World YWCA celebrates adoption of new UN Gender Entity

On July 2, 2010, after four years of advocacy, the United Nations General Assembly formally adopted the resolution agreed upon to establish UN Women – the new gender equality entity of the UN.

For over 30 years, women around the world have anxiously waited for the United Nations and member states to fulfil promises made at the first International Women’s Year in 1975 and at many conferences thereafter.

The World YWCA, women’s groups, human rights groups and civil society, as part of the GEAR (Gender Equality Architecture Reform) Campaign - an international network of some 300 groups - have been relentlessly advocating for the establishment of a single, new, larger more coherent UN agency that would dramatically improve international efforts to promote women’s empowerment and gender equality by uniting the four small UN entities currently devoted to women's issues – UNIFEM (UN Development Fund for Women), OSAGI (Office of the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women), DAW (Division for the Advancement of Women), INSTRAW (International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women).

An Under Secretary-General (USG) will head the new gender equality entity, yet to be appointed. Technically the four existing units will be dissolved as separate entities with the adoption of this resolution; however, their functions and activities will continue during the transitional phase (July - Dec 31, 2010) and form the basis of the new entity. These four units will remain the core of the transitional team to be led by the office of the UN Deputy Secretary General until the new USG is chosen. The Executive Board of UN Women will be made up of 41 countries.

The new entity recognises the importance of civil society and women’s organisations’ participation, and the need for an increased operational presence at country level as well as additional funding for work on women’s empowerment and advancement.

GEAR supporters will continue to advocate for four major elements critical to the implementation of the new entity:

• Meaningful, systematic and diverse civil society participation at all levels
• Strong, country-level operational capacity and universal coverage
• Ambitious funding with stable and predictable resources aimed at reaching $1 billion within a few years
• Strong leadership at the top with an Under Secretary-General who combines a global vision with gender equality expertise on the ground.

Women and girls worldwide are more prone to discrimination, violence and poverty. They are often deprived of human rights; are less likely to go to school, receive adequate health care, own property or participate in decision-making processes. Following its active involvement in the GEAR Campaign, the World YWCA is excited about the news of the creation of UN Women and looks forward to closely working with this new entity. As Susan Brennan, President of the World YWCA puts it: “This must be the beginning of a new era in gender equality. We are confident that UN Women will help advance the human rights and empowerment of women in the future. We urge the UN to continue its active and productive collaboration with women’s groups and civil society in realising this future.”