WUNRN
UN WOMEN'S AGENCY - POLITICAL DELAYS
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 3, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) - A
longstanding proposal for the creation of a special U.N. agency for women -
officially called a "gender entity" - is apparently moving at the
sluggish pace of a paralytic snail.
The proposal - originally conceived by a high-level panel of
U.N. experts back in 2006 - has remained a theoretical exercise for so long
that a coalition of women activists is spoofing it in a fake electronic
newspaper being circulated at a U.N meeting on gender empowerment here.
The fictitious headlines in the newspaper say it all: 'New
U.N. Women's Rights Agency Created (Not true);' 'Search for the head of the
U.N. Women's Agency (A long way off); 'New Women's Super Agency Attracts
Donors' (Hardly); and 'Much Awaited but Slow Reforms' (Closer to truth).
The satirical newspaper's editorial column says the paper
"provides an example of news that women's rights advocates from around the
world have wanted to read for years."
But never did - at least so far.
A brainchild of the European Gender Equality Architecture
Reform (GEAR) campaign, the newspaper symbolises the frustrations of women
activists who are livid that the United Nations has been dragging its
collective feet over the creation of the proposed new body.
"It's shameful that we have to come back time and time
again to explain why the new entity is needed - and why it's needed fast,"
Daniela Rosche, Policy & Advocacy Advisor on Gender Justice at Oxfam Novib,
told IPS.
She said this issue has been "going on forever".
The decision to set up a new gender entity, she argued, is a rather profound
transformation but it is a much needed one that all governments have agreed
over and over again.
"The issue is: Why do women's rights and gender
empowerment issues always take forever to tackle? Where is the sense of urgency
in this regard? It's not like we don't have a huge amount of work before us -
let's get on with it," said Rosche.
She also pointed out that although governments signed the
deal last year, it's not sealed yet. "We are still waiting for key
decisions that are long overdue."
The proposal for the creation of the new agency was part of
a set of far-reaching reforms for "coherence and coordination" in the
U.N. system in several fields, including economic development, humanitarian
aid, gender empowerment and the environment.
But there is speculation that both the United Nations and
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are being held hostage by some countries which
are demanding all-embracing, not piecemeal, system-wide reforms.
Colette Tamko, coordinator of the Gender and Governance
Programme at the Women's Environment and Development Organisation (WEDO), told
IPS that a small number of states, including some members of the Group of 77
(G77) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), as well as Russia and Japan, are now
asking for further clarifications before moving forward.
These countries have raised numerous questions in response
to a recent report by the secretary-general spelling out details of the
proposed entity.
"What is annoying is that some of these questions,
addressed in previous U.N. Secretariat papers and in many others, could only be
answered by member states, the under-secretary-general and/or the executive
board of the agency when it is actually launched," she added.
Tamko said the "unofficial/untold reason for the delay
is that G77 countries are using the gender architecture as a bargaining chip to
advance their still undisclosed agenda."
She said, "They want the same level of progress on all
areas of the system-wide coherence (including funding and governance), when
they know that gender is by far the most advanced and that there is enough
progress in that area to achieve a concrete decision."
Addressing delegates Wednesday, Ban said he has made women's
empowerment a top priority in the world body.
"We hope soon to have a dynamic entity for gender
equality and women's empowerment within the U.N. system. That would provide
more coherent programming and a stronger voice for women," he said.
Turning to delegates, he said: "I urge the (192-member)
General Assembly to create this new entity without delay by adopting a
resolution."
But that resolution seems to be a distant dream - judging by
the lethargic progress made so far.
Addressing the current two-week session the U.N. Commission
on the Status of Women, which concludes Mar. 12, Harriet Harman, Britain's
minister for women and equality, said: "We have to counter the false
arguments that this is an imposition from the North on the South."
She said: "It's not, it's for women and it's for women
everywhere."
Harman also said that "we have to make sure that this
new U.N. women's agency is not held back because of our desire to make progress
across the board.
She said "system-wide coherence" is important.
"But women will not forgive us if we let the best be the enemy of the
good."
Audun Lysbakken, Norway's minister of children, equality and
social inclusion, told delegates the gender entity should be operational before
the high-level meeting of world leaders on the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) in September.
"I challenge those who step on the brakes to explain
why," he said.
Tamko of WEDO explained that the gender entity is part of
the system-wide coherence process - "And I don't think any member states
denies that" - but why slow down gender?
"And why hold it hostage when we know that it is ripe
for a decision and the other issues are not?" she asked.
She complained these countries are also holding up the
appointment of an under-secretary-general to head the new entity despite Ban's
willingness to move forward on the appointment.
The secretary-general is not politically free to do so
without some countries using that to further stall the process, she added.
Ban does not need legal permission to proceed on such an
appointment, but he is getting strong signals from member states that he should
not.
"This is a shame," Tamko declared.
The "off-putting position" of the Joint Coordinating
Committee, comprising the G77 and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), is of serious
concern, she said, as is that of Yemen, Egypt, Cuba (all G77 and/or NAM
members), as well as Japan and Russia.
"The good news is that not all G77 countries share the
position of the hard-liners within that group but it is regrettable that many
of those supportive G77 countries are not speaking up, letting countries like
Egypt and Yemen that have a different agenda, representing the views of the
JCC," Tamko said.
"Women around the world are sick and tired of this
process...It's been too long and we demand action from member states on this
long overdue reform now," she declared.
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