Michelle Bachelet, UN Women Executive Director, is planning to visit all regions in the first quarter to consult with governments, civil society and United Nations country teams and to meet with women at all levels.

The Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW) was among the members of GEAR (Gender Equality Architecture Reform) that recently sent suggestions for priorities beyond 100 days. CFUW recommended the following:

• Meet the Millennium Development Goals with an emphasis on: Primary education for all; Elimination of violence against women and girls; Women’s economic sustainability (to eliminate poverty); Adequate food, clean water, shelter; Access to health care ‐ with special emphasis on maternal and child health, combating HIV/AIDS, and universal access to vaccinations and mosquito nets to eliminate the spread of disease.
• Implement UNSCRs 1325, 1820, 1882, 1888 and 1889 on peace and security for women and girls.
• Focus on the achievement of the goals of the Beijing Platform for Action and CEDAW with attention to leadership development for women.

Among the suggestions from other GEAR members were:

• Address women and girls’ access to education and training, as well as the promotion of women’s equal access to employment and decent work
• Ensure that all investments and programs benefit women and contribute to sustainable development
• Inspire new global commitment to gender equality
• Provide good quality and regular statistics on gender equality and women’s empowerment
• Publish a comprehensive report on older women’s issues setting a policy agenda for the next 10 years

Funding is expected to be a challenge. NGOs from developed nations should advocate to their Governments for commitments to support the work of UN Women, and for implementation of those commitments.

What other priorities do you think should be included in the UN Women Strategic plan?

Ardith Toogood
Coordinator for International Relations (CFUW)

(GEAR report: “Civil Society recommendations for UN Women“)

UN Women’s key objective will be to build national capacity and ownership to enable national partners to formulate gender-responsive laws and policies and to scale up successful strategies to deliver on national commitments to gender equality.

Five core working principles have been identified:
1) providing demand-driven support to national partners to enhance implementation of international agreements and standards;
2) supporting intergovernmental processes to strengthen the global normative and policy framework on gender equality;
3) advocating for gender equality and women’s empowerment, championing the rights of women and girls — particularly those who are most excluded;
4) leading and promoting coherence in UN system work on gender equality; and
5) acting as a global broker of knowledge and experience, aligning practice with normative guidance.

UN Women intends to expand partnerships with the private sector, foundations and individuals, including through new electronic giving and internet campaigns. It also plans to develop strong partnerships with academia, think tanks and research centres for their own research and training agenda.

The 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will provide an opportunity for Member States and civil society partners to give input and to help determine how UN Women can effectively advance actions.

A new NGO Advisory Group will be appointed to advise the UN Women’s Executive Director, through which NGOs will be able to share their perspectives, expertise and knowledge and will provide a channel for ongoing collaboration.

IFUW will be exploring how it can best interact with the UN Women entity and encourage NFAs to follow developments at the national level.

To read the full statement by Michelle Bachelet, click here.

“This is a time of great promise,” said UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet. “We have a historic opportunity to accelerate the achievement of what champions of gender equality have worked towards for years.”

UN Women will work with UN Member States to agree on and implement international standards for gender equality. It will assist other UN agencies to integrate gender equality priorities into their activities and will also work closely with civil society partners. A minimum of US$500 million has been set as the annual operating budget for this new agency.

UN Women will focus on seven priority areas fundamental to women’s equality:

•    Violence against Women – Women need stronger laws, backed by implementation and services for protection and prevention.
•    Peace and Security – Specific threats to women must be identified and stopped, and women must be at the centre of peace talks and post-conflict reconstruction.
•    Leadership and Participation – Quotas and other special measures should be implemented to open more space for women’s participation.
•    Economic Empowerment – The multiple barriers that prevent women from seizing economic opportunities must be dropped.
•    National Planning and Budgeting – Gender equality should be a stated objective of all plans, backed by specific actions for implementation and sufficient funding.
•    Human Rights – CEDAW Signatory governments are obligated to take steps in laws and policies to achieve these norms.
•    The Millennium Development Goals – Gender equality is the third goal, but it is also integral to achieving all eight MDGs.

IFUW’s programme areas and international focus overlap with many of UN Women’s priorities. IFUW is therefore encouraging NFAs to investigate the projects UN Women is bringing to their region and country locally and to see how a close relationship can be built through working together.

More information on UN Women can be found on their new website www.unwomen.org.

Acting alone or in groups within their communities, every day human rights defenders campaign for equitable and effective laws, report and investigate human rights violations and support victims.

The celebration of the Human Rights Day started in 1950. The date was chosen to honour the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

In 1993, 45 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna confirmed that women’s rights were human rights. That this statement was even necessary is striking, yet it served for  identifying neglect of women’s rights as a human rights violation and in drawing attention to the relationship between gender and human rights violations.

IFUW members throughout the world are working hard to help women achieve their full human rights. According to Conchita Poncini, IFUW UN Representative, “women’s rights mean not just gender justices, but gender equality which leads to women’s empowerment… We are all human rights defenders! It is important that we keep on working until every country has effective national human rights institutions”.

Are there any special actions that your NFA or other organizations in your country are undertaking to promote women’s human rights?

In his message, Ban Ki-moon said: “Today we observe the annual International Day of Peace – a day dedicated to ceasefire and non-violence.  Peace is precious.  It must be nurtured, maintained, defended”. He called on the young to join in and help to work for peace.

Ten years ago the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1325 in an effort to increase the participation of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace keeping.

The promotion of peace was one of the founding principles of IFUW and remains an important priority today.

