On 2 July, in a historic moment, the UN General Assembly voted unanimously for the establishment of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment, to be known as “UN Women.” The resolution that establishes the new entity is part of a larger resolution on System-wide Coherence (A/64/L.56) and is the result of years of negotiations between UN Member States and active advocacy of women’s groups and civil society. With the establishment of UN Women, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the world has entered “a new era in the UN’s work for women.”
The new entity, which will be operational by January 2011, will consolidate the four existing gender entities – the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW); the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW); the Office of the Special Adviser for Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI); and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) – into one in order to ensure stronger coherence and coordination at all levels and to bring together resources and mandates for greater impact. A transition period started upon adoption of the resolution and will continue until 31 December 2010.
UN Women’s mandate will include supporting inter-governmental bodies in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms, and helping Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it. It will also help the UN system to be accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.
More information is available online