Section 1: Overview of findings The APF Secretariat’s Gender Baseline Assessment (GBA) was carried out using a framework of 21 indicators across five main areas of an NHRI’s internal and external operations (Appendix 1). The areas are: 1. Structure and decision-making 2. Organisation culture and practice 3. Human resource management, policies and procedures 4. Internal gender expertise, capacity 5. Gender equality in external work Following is an overview of the GBA findings against these five areas. Detailed findings can be found in Sections 4, 5 and 6. The findings are an amalgam of: • • • secondary data gathered from a review of publicly available documents for 24 NHRIs1, personal communications from a number of NHRIs to the GBA team, and relevant generic documentation. primary data gathered through an all-member survey of NHRIs involving quantitative and qualitative questions. Responses were received from 25 NHRIs. primary data gathered from semi-structured interviews with five NHRIs - one from each of the APF’s sub-regions (Central/North Asia, Pacific, South Asia, South-East Asia, and West Asia). Overview The GBA has shown that all NHRIs in the Asia Pacific Region are committed to progressing gender equality. This includes those countries where there is a lack of recognition of, or protection for, equal rights for women and where gender diversity is criminalised. In these cases, NHRIs are actively advocating for legislation repeal and/or development, facilitating awareness activities, receiving and addressing complaints, working alongside civil society organisations, and engaging with the international human rights community. The majority of NHRIs who responded to the survey indicated that they defined gender equality as substantive gender equality. That is, going beyond merely ensuring equal opportunity, but working toward the achievement of equal outcomes. There was less acknowledgement by NHRIs however, that substantive gender equality requires different treatment for different genders, and groups within genders, based on their different backgrounds, contexts and experiences of discrimination and marginalisation. The majority of NHRIs also recognise that gender is inclusive of gender diverse people. It was recognised that some countries in the region have laws that criminalise forms of gender diversity. 1 There was not enough information available to make a valid assessment of two NHRIs. Gender Baseline Assessment of NHRIs in the Asia Pacific region – July 2024 6