UN Women

On July 2, 2010 the General Assembly voted unanimously to create a dynamic new entity called UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). The new entity brings together four United Nations offices focusing on gender equality; UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW). 

The GEAR campaign, a network made up by over 300 women´s organization and other civil society organizations have played an essential role in the efforts of the formation of the new body. UN Women is scheduled to become operational in January 2011. One of the main goals of UN Women will be to support the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and other inter-governmental bodies in formulating policies. The main roles of UN Women are:

To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms

To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.

To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress. If you would like to find more information about UN Women, please click here.



Photo: Representatives of the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign hold up a petition urging the General Assembly to establish a new women's entity.

 Source: United Nations 

 

 

GEAR Campaign


Call to Action

  • Establish meaningful, systematic, and diverse civil society participation
  • Demand a dynamic and relevant agenda for UN Women
  • Pressure donors to aim for $1 billion in funding and meet their commitment to "core, multi-year, predictable, stable and sustainable" contributions
  • Seek powerful, capable and effective leadership at every level

 

The UN Secretary General has promised to deliver strong results for women worldwide and civil society will be present throughout this process to monitor and hold the SG accountable to his commitments to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.

 

For information about the GEAR website launch, please click here.

For information about the GEAR Call to Acton, please click here.