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.”
SPIRITUAL COUPLE: Martha Louise has said she can talk with angels, while her husband, Durek Verrett, claims that he communicates with a broad range of spirits Social media influencers, reality stars and TV personalities were among the guests as the Norwegian king’s eldest child, Princess Martha Louise, married a self-professed US shaman on Saturday in a wedding ceremony following three days of festivities. The 52-year-old Martha Louise and Durek Verrett, who claims to be a sixth-generation shaman from California, tied the knot in the picturesque small town of Geiranger, one of Norway’s major tourist attractions located on a fjord with stunning views. Following festivities that started on Thursday, the actual wedding ceremony took place in a large white tent set up on a lush lawn. Guests
Four days after last scanning in for work, a 60-year-old office worker in Arizona was found dead in a cubicle at her workplace, having never left the building during that time, authorities said. Denise Prudhomme, who worked at a Wells Fargo corporate office, was found dead in a third-floor cubicle on Aug. 20, Tempe police said. She had last scanned into the building on Aug. 16 at 7am, police said. There was no indication she scanned out of the building after that. Prudhomme worked in an underpopulated area of the building. Her cause of death had not been determined, but police said the preliminary
‘DISCONNECTED’: Politics is one factor driving news avoidance, a professor said, adding that people who do not trust the government are more likely to tune it out Hannah Wong cried when the Hong Kong government effectively forced the territory’s Apple Daily and Stand News out of business three years ago. Among the last news firms in the territory willing to criticize the government openly, many saw their end as a sign that the old Hong Kong was gone for good. Today, the 35-year-old makeup artist says she has gone from reading the news every day to reducing her intake drastically to protect herself from despair. Four years into a crackdown on dissent that has swept up democracy-leaning journalists, rights advocates and politicians in the territory, a lot of people
Thailand has netted more than 1.3 million kilograms of highly destructive blackchin tilapia fish, the government said yesterday, as it battles to stamp out the invasive species. Shoals of blackchin tilapia, which can produce up to 500 young at a time, have been found in 19 provinces, damaging ecosystems in rivers, swamps and canals by preying on small fish, shrimp and snail larvae. As well as the ecological impact, the government is worried about the effect on the kingdom’s crucial fish-farming industry. Fishing authorities caught 1,332,000kg of blackchin tilapia from February to Wednesday last week, said Nattacha Boonchaiinsawat, vice president of a parliamentary