Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet's address on its first anniversary (2 Feb 2012)

Highlights of Ms Bachelet's speech are below. You can read her full address at the link.   

First, advancing women’s political participation and leadership. At this moment of historic change, we cannot afford to leave women out. Women’s full and equal participation in the political arena is fundamental to democracy and justice, which people are demanding.

Second, improving women’s economic empowerment. Without women, we cannot have a healthy economy. Yet today more than 800 million women lack the education, training, and opportunities to participate fully in economic life. Unleashing women’s economic potential will make economic growth and recovery faster and more equitable. Economic empowerment makes other rights possible for women.

Third, ending violence against women and girls. Violence against women is not just a woman’s issue. It diminishes each of us and has tremendous social and economic costs. It is not inevitable and can be prevented.

Fourth, expanding the role of women in peace talks, peace-building, and recovery. Women are more than victims of conflict, they are leaders of peace and democracy. This message was delivered when the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to three women.

Fifth, making budgets and plans benefit women and men equally. A budget shows top political priorities. A budget seen through a gender lens reveals how public allocations can benefit women.

Sixth, increasing coordination and accountability across the UN system for gender equality. UN Women has been called by governments to lead, coordinate and enhance the accountability of the UN system in its work on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Priorities for 2012

My top priority for 2012 will be to make a renewed push for women’s economic empowerment and political participation. This is in response to women’s demands and also to recent events, to the transformations taking place in the political, social and economic spheres.

Today I call for stronger commitment for women’s empowerment and gender equality. During this time of austerity and uncertainty, we cannot let budget cuts and political change cut progress for girls and women. Our challenge is not only to protect hard won gains, but to advance the rights of women.

 

IN THE NEWS

UN Deputy Secretary General warns that gender discrimination is too widespread (14 February 2012)

 United Nations Member States must boost economic empowerment for women to help them realize the global community’s common goals, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro urged today, warning that gender discrimination around the world was still too widespread.
“Too many countries still have discriminatory laws on the books. Laws that prevent women from inheriting property, laws that restrict women’s freedom, and laws that undermine women’s rights are all laws that must be repealed,” Ms. Migiro said in her closing remarks to the Non-Aligned Movement’s (NAM) ministerial meeting on the advancement of women in Doha, Qatar.

The UN has recently argued that unleashing women’s economic potential can promote economic growth and recovery faster and more equitably while also paving the way for other women’s rights – a necessary step in achieving the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their 2015 deadline.

Ms. Migiro also pointed to the progress made by the UN’s youngest aency, UN Women, noting that as it entered its second year, it was determined to do even more to deliver on the Organisation’s promises to advance women’s issues, including leadership and political participation, the expansion of economic opportunities, working for an end to gender-based violence, and increasing women’s contributions to peace. For more information on Ms Migiro's address please go to the link.  
 

What is UN Women?

UN Women is the United Nations organisation dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their rights worldwide.

UN Women supports United Nations Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas:

• increasing women’s leadership and participation;
• ending violence against women;
• engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes;
• enhancing women’s economic empowerment; 
• making gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting.

UN Women in the UK

Here in the UK UN Women UK is the local representative, voice and champion for UN Women (formed in January 2011 from the amalgamation of UNIFEM and three other UN gender bodies) and support the work of UN Women in its mission for gender equality and the empowerment of women through:

• Education and awareness building
• Lobbying the government for continued support of our activities
• Public support of UN Women projects worldwide
• Raising funds to ensure ongoing project activity

The President of UN Women UK is Jan Grasty and she writes a news bulletin each month. For the latest issue visit their website and follow the link.

 

In Pursuit of Justice

Justice remains out of reach for millions of the world’s women, warns UN Women’s flagship report, Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice. Click the link to read a summary of the report.

Pervasive discrimination against women creates major hurdles to achieving rights and hinders progress on all of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the benchmarks that the international community has set to eradicate extreme poverty - from improving maternal health, to achieving universal education and halting the spread of HIV and AIDS.

While some progress has been made, for example, 139 countries and territories now guarantee gender equality in their constitutions, and domestic violence is now outlawed in 125 countries, the report shows that too often, women continue to experience injustice, violence and inequality in their home and working lives. Globally, 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is still not considered a crime.

 

UN Women formed (January 2011)

The establishment of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — to be known as UN Women — was a result of years of negotiations between UN Member States and advocacy by the global women’s movement. It was part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. UN Women became fully operational in January 2011.Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet to head UN Women.

The body, which receives a large boost in funding, merges four UN agencies and offices: the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI), and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW).

How will civil society (ie Soroptimist International) be involved with UN Women?

Years of advocacy by the global women’s movement have been instrumental in the creation of UN Women. Civil society, in particular women’s organisations, play a vital role in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, and strong and dynamic relationships between UN Women and civil society partners in all parts of the world will be crucial in working towards the achievement these goals. As such, non-governmental organisation partners will have a strong voice in the priority-setting, policies and programmes of UN Women which, in turn, will provide support to women’s organisations and networks.

 

First, advancing women’s political participation and leadership