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event.preventDefault(); }); </script> </div> </div> </div>  <div id="navigation pattern" class="pattern un-no-padding container">  <button type="button" class="menu-link"><span class="un-min-menu">Menu</span> <span class="icon-bar"></span> <span class="icon-bar"></span> <span class="icon-bar"></span> </button> <nav class="navbar un-no-margin un-no-border" role="navigation"> <ul id="site-main-menu" class="nav-menu" role="menubar"> <li id="li-home" class="nav-item col-xs-12 col-sm-2 col-md-3"><a href="index.shtml">Background and Purpose</a></li> <li id="li-guidelines" class="nav-item col-xs-12 col-sm-3 col-md-3" role="menuitem"> <a href="guidelines.shtml">Guidelines<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i></a> </li> <li id="li-toolbox" class="nav-item col-xs-12 col-sm-3 col-md-3" role="menuitem"> <a href="toolbox.shtml" aria-haspopup="true" aria-controls="" aria-expanded="false">Toolbox<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i></a> </li> <li id="li-contact" class="nav-item col-xs-12 col-sm-3 col-md-3" role="menuitem"> <a href="contact.shtml">Contact and feedback<i class="fa fa-caret-down"></i></a> </li> </ul> </nav> </div>  </header>  <main id="un-main-content" class="container site-main-content un-no-padding" role="main"> <div class="row un-margin-top"> <div id="page-featured-image" class="col-xs-12 col-sm-12 col-md-12 un-no-padding"> <img class="site-featured-img site-featured-img-lg" src="assets/img/featured-image-index.jpg" alt="Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres and UN Deputy Amina J Mohammed"/> <img class="site-featured-img site-featured-img-sm" src="assets/img/featured-image-index-sm.jpg" alt="Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres and UN Deputy Amina J Mohammed"/> </div> </div> <section class="row un-margin-top"> <div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-9 col-md-8 un-no-padding section-body"> <h1 class="block-title">Background and purpose</h1> <p class="summary">The resources provided here are aimed at helping United Nations staff to communicate in a gender-inclusive way in the six official languages of the Organization.</p> <p>Using gender-inclusive language means speaking and writing in a way that does not discriminate against a particular sex, social gender or gender identity, and does not perpetuate gender stereotypes. Given the key role of language in shaping cultural and social attitudes, using gender-inclusive language is a powerful way to promote gender equality and eradicate gender bias.</p> <p>The <em><a href="guidelines.shtml">Guidelines</a></em> available on this website include a number of recommendations to help United Nations staff to use gender-inclusive language in any type of communication — oral or written, formal or informal, or addressed to an internal or external audience. The <a href="toolbox.shtml"><em>Toolbox</em></a> contains training materials on the practical application of the <em>Guidelines</em>, information on related training courses and other relevant resources.</p> <p>These resources have been developed by an inter-agency working group of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management, the Department of Management, the Department of Global Communications (formerly DPI) and UN Women as part of a project entitled “Supporting gender equality in multilingual contexts”, aimed at supporting the goal, under the <a href="https://www.un.int/sites/www.un.int/files/Permanent Missions/delegate/17-00102b_gender_strategy_report_13_sept_2017.pdf">United Nations System-wide Strategy on Gender Parity</a>, of creating “a working environment that embraces equality, eradicates bias and is inclusive for all staff” .</p> <p>The recommendations and resources provided here will be revised and updated to reflect new feedback, suggestions and changes in the use of language. You are welcome to <a href="contact.shtml">contact us</a> and share your feedback with the inter-agency working group.</p> </div> <aside class="col-xs-12 col-sm-3 col-md-4 section-sidebar">  <img class="sdg-img img-responsive" src="assets/img/strategy-sidebar-v4.png" alt="logo gender equality"/> </aside> </section> <footer> <div class="jumbotron footer"> In keeping with the Organization’s core value of multilingualism, the Guidelines have been produced in the six official languages of the United Nations as semi-autonomous projects that comply with the principle of parity among the official languages. They reflect the specificities and unique features of each language, recommending remedies that are tailored to the linguistic context in which staff work, whether in <a href="http://www.un.org/ar/gender-inclusive-language">Arabic</a>, <a href="http://www.un.org/zh/gender-inclusive-language">Chinese</a>, <a href="http://www.un.org/en/gender-inclusive-language">English</a>, <a href="http://www.un.org/fr/gender-inclusive-language">French</a>, <a href="http://www.un.org/ru/gender-inclusive-language">Russian</a> or <a href="http://www.un.org/es/gender-inclusive-language">Spanish</a>. </div> </footer>  </main> <div class="un-social-media container"> <ul> <li class="facebook"><a href="//www.facebook.com/unitednations">Facebook</a></li> <li class="twitter"><a href="//twitter.com/un">Twitter</a></li> <li class="youtube"><a href="//www.youtube.com/unitednations">YouTube</a></li> <li class="pinterest"><a href="//pinterest.com/unitednations">Pinterest</a></li> <li class="google"><a href="//gplus.to/unitednations">Google+</a></li> <li class="flickr"><a href="//www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/">Flickr</a></li> <li class="tumblr"><a href="//united-nations.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a></li> <li class="instagram"><a href="//instagram.com/unitednations">Instagram</a></li> <li class="more"><a href="http://www.un.org/en/sections/about-website/un-social-media/index.html">UN Social Media</a></li> </ul> </div> <footer class="footer container"> <div class="row list-inline"> <div class="col-md-12"> <div class="pull-left flip footer-brand"> <a href="http://www.un.org/en/" title="Home"><span class="site-name">UNITED NATIONS</span></a> </div> <div class="pull-right flip"> <section class="region region-footer-5"> <div id="block-menu-menu-footer-links" class="block block-menu"> <ul class="menu nav"> <li class="first leaf"><a href="/en/contact-us-0">Contact</a></li> <li class="leaf"><a href="/en/about-us/copyright">Copyright</a></li> <li class="leaf"><a href="/en/about-us/fraud-alert">Fraud Alert</a></li> <li class="leaf"><a href="/en/about-us/privacy-notice">Privacy Notice</a></li> <li class="leaf"><a href="/en/site-index">Site Index</a></li> <li class="last leaf"><a href="/en/about-us/terms-of-use">Terms of Use</a></li> </ul> </div> </section> </div> </div> </div> </footer> <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.9.1.js"></script> <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js"></script> <script src="https://netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.0.0/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script> <script src="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.10.3/jquery-ui.js"></script> <script src="//use.edgefonts.net/source-sans-pro.js"></script>  <script src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.2.min.js"></script>  <script src="/en/events/global-assets/Accessible-Mega-Menu-master/js/jquery-accessibleMegaMenu.js"></script>  <script src="/en/events/global-assets/js/site.js"></script> <script src="/en/events/global-assets/js/en/search.js"></script> <script src="assets/FlexSlider-1.8/jquery.flexslider.js"></script>  </body> </html>