Historic Day for Women at the UN

Progress for Women Is Progress for All

Historic Day for Women at the UN

July 2010

On 2 July the UN General Assembly unanimously agreed a resolution establishing UN Women, a new UN organisation for gender equality and women’s empowerment which will be fully operational from 1 January 2011. UN Women will merge UN Women with three sister UN entities dealing with gender issues and will be headed by a new Under-Secretary General. ‘Today marks a great new beginning, not an end’ said Ines Alberdi, Executive Director of UN Women. ‘We now know that we will be stronger in pursuing our joint efforts for women and girls globally. Let’s seize this moment, and the momentum, and work with renewed energy and enthusiasm.’

UN Women and many other women’s organisations around the world have been making the case for a stronger gender equality body since the UN set up a panel in 2006 to look at reforming its structures. The latest resolution is the result of discussions which have been going on since last September when the General Assembly agreed that there should be a single UN entity to promote the advancement of women. UN Women will merge with DAW (Division for the Advancement of Women), OSAGI (Office of the Special Advisor for Gender Issues) and INSTRAW (UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women).

In her message following the historic vote on 2 July, Ines Alberdi said:

‘This afternoon the General Assembly unanimously decided to establish UN Women, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of a strong UN organisation that will be a champion to promote and advance the rights of women and girls worldwide has been a goal we have been advocating for many years, and I know that you will join me in celebrating and embracing this momentous achievement.

For many years we have worked with national, regional and global partners to generate a stronger public policy response to previously under-recognised women's rights issues, such as ending violence against women, increasing women's political participation, and prioritising women's leadership in forging peace and security. At the same time we have faced serious challenges in our efforts to support countries in implementing commitments to gender equality, in part because of inadequate funding and because there was no single recognised driver to lead the UN response for gender equality support. This is why we wholeheartedly joined UN member states and women’s rights advocates in the call to strengthen the UN system to render even stronger support to the advancement of gender equality.

Today marks a great new beginning, not an end. Over the past decades, there have been many achievements in advancing the women’s rights and gender equality agenda, yet much still needs to be done. We now know that we will be stronger in pursuing our joint efforts for women and girls globally. Let’s seize this moment, and the momentum, and work with renewed energy and enthusiasm.’

Ines has written to the 17 UN Women National Committees, including UN Women, noting the part they have played in advocacy, outreach and fundraising and emphasising that their continued support will be important for and valued by UN Women. They will become UN Women National Committees from next January. UN Women President Jan Grasty welcomed recognition of the role of National Committees. ‘We are delighted that notification of our status has been so prompt and that we will be taking the name of the new organisation ‘.

The creation of UN Women has also been welcomed by the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) campaign which involves a global network of women’s groups and civil society organisations. ‘We have high expectations for this new agency to be a solid foundation for advancing the human rights of women as central to global policy efforts to reduce poverty and move towards greater realisation of peace and democracy in the world,’ said a spokeswoman. As the new entity is developed GEAR supporters will continue to press for civil society participation at all levels, strong operational capacity and universal coverage, ambitious funding aimed at reaching $1billion in a few years, and strong leadership at the top.

UN Women will be keeping members and supporters informed about the transition to UN Women over the coming months. A great deal of work will need to be done if it is to be fully operational on I January. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has been asked to appoint the head of the new organisation by mid-September in order to oversee the transition arrangements. It will be crucial to ensure that resources, human and financial, are in place to ensure delivery on gender equality commitments, including the capacity to lead innovative country-level programmes of the kind UNFEM has pioneered. UN Women will be funded largely by voluntary contributions and the regular UN budget and member states have recognised that the minimum investment needed is $500 million, double the current combined budget of UN Women, DAW, OSAGI and UN Women.

A special issue of the UN Women Currents electronic newsletter has been issued on the creation of UN Women, including Ines Alberdi’s message, a statement from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and full details of the General Assembly resolution.

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