A/HRC/12/46 page 7 III. OBSTACLES AND CHALLENGES TO INTEGRATING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND A GENDER PERSPECTIVE INTO THE HUMAN RIGHTS POLICY FRAMEWORK 16. Resolution 6/30 encourages organs, bodies, mechanisms and agencies of the United Nations system to work actively to integrate the human rights of all women and a gender perspective throughout their work, including through exchange of information, lessons learned and best practices. The following paragraphs highlight lessons learned from United Nations agencies, programmes and entities, including in the area of prevention and resolution of conflicts and peacebuilding, to inform the Human Rights Council in its efforts to strengthen the integration of the human rights of women and a gender perspective into its work. A. Integration of a gender perspective in the work of United Nations agencies, programmes and other entities 1. Lessons learned 17. The integration of a gender perspective and gender mainstreaming has presented a challenge for United Nations entities, and organizational gender policies, gender integration tools and gender units have become normal features throughout the United Nations system. While this has generated many good practices in gender equality programming, it has often been ad hoc, absent systems in place to ensure sharing of such experiences throughout the system. In light of the above, several United Nations entities and specialized agencies have undertaken in-depth gender evaluations in recent years, including the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). A similar gender evaluation by OHCHR is ongoing, the results of which are expected by the end of 2009. 18. The outcomes of the evaluations indicate certain commonalities with respect to existing challenges:10 an under-resourced gender integration process (resources have decreased in recent decades); lack of effective accountability mechanisms; lack of senior-level and executive leadership; individual rather than institutional commitment; lack of time allocated for often complex gender analysis; misunderstanding of the concept of gender integration; lack of regard for competence in gender equality in recruitment; lack of structural stability of existing gender units; and designation of mainly junior staff as gender focal points. 10 See for example UNICEF, Evaluation of Gender Policy Implementation in UNICEF, Executive Summary, 2008, and UNDP, Evaluation of Gender Mainstreaming in UNDP, Executive Summary, 2006.