A new UN agency for women

Abstract

Women's rights advocates were jubilant last week when, after 3 years of negotiations, the UN General Assembly voted to create a new UN agency for women. The resolution, passed by the 192 UN member states, calls for the merger of the organisation's four existing offices dedicated to women's issues: the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, the Division for the Advancement of Women, and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women. It states that the new agency is to be led by an Under-Secretary General who would report directly to the Secretary-General. And it calls on the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to produce a comprehensive proposal for the new agency to be considered at the 64th UN General Assembly (Sept 23–30). There are many issues that need to be addressed in this proposal. What will the agency's mission be? How will it be funded? Will it have a presence within countries? Will it be a technical, funding, or coordinating agency? Without these important finer points fleshed out, it would certainly be politically correct, but premature, to blindly applaud the formation of this new entity. The UN system already has its share of deadweight agencies. If the new agency for women is to avoid going down this same route, it needs a clear mission like that of WHO or UNICEF, serious investment, and strong leadership. In Gender equality now or never: a new UN agency for women, published in 2006, the Office of the UN Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa puts forward a good draft proposal for the agency. It calls for a fully-fledged organisation, with on-the-ground presence in every country, a guaranteed budget of US$1 billion to start, a full complement of expert staff, and targeted programmes to achieve gender equality, empower women, and support gender mainstreaming in governments and the UN. If the new UN agency takes a form along these lines, it could represent a substantial step towards improving the lives of women worldwide. If not, it will just be paying lip service.