UN Reform - Civil Society - Women's Initiatives

The UN High -Level Coherence Panel consultations with civil society on
UN Reform will be held in Geneva on July 2, 2006. About 60 civil society
representatives from around the world are expected to participate in the
discussion on the cross-cutting themes of gender equality, human rights
and the environment. The Geneva consultations with civil society
represent an important opportunity for women's rights groups to lay out
the organizational and systemic problems associated with the gender
equality architecture throughout the UN, both at the national and global
levels.

Prior to the Panel consultations women's groups will meet to strategize
on overall messages for the hearings. It will be a chance for women's
groups to get together to explore strategies and make more concrete
recommendations about the structural changes that ought to happen in
order to turn gender equality, women's rights and women's empowerment
goals into reality. These discussions will also constitute the basis of
women's longer-term advocacy efforts leading to the 61st session of the
UN General Assembly that will begin on September 12, 2006 in New York.
Member states will negotiate the panel's recommended reforms to the
current architecture, or at least recommended processes on UN reform
during the General Assembly.

Since May 2006, the UN High-Level Coherence Panel has conducted a series
of thematic and regional consultations as well as field visits in Kenya,
Mozambique, Pakistan and Rome, primarily with UN Staff, but also with
others knowledgeable about the UN system. Other regional meetings were
scheduled to be held such as in Tirana and Cairo but were cancelled.

The UN High -Level Coherence Panel will complete its work in August 2006
and its recommendations will be presented to the General Assembly in
September 2006.

Women's Initiatives on UN Reform

Women's groups around the world are organizing to put forward their
concerns regarding the UN Reform process. Following are some of the
initiatives taking place at the national and regional levels:

Norway: The Network for Women and the UN, an open network of
organizations and individuals that aim to strengthen the efforts of the
UN system for women was organized in May, 2006. The Network met with the
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Co-Chair of the High -Level
Panel on UN System-Wide Coherence on May 19, 2006 and sent a letter on
May 30, 2006. In the letter, the Network stressed women's contributions
in UN conferences by keeping the issues on the international agenda, and
adopting normative instruments and action plans to strengthen the status
of women and promote gender equality. They also pointed out that
governments as well as UN organisations have experienced difficulties
translating the good intentions into practice and that political will
has failed and knowledge, resources and effective implementation
mechanisms have been lacking. The Network also criticised the gender
architecture in the UN system as being weak and fragmented. Read
Addendum 1 to Women's Globalnet #303 for a full copy of the Network for
Women's letter to the Norwegian Prime Minister.

FOKUS, another organization in Norway that serves as a resource centre
on international women's issues and a co-ordinating organ for Norwegian
women's groups also wrote to Prime Minister Stoltenberg stating that the
UN reform process provides an opportunity for lifting the UN so the
organisation is able to meet common challenges related to development,
peace and poverty reduction. However, it also expressed concern about
the possibility that gender equality will not be sufficiently focused in
the reform process. Fokus stressed that gender equality and the
strengthening of the status of women are prerequisites for the
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It called for "a
new UN where issues related to women and equality are placed at the very
centre of the organisation." It asked Prime Minister Stoltenberg about
the specific measures he will propose to promote gender equality and
women's rights in a reformed UN.

16.05. 2006
Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg,

Dear Jens Stoltenberg,

FOKUS would like to congratulate you with the task of co-chairing the UN
reform panel. The UN reform process provides an opportunity for lifting
the UN so the organisation is able to meet our common challenges related
to development, peace and poverty reduction.

FOKUS is concerned about the possibility that gender equality will not
be sufficiently focused in the reform process. This concern is shared by
our international network. We would like to reiterate the fact that
gender equality and strengthening of the status of women are
prerequisites for the achievement of the UN Millennium Goals. Obtaining
equality between women and men globally is an enormous task requiring
clear leadership and resources.

FOKUS has great expectations regarding your role in the UN reform. We
would like a new UN where issues related to women and equality are
placed at the very centre of the organisation. This means that all UN
agencies have to intensify their efforts. Further, it requires the
creation of a special, strong organisation for women and equality with
financial resources, a mandate ensuring a holistic view of the situation
of women and making the organisation a driving force in relation to all
parts of the system, and a structure providing leverage at the highest
levels of the UN. In this connection a reinforced UNIFEM is essential.

