The United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC) has been recognized with multiple awards under the UN-SWAP framework, acknowledging its sustained performance, early leadership, and meaningful contributions to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls across the United Nations system.
The awards were presented at the conclusion of the UN-SWAP reporting cycle covering 2018–2024, which also marked the inaugural year of reporting under the UN-SWAP 3.0 framework.
Understanding UN-SWAP and its system-wide scope
UN-SWAP, the UN System-Wide Action Plan on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, is the UN accountability framework for measuring progress on gender equality across UN entities. It establishes common performance indicators covering leadership, policy, organizational culture, and operational results, requiring entities to report regularly on their performance.
In 2024, a total of 75 UN entities, representing 96 per cent of the UN system, reported against UN-SWAP 2.0 indicators. 17 UN entities also reported under the new UN-SWAP 3.0 framework, reflecting the early phase of implementation of the next generation of the accountability framework.
Awards recognizing leadership, performance, and co-creation
Within this system-wide context, UNICC received the UN-SWAP 3.0 Co-Creation Award, recognizing its collaborative role in the co-design of UN-SWAP 3.0, and the UN-SWAP 3.0 Pioneer Award, awarded to entities among the first to report under the new framework. These recognitions highlight UNICC’s early engagement and constructive contribution to shaping and operationalizing UN-SWAP 3.0.
UNICC was also recognized as one of the Best Performers – Entities with a Technical Focus, a category that acknowledges high overall performance among UN entities with predominantly technical mandates. This distinction reflects UNICC’s strong results relative to its peer entities within the UN system.
Performance results underpinning the recognition
UNICC’s awards are underpinned by strong and sustained performance under UN-SWAP 2.0. In 2024, UNICC met or exceeded the requirements for 11 out of 14 applicable UN-SWAP 2.0 performance indicators, marking its strongest performance to date. Compared to previous years, UNICC demonstrated significant progress, including newly exceeding requirements in four key areas: Programmatic Gender-related SDG Results, Evaluation, Audit, and Policy.
Explore UNICC’s UN-SWAP 2.0 and 3.0 reporting results (2023–2024).
System-wide comparisons show that while UNICC performed below the average of technical entities in earlier years, by 2024 it had outperformed the technical-entity average, meeting and exceeding requirements for a greater proportion of indicators. Notably, UNICC did not miss the requirements for any applicable indicators in 2024, reflecting steady progress and strengthened accountability over time.
Under UN-SWAP 3.0, UNICC was among the early reporting entities, meeting the requirements for two applicable indicators in the inaugural year of the framework. This early engagement aligns with UNICC’s recognition as a Pioneer entity and its role in the co-creation of UN-SWAP 3.0.
Recognizing people and collective effort
In addition to the institutional awards, UNICC’s UN-SWAP Focal Point was recognized as UN-SWAP Most Valuable Person (MVP), a peer-voted distinction awarded by UN-SWAP Focal Points in recognition of effective advocacy, collaboration, and support to the UN-SWAP community. This recognition reflects both individual contribution and the collective efforts of UNICC staff across the UN-SWAP performance areas.
Looking ahead
UNICC’s recognition under UN-SWAP reflects a sustained commitment to accountability, partnership, and results on gender equality. This commitment is embedded within its governance and operations as the UN system’s largest strategic partner for delivering common, trusted, and cybersecure digital foundations. UNICC looks forward to continued collaboration with UN-SWAP partners and stakeholders as it builds on this progress and further strengthens its contribution to advancing gender equality across the UN system.