How did you or your NFA celebrated the International Day of Peace? What actions are your NFA taking to promote peace?

On the positive side, online social networking (such as Facebook and Twitter) allows people to interact virtually. Connecting people from different fields, like education, healthcare and politics, lends a voice to the less fortunate and enables individuals to take direct action and to mobilize the masses. The grass roots empowerment made possible by communications technology is particularly apparent in remote, rural and marginalized urban areas. Communications technology is also an important tool during natural disasters as it can be used to coordinate relief efforts and in search and rescue operations.

On the negative side, abusive content circulates freely and the internet is awash with unchecked racism, xenophobia, paedophilia, false information, insults and denigrating photographs.

Among the emerging concerns of the information age are privacy protection, identity theft and child protection online. The Universal Declaration on Human Rights proclaims that “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression” (Article 19), but it also says that “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation” (Article 12).

The responsibility of social networking providers needs to be re-enforced and data information secured. Participants in the WSIS meeting called for collaboration of private sector, government and civil society, and for intergovernmental organizations like UNESCO to play an important role in social media governance.

How do we balance the benefits of social networking, freedom of expression, the right to privacy and the online protection of vulnerable people, like children?

Should the United Nations and other international bodies have a stronger role in social media governance?

How might better collaboration be achieved between the private sector, governments, social society and organizations?

- Nina Joyce (based on the report by an IFUW UN Representative)

The Climate Change Financing group will examine sources of revenue for developing countries to help manage the impacts of climate change. Women are among the most affected by climate change because of their role as primary providers of food, water, and fuel. The absence of women in the Advisory Board means women will have no say in decisions that will impact millions of women.

In reaction, IFUW was one of many NGOs  that signed a letter written by the Women’s Environment and Development Organization, WEDO, to the Secretary General. The letter  urged for  “equitable representation of women and men” in the  Advisory Board and stressed that “women and men both have capacities, expertise and roles to play in responding to the threats of climate change effectively and  efficiently”. A list of qualified women who could be nominated for the group was suggested.

IFUW  believes that if gender equality is to be achieved, the UN must serve as a model. Therefore,  the IFUW Board of Officers has decided to circulate a petition which will call for gender equality in all UN appointed  Committees and High Level Advisory Boards, Working Groups and Task Forces.

What is your reaction and what could further be done at a national level to advocate for gender equality within the decision-making bodies of UN and its agencies?

The  Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), starting next week, will undertake a fifteen-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The Platform identifies twelve critical areas¹ of concern considered to be major obstacles to gender equality and women’s empowerment.  It also gives strategic objectives and actions to be taken by governments, the international community, non-governmental organizations and the private sector on implementation.

The CSW Beijing +15 meeting will emphasize the sharing of experiences and good practices to date, and will look at solutions on how to overcome remaining obstacles and new challenges. Governments were asked to provide reports on progress and regional reviews were undertaken in all five United Nation’s regional commissions.

In the ECE countries for example, some of the main challenges that remain are systematic gender-budgeting, unequal pay, social protection (such as pension benefits for unpaid care work) and implementation of existing legislation, in particular regarding violence against women².

What are the critical areas of concern in your country? How far has implementation of the Platform For Action come in your country? What are the biggest remaining barriers and challenges? What do you think the Beijing +15  review will show and what could Beijing +25 bring?

¹1. women and poverty;  2. education and training of women; 3. women and health; 4. violence against women; 5. women and armed conflict; 6. women and the economy; 7. women in power and decision-making; 8. institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women; 9. human rights of women; 10. women and the media; 11. women and the environment; 12. the girl child.

²UN-NGLS article: Beijing +15 ECE Regional Review Meeting; challenges remain

To help combat this growing atrocity, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently appointed Margot Wallström as his Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict. This new position (lobbied for by NGOs and called for in resolution 1888) was created to focus international action and to ensure a more effective prevention of and response to such crimes.

Ms Wallstöm commented: “Violence against women is the most common but least punished crime in the world…In far too many parts of the world women are excluded from the decision-making process and from conflict resolution and peacekeeping. This absolutely has to change and I am determined to play my part in making that change happen.”

A clear understanding of the root causes of rape in conflict is essential, including the myths that fuel this violence and the availability of the weapons that facilitate it. It is hoped that Margot Wallström will find a way to address these issues and that she will help empower women and fight impunity.

IFUW has adopted several resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. What can IFUW do to help advance the work of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict?

For more information and for action ideas: www.stoprapenow.org (UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict)

A detailed structure proposal will be finalized mid-December; once approved by the Secretary-General, Member States will consider it in a special session in February 2010. The new entity will be headed by an Under Secretary-General thus securing a high level of authority within the UN. The recruiting process will start as soon the UN General Assembly has allocated funding for the position. The appointment will hopefully be confirmed by March 2010.

The GEAR Campaign (Gender Equality Architecture Reform), a network of more than 310 civil society organizations of which IFUW is a member, played a key role in the campaign to achieve the above changes.

GEAR believes that the effectiveness of the new entity depends largely on the level of funding and is calling for an annual budget starting at $1 billion. Some parties would prefer a large percentage of this to come from voluntary donors. IFUW believes that most should come from the regular assessed contributions.

GEAR continues to push for a “systematic and meaningful participation of civil society, especially women’s organizations” in the work of the new entity. Civil society should be given “a voice” through access of meetings, participation in policy formulations, agenda setting, monitoring etc.

What commitment has your government made towards the implementation of the entity? IFUW urges its national federations and associations to contact their government to lobby for adequate funding for the entity’s works and for a strong civil society role in the process.