The UN is poised to create a powerful new department for women, who say they have been sidelined for decades, and rectify a glaring omission in the world body.
Advocates for women’s rights are looking for a fully fledged agency with a budget of US$1 billion on a par with other high-profile UN departments to address crucial areas such as violence against women, property rights and HIV/AIDS.
“[The UN] has neglected the rights and needs of women everywhere,” said Stephen Lewis, co-director of AIDS-Free World, and an advocate of gender equality. “It’s clear to everyone that the marginalization of women over decades is unacceptable and the best way to correct it is a UN agency like UNICEF for children.”
In sub-Saharan Africa, of the 63 million people with HIV, 60 percent are women, and the percentage shoots up to between 75 percent and 80 percent in the 15 to 24 age group, he said.
Although the UN has poured billions of dollars into agencies for refugees (UNHCR) and for children (UNICEF), women’s issues are currently dealt with by several small departments that lack the resources and clout of a fully fledged agency. The idea for such a body emerged from plans to reform the UN by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, in 2006.
A high-level panel that included British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was then-UK chancellor, endorsed an agency headed by an under secretary-general, one rank below secretary-general, something that women’s groups have lobbied for over the years.
Annan wanted the agency to be part of his legacy but that was too ambitious as he only had one year left in office at the time. Still, the prospect of a UN women’s agency three years after the idea was broached is considered fast for the UN.
Rich countries, such as the Nordic states, favor creating an agency by the end of the year, but some members from the G77 group of developing countries such as Cuba, Libya and Sudan want to nail down issues such as governance and funding before agreeing to vote on a resolution.
How the agency will operate at country level with other UN bodies is an issue, as is the question of who will lead the new organization. The consensus is that a backroom deal common to institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF is out of the question.
Lewis is optimistic that the general assembly will pass a resolution to create the agency in September when it meets for its annual session.
British Minister of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Gareth Thomas said: “The United Nations needs to do more to support women in developing countries and the British government supports the creation of a new UN agency for women to enable this to happen.”
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