GEAR Campaign
Newsletter May/June 2010
The creation of the new UN entity for gender equality and the empowerment of
women is near. Member States of the United Nations have begun negotiations on
System Wide Coherence, of which GEAR is a part. GEAR Campaign as well as the
most optimistic representatives hope that an agreement on the resolution is
reached in the beginning of July.
Yet some major disagreements remain to be solved. The main issue dividing
Member States is whether the entity should be governed by establishing an
independent arm of the UNDP/UNFPA Executive Board, or whether a completely
new Executive Board should be established. The whole reform may depend on
governments' willingness to reach a compromise on the make-up and functions
of the Board.
The GEAR Campaign continues to advocate that the new UN women's rights entity
is established without further delay and that Member States agree to create a
strong, operational women's entity with universal country presence, that is
ambitiously funded (with a minimum of $500 million to start), and coordinates
the UN system's work on women.
The Working Group is also pleased to announce the launch of the official
Global GEAR Campaign website www.gearcampaign.org on Friday 4 June. Through the website as well as
through this newsletter we are going to keep you updated on the latest
developments at the UN, as well as on GEAR Campaign activities in all the
regions. Meanwhile you can find latest news about GEAR here.
GEAR Campaign Working Group
[See
who we are]
Take action!
Sign the Amnesty
International GEAR petition on
the new UN entity for gender equality and women's empowerment. The
petition will be given to the President of the UN General Assembly on 17
June. Sign the petition by 10 June here.
Let your government
know that you support GEAR. Send them a letter asking them
to reach agreement and adopt a resolution without delay here.
Speak with your
colleagues, friends, and member organizations about the
GEAR Campaign. Inform others about the new UN gender equality entity
and about the GEAR Campaign website www.gearcampaign.org that will be
available from 4 June.
|
News on the GEAR process at the UN
NEGOTIATIONS ABOUT THE
DRAFT SWC RESOLUTION PROCEED
The draft of a resolution on System-wide Coherence that the UN General
Assembly will have to adopt in order to create the new UN women's agency is
being negotiated informally by UN Member States The negotiations started the
week of April 16 and will go on until the end of June. The main issue
dividing the Member States is the Executive Board. [More]
SEARCH FOR THE LEADER
OF THE NEW WOMEN'S AGENCY BEGINS
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has asked Member States to put forward
names of possible candidates for the post of the Under-Secretary-General who
will be the leader of the new UN gender equality entity. The GEAR Campaign is
not endorsing particular candidates, but will monitor the appointment process
closely. [More]
UN ANSWERS FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NEW WOMEN'S AGENCY
The UN Secretariat has put together a useful background document on the new
UN gender equality entity that answers many of the frequently asked
questions. The document is good resource for anyone interested in the details
and process of the new women's agency. [More]
CSW SUPPORTS THE
CREATION OF THE NEW UN WOMEN'S ENTITY
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) concluded its fifty-fourth
session on 12 March with adoption of a short text supporting the creation of
the new UN gender equality entity. [More]
The creation of the new gender equality entity was one of the hot topics of
the CSW. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon urged the Member States to create the
new entity without delay. Also more than sixty governments spoke about the
creation of the new UN gender equality entity in their official statements.
GEAR Campaign has analyzed the statements. [More]
GEAR Campaign Activities
RECENT GEAR CAMPAIGN
DOCUMENTS
The GEAR Campaign submitted a written statement for the Annual Ministerial
Review (ARM) on gender equality and empowerment of women that will take place
during the High-level Segment of the annual session of ECOSOC. [Read
the statement]
GEAR Campaign sent a letter for UN Ambassadors with the message that it is
important to "get the reform right." The Campaign reminds that this
is a once in a life time opportunity to change the status quo on women's
rights. The Campaign calls on the UN Member States to ensure that the reform
of the UN gender equality architecture will have a truly transformative
outcome. [Read
the letter]
GEAR Campaign statement of March 2010 lines out the elements that the civil
society sees as key for the success of the new entity. [Read
the statement]
GEAR CAMPAIGN ACTION
AT THE CSW
The government delegates and other participants of Commission on the Status
of Women (CSW), the two-week meeting on women's rights that concluded at the
UN headquarters on 12 March 2010, could not avoid hearing the message
"GEAR UP NOW!" [More]
|