Age, Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming (AGDM)

Working with the UNHCR was an incredible experience for me. I always found it important to be supporting the needs of the most vulnerable to be an incredible challenge. Helping people to help themselves is critically important.

When UNHCR introduced its Agenda for Protection in 2003, I was moving from Pakistan to Bosnia Herzegovina. It dedicated its sixth Goal to meeting the protection needs of refugee women and children by integrating targeted actions for women and girls into UNHCR activities and by actively promoting gender equality.

UNHCR did this by introducing its Age, Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming (AGDM) strategy in 2004 to better structure the participation of persons of concern into the protection work of the organization. By adopting an AGDM approach, UNHCR aims to ensure gender equality and the enjoyment of rights by all persons of concern while, at the same time, leveraging the rich range of capacities that exist within communities to bring about positive social change.

It wasn't an easy task, but it was critical to hear the voices of women, and how to make their lives better. I would like to call upon the women of Bosnia who are involved with this platform to provide their input about how their lives and the lives of their families could be improved if people would listen to them.