UNESCO’s Culture Conventions constitute a governance system for culture, which operates in full compliance with existing international human rights instruments and in full respect of cultural diversity. While decided at the international level, in practice, the Conventions operate closely with local communities as well as national governments to ensure that their implementation is inclusive and responds to different cultural contexts. As a result, the Conventions are sensitive to the challenges of mainstreaming gender equality. Through awareness-raising, operational activities, capacity-building programmes, and working with communities and governments, they endeavour to promote equal access, contribution and participation to cultural life.

As a first step, UNESCO’s Culture Conventions encourage gender parity amongst participants and experts in their programmes and workshops in order to promote equality in decision-making processes, education and empowerment opportunities. In addition, the different Conventions have developed gender-sensitive and gender-responsive actions that aim to reduce the gender gaps in the cultural sector by strengthening the knowledge base (e.g. gender analysis, sex-disaggregated data), building up individual and institutional capacities and technical skills, conducting targeted women’s empowerment activities, developing tool-kits and guidelines, and supporting the inclusion of gender equality in cultural policies amongst Member States.