Today, within public and private organizations, social sustainability and equity are increasingly solid pillars supporting one of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda: gender equality (Goal 5).The world of standardization has worked a lot on this topic in recent years and already in 2022 the now famous UNI/PdR 125:2022 Reference Practice was released, which provides essential guidelines on the management system for gender equality .
This fundamental document was joined by UNI EN ISO 53800:2025.
This standard provides international guidelines for promoting and implementing gender equality and women's empowerment within organizations.
The standard defines principles, strategies, and tools to create fair work environments, prevent discrimination, and promote balanced opportunities throughout all stages of the working life cycle.
It offers a practical framework for integrating a gender perspective into governance, HR policies, corporate culture, and the value chain.
The goal is to support organizations in building inclusive, transparent, and accountable systems, contributing to sustainable development and alignment with ESG objectives.
It should be noted that the provision does not replace PdR 125, but on the contrary complements it , effectively making the two documents complementary .
The standard defines a cultural and strategic framework that allows organizations to align with international standards; while UNI/PdR 125 offers an operational, measurable, and certifiable path —including the UNI Mark—toward gender equality.
The Reference Practice in question, in addition to being included in the bibliography supporting UNI EN ISO 53800, can offer organizations reputational benefits and reward points in public tenders.
In fact, to date this is the only document on the topic developed by the UNI system that provides certifiable requirements .
It should also be remembered that UNI/PdR 125 was also recognized and published in the Prime Ministerial Decree dated 29 April 2022 , with a view to synergy between legislation and technical standards which represents the main path to social development and innovation.
Alongside UNI/PdR 125 and UNI EN ISO 53800, the framework is completed by UNI ISO 30415:2021 Human resources management – Diversity and inclusion, which provides guidelines for integrating the principles of diversity and inclusion into human resources management processes , encouraging an ethical, sustainable and respectful approach to differences.
It is particularly useful for those organizations that feel the need to set up an ESG strategy, since it includes a self-assessment tool in the appendix.
This standard, like UNI EN ISO 53800, is not currently certifiable. (Source: https://www.uni.com/ )