About UNWomen
UN Women is the global champion for gender equality, working to develop and uphold standards and create an environment in which every woman and girl can exercise her human rights and live up to her full potential. We are trusted partners for advocates and decision-makers from all walks of life, and a leader in the effort to achieve gender equality.Activities by UNWomen
Microsoft 365 Copilot (under UN WOMEN ICT initiatives)
GlobalThe Microsoft 365 Copilot pilot initiative aims to integrate AI-powered assistance (Copilot) into Microsoft 365 applications for selected pilot users. Copilot helps users with tasks such as drafting emails, summarizing meetings, generating content, and providing insights based on data. The pilot focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of Copilot in enhancing productivity and efficiency across various Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.
Activity Type AI Tools/SolutionsAction Coalition for Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality
GlobalWith the rapid digitalization of work, school and social life stimulated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of technology and innovation to achieving gender equality and inclusive development have never been clearer nor more urgent. From a gender perspective, specific applications of AI and machine learning have shown the greatest risks of bias and misuse, like facial recognition and deep fakes. The AI world today is almost entirely dominated by men and we find societal biases relating to gender roles and identities embedded in social programs and services via automated decision-making. Data modelling such as predictive policing or social intervention increasingly transcends the individual to focus on groups or communities, making women more at risks of being discriminated. UN Women’s role and mandate is to reaffirm the need to focus on diversity and inclusiveness when developing AI technologies. Ensuring that societal values are reflected in algorithms and AI technologies will require no less creativity, hard work and innovation than developing the AI technologies themselves. In order to drive action and unite efforts from across governments, private sector and civil society, UN Women is convening partners working on gender and technology as part of the Generation Equality Forum. An Action Coalition focusing on innovation and technology will be launched in 2021 to generate innovative ideas for policies and initiatives needed to accelerate progress for more gender-responsive AI. The Action Coalition will explore how to harness opportunities arising from the use of AI and overcome the challenges associated with algorithms. By breaking down silos and fostering collaboration through this new multi-stakeholder platform, the Coalition aims to inspire public and private partners to make strong and actionable commitments that will advance gender equality and women’s rights.
Activity Type Networks/Mentorship/ExchangePolicy/Regulatory GuidanceAwareness/AdvocacyUN Women AI School
Asia and the Pacific Not ApplicableThe UN Women AI School designed to build inclusive, gender-responsive AI literacy for changemakers across the Asia-Pacific region. It equips young leaders, UN staff, and policymakers with the knowledge and skills to harness artificial intelligence for advocacy, innovation, and social impact. Through adaptive learning tracks, expert talks, hands-on projects, and a graduation competition, the AI School empowers participants to co-create ethical, effective AI solutions that advance gender equality and sustainable development.
Activity Type Trainings/WorkshopsFellowshipBig Data and Data Science for Filling Gender Data Gaps
Africa, Asia and the Pacific MongoliaPakistanSouth AfricaUganda
The Gender Statistics team utilizes AI across several projects:
1) Utilize machine learning techniques (e.g. random forest) to optimize data analysis, including to explore explanatory power of model variables found in geospatial data and microdata.
2) Utilize natural language processing to conduct sentiment analysis utilizing social media data.
ROAP Gender Statistics Unit developed training materials and implement training course for NSOs on Big Data and Data Science for Gender Statistics wherein web scraping methods and AI are utilized to harness gender data from online media. In addition we have established a Technical Advisory Group on Big Data and Data Science for Filling Gender Data Gaps, to advise on devising innovative research methods, including utilizing AI, to generate timely evidence on issues where gender data is persistently lacking.