UN Women and
GEAR Campaign

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN-Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

The new entity replaces four small under-resourced UN agencies: the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW); the Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women (OSAGI); the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).

These agencies lacked the necessary status, funding and country presence to enable the wider UN system and national authorities to fully implement their obligations; the new entity will have far greater the authority under the UN system to drive gender equality at the highest political levels and also in country programmes. This is a significant achievement for women’s rights campaigners who have worked tirelessly to encourage governments and the UN to address persistent gender inequity.

This is an important and exciting time for women worldwide because the new entity has the potential to tackle the underlying causes of gender inequity and inequality in a strategic and evidence based way. It also has the unprecedented potential to hold the entire UN system accountable for its failures to address women’s human rights.

UN Women Links

For more information on UN Women, click here.

For a report by the Director, Michelle Bachelet, to the Commission on the Status of Women, Click here.

To view the video, "What UN Women Means to Me", click here.

To download the UN Women Brochure, click here.

For the statement of the African Feminist Forum in relation to UN Women, click here.

A Blueprint for UN Women: Oxfam and VSO UK Survey on UN Women - This report documents the outcomes of a global civil society survey on women’s needs, priorities and expectations in relation to UN Women at country level. The views of 100 civil society organizations, including grassroots and women’s rights organizations, from 75 countries on the priorities for UNW and its approach to working at country level are now made available in a report. To view the report, click here. See also the joint VSO/Oxfam press release by clicking here.

To view UN Women's report, Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice, click here.

UN Women's thematic areas:

• Women War and Peace
• Gender and HIV/AIDS
• Gender Equality and the Millennium Development Goals
• Gender and Climate Change
• Women’s Human Rights
• Gender Responsive Budget Initiatives
• Women, Poverty and Economics
• Violence Against Women
• Leadership and Participation

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Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR)

The international Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign lobbied for the creation of the new entity from 2006. The GEAR Campaign will continue to monitor the implementation of the UN resolution to ensure that when the new entity is officially set up that it is adequately resourced and has sufficient authority be a genuine leader for women’s rights.

The GEAR Campaign seeks to ensure that UN Women is both accountable to and informed by civil society, especially women’s organizations, through the establishment of mechanisms that include meaningful participation at headquarters and at the regional and country level. Women’s NGOs are best placed to provide programming and policy expertise on how the UN and governments can advance women’s human rights and achieve gender equality. Bringing in diverse women’s voices, including grass roots women, and building on this experience is critical to UN Women’s success and sustainability at all levels.

GEAR is concerned that there is no set mechanism within UN Women to engage with civil society. GEAR advocates have presented a proposal for this that includes the appointment of civil society independent experts, the creation of thematic working groups and other suggestions that highlight the importance of having women’s groups and grassroots organizations formally involved. GEAR is also concerned at the minimal reference to human rights language in Michelle Bachelet’s presentations on UN Women. GEAR Campaign advocates and women’s rights activist have struggled over the last years to get UN Women established. The challenge now is to ensure that UN Women’s vision of gender equality is informed by the human rights framework of the Vienna Declaration, the Cairo Programme of Action, the Beijing Platform for Action and the  Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

GEAR links

To read the latest statement by the GEAR Campaign, click here.

For more information on the Gear Campaign, click here.

To view the Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) campaign's Civil Society Recommendations for UN Women, click here.

To view the June 2011 press release "GEAR Campaign Celebrates New UN Women Strategic Plan", click here.