FOKUS takes the liberty to ask for an account of the specific measures
you will propose to promote gender equality and women's rights in a
reformed UN. Norway has a special responsibility for taking the lead
internationally to improve the situation of girls and women. If the UN
shall stand as a modern and relevant organisation responding to the most
important challenges of our times, the clear message from FOKUS is that
gender equality must have top priority.

If you would like further inputs to your work, the national and
international networks of FOKUS are at your disposal.

Best regards,

Gerd Louise Molvig, Chair of the Board Bjørg Skotnes, General Manager

. ..................................................................................................................................

The National Congress of the Norwegian Association for Women's Rights,
held in Oslo on May 6, 2006, adopted a resolution addressed to the Prime
Minister Stoltenberg. The resolution emphasized that to be able to
achieve the MDGs, UN's work on women and gender equality must be
strengthened. They pointed out that the a number of countries,
especially in the Global South are behind their MDG targets.
Participants in the Congress called on all UN organizations to intensify
their efforts to strengthen the status of women and promote gender
equality within their fields of competence, employ more effective
strategies and allocate more resources. The special units for women -
such as UNIFEM and INSTRAW - must be further developed and strengthened,
possibly by creating an autonomous, more dynamic women's organisation
which can provide women with an independent voice, function as a
watchdog assisting and exerting pressure on other organisations with
regards to women and gender equality, they added. Read Addendum 3 to
Women's Globalnet #303 for a full copy of the resolution.

Philippines: NGOs are gathering signatures in a letter that will be sent
to the Philippine Permanent Mission to the UN in New York and the
members of the High Level Panel on UN System-Wide Coherence. The
Philippine campaign noted the increasing recognition by the UN of civil
society as a key stakeholder in development, humanitarian assistance and
the environment. It applauded the World Summit's recognition of gender
equality as essential for sustained economic growth, poverty reduction
and employment creation. The Philippine NGOs urged the Philippine
mission and members of the High Level Panel to support the strengthening
of the capacity of each of the UN funds, programmes and agencies to
mainstream gender equality objectives in their respective programmes and
activities, through appropriate policies, mechanisms and resources. It
also urged the UN to raise the authority, status and financial resources
of UNIFEM. A full copy of the Philippine NGOs' letter is in Addendum 4
to Women's Globalnet #303.

South Asia: Women's organizations including SEWA (India), Saathi
(Nepal) and Struggle for Change (Pakistan) wrote to the members of the
High Level Panel urging for a stronger UNIFEM as a UN nodal agency for
women with proven track record and expertise.
The South Asian women also conducted a signature campaign expressing
their appeal for a strengthened UNIFEM under a reformed gender
architecture in the UN. Representatives of women's groups in South Asia
met Pakistani Prime Minster Shaukat Aziz, Co-Chair of the Panel, in
Islamabad on 22nd April 2006. The women apprised the Prime Minister Aziz
of South Asian women's concerns and requested him to put forward their
concerns before the rest of the Coherence Panel members of the UN Reform
Process.

Women from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka also came up with a letter and
statement reinforcing the concerns of women in other parts of South
Asia. Read Addendum 5 to Women's Globalnet #303 for the Bangladeshi
women's letter to the Pakistani Prime Minister and the Sri Lankan
statement.

The Global Peace Conference that was organized in Birgunj, Nepal on
April 7-8, 2006 formulated a declaration that recognized the support
UNIFEM has provided to different states. The delaration read:
"Therefore, we recommend UNIFEM to be a high powered nodal agency in the
UN as the "Gender Architecture" to operationalize the women's peace
agenda according to the Security Council Resolution 1325." A group of
NGOs and civil society representatives in Nepal which calls itself
"Friends of UNIFEM" is also active in collecting signatures from diverse
groups and networks.

Japan: The Japan Women's Watch, a coalition of women's organizations
lobbying for the full implementation of the Beijign Platform for Action
will meet with Mr. Keizo Takemi, a member of the UN High -Level
Coherence Panel on June 28 to solicit Mr. Takemi's support in ensuring
gender equality and women's human rights principles in the UN Reform
process.

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