements: Fulfillment of moderate criteria
Exceeding Requirements: Fulfillment of all advanced criteria

Detailed insights into WHO’s progress across specific performance indicators (PIs) are available via the WHO UN-SWAP Score Dashboard and the comprehensive UN-SWAP annual reports linked below.