Women's Agenda for UN Reform

The Women's Agenda for United Nations Reform

An interview with Charlotte Bunch, Executive Director of the Center for
Women's Global Leadership on the current United Nations reform drive, and
what it means for women.

By Kathambi Kinoti - AWID

AWID: What is the Center for Women's Global Leadership doing in relation to
the current UN reform drive?

Charlotte Bunch: The Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) is part of
a group of organizations that have been working for about one year, since
the run-up to the United Nations Millennium Summit that was held in 2005,
to ensure that adequate attention is given to women's equality and gender
issues within the United Nations. We have two broad areas of focus. The
first is the UN human rights machinery and the second is the area of peace
and security. CWGL's particular focus is the women's rights machinery while
the initiative within the second area is led by the Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom. We have managed to achieve a commitment from
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that the High-Level Panel on UN system-wide
coherence in areas of development, humanitarian assistance and the
environment will consider the gender architecture in those areas.

AWID: Although the UN would be expected to lead the way in demonstrating
commitment to gender equality, within its administrative structure gender
equality does not appear to be regarded as a priority. Why do you think
this is so?

CB: There are two reasons for this:
1. Governments are not supporting the UN in putting money into efforts to
make gender equality a priority. They are not committing enough resources
to strengthening the women's rights machinery by enhancing its status and
paying attention to staffing needs. The mood of governments, particularly
that of the United States, is that no new resources should be allocated to
women's issues. In the 1990s there was more support of women's equality
both at the UN level and at the national level. However, practical support
has now been transformed into lip service

2. The second reason is that since 9/11 the antiterrorism mood has created
a sense of crisis in the UN such that other issues are given less priority
and we have lost what we gained in the 1990s in terms of women's equality.
There are people on both sides of the debate: those who argue that the war
against terror is justified and those who argue that it has been created
and blown out of proportion by the US. Whatever the case, the debate itself
has taken up prominent space and shrunk the space for women's rights.
Although there is a connection between the peace and security and women's
rights, the links are not adequately being made. The sense of crisis has
also meant that peace and security issues are being regarded from a
short-term rather than a long-term perspective.

AWID: There have been calls by among other people, Stephen Lewis the UN
Special Envoy for HIV and AIDS in Africa, for a separate women's agency
within the UN. Do you agree with those advocating for a new women's agency,
and if so, what do you think the priority of such an agency should be?

CB: If women's rights are to have a stronger profile, we need a separate
agency at the operational level. I therefore agree with the need that
Stephen Lewis has spoken to. Whether it should be a whole new outfit or
combine the UNIFEM and UNFPA is still open to debate, but whatever agency
is created should receive adequate resources otherwise the problem that
UNIFEM has been facing will be perpetuated. By resources I am referring to
both money and status. Whatever agency is formed should build on UNIFEM's
work so far, such as their work on women, peace and security, the trust
fund on violence against women, and on gender budgeting.

In order for the women's agency to be seen as more powerful it might be
better to consolidate UNIFEM and UNFPA and give the new body a new name,
not just more resources.

In terms of priorities, it should develop programme areas along the lines
of the Beijing Platform for Action, what UNIFEM and UNFPA have been working
on in the areas of political and economic empowerment, violence against
women, sexual and reproductive rights, peace and security, land and
inheritance rights. It will need to address new issues that have come to
prominence since the Beijing Platform such as HIV/AIDS. It should still be
able to partner with other UN bodies such as UNEP and UNDP, and the other
UN agencies still need to incorporate women's needs into their agenda.

AWID: How can system-wide coherence within the UN with regards to women's
empowerment and gender equality issues best be achieved?

CB: Women's issues have to be addressed adequately at all levels. The UN
operates at two levels. The first is the operational level, at which it
works in the field, on development concerns nationally. The second is at
the international policy-making or global level. Women's rights need a
strong presence in both areas. At the operational level we need an agency
that will incorporate the roles that UNIFEM, UNFPA and the United Nations
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women
(INSTRAW) currently play in the field. At the international policy-making
level we could continue to have the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender
Issues (OSAGI). The status of the machinery at both levels needs to be
strengthened and adequately resourced.

At the same time, gender mainstreaming needs to continue and be
strengthened within other UN agencies. This will avoid a situation where
the addressing of women's issues becomes confined to the new agency alone.

AWID: How can civil society influence the current UN reform agenda so that
it adequately encompasses the goals of gender equality and women's
empowerment?

CB: Women's groups need to be aware that gender equality is now officially
on the agenda of the UN reform programme. They need to begin talking to
their governments about what they would like them. Up until this year's
Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) governments were not willing to
engage with this issue, but now that it is on the agenda they have no
choice.

The recommendations of the Coherence Panel will go to the UN General
Assembly in September this year. After that a lot more discussion at the
policy level will go on. Women's organizations need to start talking to
their governments now, if they want their governments to respond positively
to the Coherence Panel's recommendations. Most governments do not know or do
not care that gender equality is on the agenda and we need to start applying
pressure now for a common agreement on a stronger agency for women with a
higher level status and more resources.

CWGL is compiling an update on UN reform activities and advocacy issues and
this will be available shortly on our website.

AWID: What potential obstacles or pitfalls for women's rights, if any, do
you foresee in the current reform drive?

CB: There are different interests jostling for position in the reform
process. A major issue is budget-cutting, coherence and rationalization.
Governments want to spend less money. We need to be careful that the need
for the enhancement of women's rights is not compromised in the name of
coherence. There are voices that are saying that there are already too many
gender focal points within the UN and we need to be aware of this.

We welcome the creation of the new Human Rights Council, but we need to be
alert in ensuring that the principles of gender equality and respect for
women's rights are built into this new institution so that what we gained
within the former Commission for Human Rights (CHR) is not lost. Women's
rights had a regular place on the agenda of the CHR and this should be
continued with the Council.

Engaging with UN processes at the global level may seem tedious and
frustrating because sometimes it appears that it is not going anywhere.
This is particularly so if we compare the current climate to the one that
existed in the 1990s when a lot of space was created for women. However
engagement with the UN reform process is about having space at an
international level and we will lose a lot if we do not keep the space
open. I would therefore encourage women's groups to get actively involved
in the process.