UN Reform Issues on All Fronts, Challenging
Stronger Gender Equality Architecture
By June Zeitlin, Executive
Director
Last month, the Secretary General presented his
views on the Coherence Panel’s recommendations in a report to the General
Assembly. The General Assembly needed to formally receive this
report before beginning its own discussions of the Panel’s
recommendations.
In his presentation, the SG reiterated his support for a
stronger, consolidated women’s agency. He underscored that gender equality
continues to be the mandate of all UN entities and that he will recruit
“competent” women to his senior team. He also announced that the Deputy
Secretary-General, Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro will oversee the implementation of the
Coherence Panel recommendations.
In her introduction of the SG, the
President of the GA, H.E. Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, noted that at the
March GA
thematic debate on gender equality and women’s empowerment, many speakers
highlighted the need for a stronger and effective, better-resourced gender
entity. She also urged governments to take action on the gender
architecture recommendation.
Following the presentation of the
Secretary-General’s report, it was anticipated that the President of the General
Assembly would appoint facilitators—generally ambassadors—to address the various
recommendations in the report, including one on gender equality. This
process, which was used very effectively in the lead up to the World Summit in
2005, is meeting with some resistance. At the opening debate, G-77 and NAM
(Non-Aligned Movement) jointly expressed their views that the report should be
considered as a whole and should be the subject of extensive
consultations.
During the last several weeks, the President of the
General Assembly has been conducting extensive consultations with member
states. So far the G-77 and NAM continue to insist that there be an open
debate on the entire report rather than separate working groups on various
topics. These consultations are continuing and to date, no facilitators
have been appointed.
Essentially, this means that all Panel
recommendations that require intergovernmental approval by the General Assembly,
including the consolidation of DAW, OSAGI and UNIFEM into a single new entity,
are currently stalled. No action is being taken.
Keeping the Momentum
On 2 May, WEDO joined
sixteen other civil society groups and NGOs for a meeting with the Deputy
Secretary General, Ms. Ashe Rose Migiro to discuss the Coherence Panel report.
Co-hosted by UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) and the Friedrich Ebert
Stiftung (FES), the meeting provided NGOs an opportunity for the first time for
such a dialogue on the UN Reform recommendations
WEDO and other women’s
rights groups—Center for Women’s Global Leadership, DAWN and WILPF—stressed the
urgent need for a stronger, higher level and better resourced women’s agency and
the danger of maintaining the current fragmented and under-resourced system. We
reiterated the importance of appointing an Under-Secretary General with gender
equality expertise and vision through an open, transparent and competitive
global search process. We underscored our view that the gender equality
component of the report (known as the GEA proposal) could be a ‘quick win’ for
the Secretary-General and the UN and for women worldwide.
Women
are also mobilizing at the national level to keep the momentum going. For
example, the Asia Pacific Women’s Watch http://apww.isiswomen.org/ organized a
two-day regional consultation this month in Bangkok, hosted by Thai Women
Watch. “Strengthening UN-NGO Cooperation in Promoting Gender Equality in
Asia Pacific” featured panelists from several UN agencies—UNESCAP, UNIFEM, UNDP,
UNFPA and ILO—who exchanged their views with representatives of NGOs from all
sub-regions of Asia Pacific. Following this meeting, women’s groups
undertook further discussions with their Foreign Affairs ministers, briefing
them on what’s at stake for women from developing countries if the GEA proposal
is not adopted and implemented. These women’s groups are lobbying their
governments to encourage their various missions in New York to participate
actively in the G77 and General Assembly discussions.
Women Insist on Action: Break out the Gender Equality
Proposals
Women have worked hard to ensure that gender equality is
on the UN Reform agenda and that the Coherence Panel recommended creating a
stronger better resourced women’s entity. This is necessary to deliver on
the promises of the Beijing Platform for Action that the UN and governments made
more than ten years ago. We cannot lose the momentum for change that women
around the world have created….or find that the United Nations and our
governments again fall short on delivering results on women’s rights and gender
equality. WEDO and partners will be talking to governments and the
Secretary General about different approaches to achieve creation of the new
women’s entity this
year.