UNITED NATIONS — "A certain hallowed ritual around the United Nations holds that to ensure a truly auspicious beginning, any new branch of the world body needs a really first-rate acronym.
So how about UNEGEEW?
That shorthand stands for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. It borders on being unpronounceable, and as some indigenous wags pointed out, ends with a rather unfortunate “eew” sound." says Neil MacFaQuhar of The New York Times, in the article entitled: A U.N. Agency for Women? Yes! But Those Names...
The General Assembly on Friday unanimously approved the establishment of a single U.N. entity to promote equality for women.
The resolution adopted by consensus by the 192-member world body will put four existing U.N. bodies dealing with the advancement of women under a single umbrella that will be known as "UN Women." Diplomats burst into applause when Assembly President Ali Abdessalam Treki banged his gavel signifying approval.
"This is truly a watershed day," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. "By bringing together four parts of the U.N. system dedicated to women's issues, member states have created a much stronger voice for women and for gender equality at the global level."
"It will now be much more difficult for the world to ignore the challenges facing women and girls or to fail to take the necessary action," he said.
Approval of the resolution culminates a four-year campaign to streamline the U.N.'s activities promoting the status of women led by the European Union and strongly supported by women's organizations and other non-governmental groups who hailed the birth of UN Women.
Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro called the vote "historic," saying UN Women will for the first time give the United Nations a "single recognized driver" to direct and accelerate progress towards the goals of women.
"We have high expectations for this new agency to be a solid foundation for advancing the human rights of women," said Charlotte Bunch of the Center for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
"It's historic because for the first time the United Nations has created a unified body for women with high-level leadership," Bunch said. "But how good it will be depends on the leadership appointed, the resources committed and the support from all U.N. member states and all the other U.N. agencies."
The Rutgers centre is a member of The GEAR Campaign comprising over 300 groups that have been working to win approval for a more effective U.N. organization for women.
For many years, the United Nations has faced serious challenges in trying to promote equality for women around the world because of the lack of funding and the lack of a single high-powered spokesperson and agency to pursue action.
While the world's governments agreed in 1995 to an ambitious platform to achieve equality for women, Migiro said, "inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society."
"Women in all parts of the world suffer violence and discrimination, and are under-represented in decision-making processes," she said. "High rates of maternal mortality continue to be a cause for global shame."
Under the resolution's provisions, the platform to achieve women's equality adopted by 189 nations at the 1995 U.N. women's conference in Beijing will be the framework for the new body's work. It called for governments to end discrimination against women and close the gender gap in 12 critical areas including health, education, employment, political participation and human rights.
The resolution will consolidate the secretary-general's Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, the U.N. Development Fund for Women known as UNIFEM, the Division for the Advancement of Women, and the U.N. International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women.
| "UN Women will significantly boost UN efforts to promote gender equality, expand opportunity, and tackle discrimination around the globe." - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon |
According to the resolution, the new body's policy-oriented activities will be funded by the U.N.'s regular budget — to which all 192 members contribute — and its programs and operations in the field will be funded by voluntary contributions.
The combined budget of the four bodies being merged is about $220 million, 98 per cent of it from UNIFEM which operates in 80 countries. The GEAR Campaign said it will be pressing to increase funding for UN Women to $1 billion within a few years.
The highest-ranking official currently dealing with women's issues is Assistant Secretary-General Rachel Mayanja, who is Ban's special adviser.
The resolution states that UN Women will be led by a higher-ranking undersecretary-general, to be chosen by the secretary-general before the next General Assembly session begins in September.
Three names already floated publicly to lead the new body are former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, Rwanda's Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo, and Radhika Coomaraswamy, the U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict. Migiro said eight names have already been submitted and more are expected now that UN Women is a reality.
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