FOCUSING ON GENDER DURING COVID-19 PROMOTING EQUALITY IN GENDER REPRESENTATION In February 2020, the APF commenced a blended learning course on gender mainstreaming involving participants from the NHRIs of Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Palestine, Philippines, Samoa and Timor Leste. The APF encourages NHRIs to advocate for equitable representation of women at leadership levels, especially where they have control over the staff recruitment process. While the workshop – scheduled to be held in Malaysia in April – had to be postponed, conversations continued online about the impact of COVID-19 on women and girls. In June 2020, representatives from seven NHRIs took part in an APF webinar on this topic, sharing their observations and insights on the gendered nature of issues arising during the pandemic and how their NHRI was responding. Data and case studies collected by APF members will be published in a handbook on the impact of COVID-19 on the rights of women and girls. In 2019-2020, 40 percent of APF members reported being within the ‘gender equitable’ range at the Commissioner level, while a further 40 percent reported more men than women. In relation to senior staffing, there has been a consistent trend over the past three years, with more than 40 per cent of our members reporting ‘gender equitable’ staffing. Staffing within the seven-person APF secretariat also sits within the ‘gender equitable’ range, with women comprising 57% of staff. We have five core expert consultants: three men and two women. In 2019–2020, 12% of our budget went towards activities promoting gender equality. This figure would have been higher if planned activities had not been postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. ANNUAL REPORT 2019–20 13