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Memorandum of Understanding between UN Women and Microsoft

Posted in Best Practices
06 July 2012

We are delighted to announce that UN Women and Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding, effectively launching a partnership that applies technology to gender equality and empower women worldwide. The two organizations share the view that empowered women are an untapped resource that can potentially drive social and economic transformation.

The MOU was signed on June 20, 2012, in Rio de Janeiro by Orlando Ayala, Chairman of Emerging Markets, and Michele Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women. Under the terms, Microsoft will offer its expertise and experience in technology to strengthen the goals of UN Women’s mandate in four main areas: building capacities, enhancing technology infrastructure, innovation and surfacing knowledge, and the empowerment of women and youth.

The partnership will result in effective models for gender equality, based on a range of field experience, and provide rich opportunities to build unique relationships with women and girls in both developed and emerging markets. These efforts are a way to pool the resources and best practices of two global organizations and use them even more effectively to advocate for women and girls and address empowerment issues. UN Women currently operates gender equality programs in UN member states worldwide; Microsoft subsidiaries also run a variety of women’s technology programs globally. The agreement builds on our efforts while reflecting the strategic importance of private sector organizations, civil society, intergovernmental organizations, and UN member states collaborating to advance their commitment to women’s human rights and gender equality.

Both UN Women and Microsoft will launch several programs, including digital literacy training for rural and urban women, training for regulators and advocates to increase awareness on gender and ICTD issues, and the application of technology for knowledge transfer among female farmers.

Many people deserve recognition for their work to make this agreement possible. We would like to especially thank Orlando Ayala, Roberta Cocco, Oriona Spaulding, and Angela Camacho.