World YWCA GEARs up for a United Nations that works for women
Women around the world are one step closer to the establishment of a new UN agency for women. Member states at the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly on September 15 adopted a resolution to move the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) process forward.
“This is a real step forward by the UN General Assembly and the creation of a women's agency of the United Nations,” said World YWCA General Secretary Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda.
In the lead up the resolution being passed, the UN Secretariat had drafted a report, ‘Institutional Options to Strengthen United Nations Work on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women’ which outlined four structural options:
A. Maintaining the status quo
B. Creating an autonomous fund/programme
C. Creating a department within the Secretariat
D. Creating a composite entity
Option D was favoured by many member states and the resolution passed requests the UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki Moon to provide a detailed modalities paper in respect to the options set out with a special focus on Option D. The resolution also called for topics such as funding and governance structure to be addressed in the report.
The World YWCA was one of the first women’s NGOs to join the GEAR campaign that was launched at a special workshop ‘Building a United Nations that works for women’ at the Committee of Status of Women (CSW) in New York earlier in the year. The YWCA of Canada also put forward a recommendation for an international multilateral women's agency of the United Nations at World YWCA Council, Kenya 2007. The YWCA of Canada spoke in favour of the motion stating, ' The women's movement, and all of its supporters, must confront every member of the international community, and lobby with indefatigable tenacity for a women's agency of the UN.'
“The World YWCA will continue our work with the GEAR Campaign as we are committed to build a United Nations that really works for all women, “ said Gumbonzvanda.
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