The Women's Agenda for United Nations Reform

An interview with Charlotte Bunch, Executive Director of the Center for
Women's Global Leadership on the current United Nations reform drive, and
what it means for women.
By Kathambi Kinoti

AWID: What is the Center for Women's Global Leadership doing in relation to the current UN reform drive?
Charlotte Bunch: The Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) is part of a group of organizations that have been working for over one year, since
the run-up to Beijing + 10 and the United Nations Millennium Summit that was held in 2005, to ensure that adequate attention is given to women's
equality and gender issues within the United Nations. This has included a number of organizations such as WEDO, DAWN, and WILPF. We have worked to
bring a gender perspective into all the discussions of UN human rights machinery, peace and security, development, etc. For example, CWGL's
particular focus is human rights and the women's rights machinery while the initiative on peace is led by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Women's efforts have now achieved a commitment from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that the High-Level Panel on UN system-wide
coherence in areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the environment will consider the UN's gender architecture in those areas and in general.

AWID: Although the UN would be expected to lead the way in demonstrating commitment to gender equality, within its administrative structure gender equality does not appear to be regarded as a priority. Why do you think this is so?
CB: There are two reasons for this:
1. Most Governments are not supporting the UN in putting money into efforts to make gender equality a priority. They are not committing enough resources to strengthening the women's rights machinery by enhancing its status and paying attention to staffing needs. The mood of governments, particularly that of the United States, is that no new resources should be allocated to women's issues, or to the work of the UN generally. In the 1990s there was more support of women's equality both at the UN level and at the national level. However, practical support has now been transformed into lip service.
2. The second reason is that since 9/11 the antiterrorism mood has created a sense of crisis in the UN such that other issues are given less priority
and we have lost much of the momentum we gained in the 1990s in terms of women's equality.There are people on both sides of the debate: those who argue that the war against terror is justified and those who argue that it has been created and blown out of proportion by the US. Whatever the case, the debate itself has taken up prominent space and shrunk the space for women's rights. Although there is a connection between the peace and security issue and women's rights, the links are not adequately being made. The sense of crisis has also meant that peace and security issues are being regarded
from a short-term rather than a long-term perspective.

AWID: There have been calls by among other people, Stephen Lewis the UN Special Envoy for HIV and AIDS in Africa, for a separate women's agency within the UN. Do you agree with those advocating for a new women's agency, and if so, what do you think the priority of such an agency should be?
CB: If women's rights are to have a stronger profile, we need a separate strong agency at the operational level. I therefore agree with the need that Stephen Lewis has spoken to. Whether it should be a whole new outfit or achieved by combining UNIFEM and UNFPA is still open to debate, but
whatever agency is created should receive adequate resources otherwise the problem that UNIFEM has been facing will be perpetuated. By resources I am
referring to both money and status. Whatever way we reach such an agency, it should build on UNIFEM's work so far, such as their work on women, peace and security, the trust fund on violence against women, gender budgeting, etc..In order for the women's agency to be seen as more powerful it might be better to consolidate UNIFEM and UNFPA and give the new body a new name, not just more resources, but this is part of what we all need to discuss In terms of priorities, it should develop programme areas along the lines of the Beijing Platform for Action, what UNIFEM and UNFPA have been working
on in the areas of political and economic empowerment, violence against women, sexual and reproductive rights, peace and security, land and inheritance rights. It will need to address new issues that have come to prominence since the Beijing Platform such as HIV/AIDS. It should still be able to partner with other UN bodies such as UNEP, the High Commissioner's for Human Rights and for Refugees, and UNDP, and the other UN agencies still need to incorporate women's needs and a gender equality perspective into their agenda.

AWID: How can system-wide coherence within the UN with regards to women's empowerment and gender equality issues best be achieved?
CB: Women's issues have to be addressed adequately at all levels. The UN operates primarily at two levels. The first is the operational level, at which it works in the field, on development and human rights concerns nationally. The second is at the international policy-making or global level. Women's rights need a strong presence in both areas. At the operational level we need an agency that will incorporate the roles that UNIFEM, UNFPA and the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) currently play in the
field. At the international policy-making level we could continue to have the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI) and the Division
for the Advancement of Women (DAW) but they should probably be combined and made more powerful also. The status of the machinery at both levels needs to be strengthened and adequately resourced. At the same time, gender mainstreaming needs to continue and be
strengthened within other UN agencies. This will avoid a situation where the addressing of women's issues becomes confined to the one agency alone.

AWID: How can civil society influence the current UN reform agenda so that it adequately encompasses the goals of gender equality and women's
empowerment?
CB: Women's groups need to be aware that gender equality is now officially on the agenda of the UN reform process. They need to begin talking to their
governments about what they would like them to say in this discussion. Up until this year's Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), most governments were not willing to engage with this issue, but now that it is on the agenda they have no choice.The recommendations of the Coherence Panel will go to the UN General their governments now, if they want their governments to help shape and respond positively to the Coherence Panel's recommendations. Most governments do not know or do not care that gender equality is on the agenda and we need to start applying pressure now for a common agreement on a stronger agency and commitment for women with a higher level status and more resources.CWGL is compiling an update on UN reform activities and advocacy issues and this will be available shortly on our website (www.cwgl.rutgers.edu).

AWID: What potential obstacles or pitfalls for women's rights, if any, do you foresee in the current reform drive?
CB: There are different interests jostling for position in the reform process. A major issue is budget-cutting, coherence and rationalization. Governments want to spend less money. We need to be careful that the need for the enhancement of women's rights is not compromised in the name of coherence. There are voices that are saying that there are already too many gender focal points within the UN, and we need to counter this attitude.
For example, we welcome the creation of the new Human Rights Council, but we need to be alert in ensuring that the principles of gender equality and respect for women's rights are built into this new institution so that what we gained within the former Commission for Human Rights (CHR) is not lost.
Women's rights had gained a regular place on the agenda of the CHR in the 90's and this should be continued with the Council. Engaging with UN processes at the global level may seem tedious and frustrating because sometimes it appears that it is not going anywhere. This is particularly so if we compare the current climate to the one that existed in the 1990s when a lot of space was created for women. However engagement with the UN reform process is about having space for women's rights at an international level, and we will lose a lot if we do not keep the space open. I would therefore encourage women's groups to get actively involved in the process.