On the Job! Many UN Women posts

(On the Job! pays occasional notice to interesting intlaw job notices)

The United Nations' Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women -- as we've described, above and in prior posts, a new agency known colloquially as UN Women and headed by former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet -- is seeking highly qualified women or men to staff numerous positions around the world.

Among them are 6 senior-level (D2) positions based in New York:

► Chief of Staff

► Director of Coordination Division

► Director, Programme Support Division

► Director, Policy Division

► Director, Management and Administration Division

► Director, Strategic Partnerships, Advocacy, Civil Society, Communications and Resource Mobilization Division

Also included are others positions, based not only in the United States but also in Albania, Jordan, Mexico, Moldova, Senegal, and Thailand.
Detailed information here.

Bachelet's Speech UN Women

With so much going on, we did not get a chance to cover the October 11, 2010, Introductory Statement by Ms. Michelle Bachelet (right), Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General of UN Women delivered at the 65th Session of the General Assembly (Third Committee). As we've noted before (here and here), in July 2010, the United Nations created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, which merges several U.N. organizations devoted to the global advancement of women. Under the direction of Bachelet, former President of Chile, UN Women is slated to be fully operational in January 2011.

Here is her speech in full:

Chairperson, Distinguished delegates, Colleagues and friends,

It is a great honour for me to address the Third Committee of the General Assembly in my first formal interaction with Member States as the first Executive Director of UN Women. I express my deep appreciation to the Secretary-General for his confidence in entrusting me with the privilege and responsibility of building the newly established United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

Let me congratulate the General Assembly for having the vision and commitment to put words into action. The quote that we heard so often at the Summit on the Millennium Development Goals just three weeks ago — that gender equality and women’s empowerment are goals in their own right and central to all the other goals — must be more than a mantra. It must become a lived reality for women and men and boys and girls in all countries. The establishment of UN Women sends a clear message that this General Assembly understands that far more is needed.

I am well aware that the journey to the establishment of UN Women was a long process that involved many different government partners, non-governmental organizations and women’s rights networks worldwide, as well as the UN’s leadership and the staff of the four existing entities. In that process, we have built both committed constituencies and high expectations. We cannot let them down.

In establishing UN Women, you have made three changes that have the potential to
deliver important benefits for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

► Firstly, by elevating the leadership of UN Women to Under-Secretary-General, you have sent a clear message that gender equality must be given a priority that is on par with other development priorities. This is important for the United Nations system; but it will also have reverberating effects on the ground, causing national partners, as well, to re-examine how gender equality expertise is positioned within government ministries, cabinets and civil society coalitions.

► Secondly, we have taken an important step towards greater coherence, a central tenet of United Nations reform. We now are well positioned to bridge the operational and normative aspects of the UN’s support to Member States to advance gender equality, and also to have a stronger voice to ensure a more coherent UN system response. In this regard, let me express my deepest appreciation to the leadership and staff of the four entities, namely the Division for the Advancement of Women, the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), for their professionalism and unswerving commitment to the shared goal of women’s empowerment, rights and equality.

► And, thirdly, in establishing UN Women, you have acknowledged that financial investments in gender equality must also be commensurate with the ambition of our vision for change. We must reverse decades of accepting minimal resources for work on gender equality. In almost every field where we examine budgets through a gender lens — whether in post-conflict reconstruction or in support to agricultural development — we see that rarely is more than 6 percent of the budget visibly dedicated to women’s empowerment and gender equality. A strong UN Women will advocate for larger investments and a commitment to make budgets respond to gender equality considerations. In that regard, let me also congratulate the Secretary-General and the many partners who joined in the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health announced during the Summit on the MDGs [Millenium Development Goals]. An initiative that promises investments of up to US$42 billion — where the slow rate of progress has been unacceptable and holds back all of the MDGs — is encouraging for all those who are committed to women’s rights and gender equality.

The 15-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in March 2010 showed promising trends, with a continued impressive record of countries agreeing to constitutions, laws and policies that advance women’s rights. But the implementation challenged persists.

► The Ministerial Declaration adopted by the Economic and Social Council in July 2010 drew further attention to implementation gaps in the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women, and agreed to pursue a series of strategies across all areas to close those gaps.

► The Heads of State and Government met at the United Nations just a few weeks ago on the Millennium Development Goals against a backdrop of slow progress in the gender equality dimensions of these targets.

► The forthcoming tenth anniversary of Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security later this month will be an occasion to put in place new strategies for progress.

► Although Member States set the goal of universal ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for 2000, ten years later, it still has not been reached.

We all agree that much more needs to be done to close the gaps between women’s rights in the law, and their enjoyment in practice; between existing policies and strategies for women’s empowerment and their actual implementation; between commitments and concrete actions to level the playing field and empower
women to take full advantage of rights, opportunities and resources; and to
contribute as equal partners to all aspects of development.

As we move through the transition to UN Women, our task is to ensure that we build on the work of the four entities and all other parts of the UN system to create an organization that can change the landscape for addressing the gaps and challenges to gender equality that so clearly emerge from the many regional and
global reviews that have taken place over the past year.

Over the next three months, I will focus on four major tasks.

► First, we are making all necessary efforts for UN Women to be operational by 1 January 2011 and laying the foundations of the new organization with a new identity and vision. I wish to thank the Deputy Secretary-General for her leadership of the process leading up to the resolution and transition. I wish to also thank the Senior Managers of the four entities that now make up UN Women, and the Transition Team for the excellent work already undertaken to integrate institutional and administrative processes. I look forward to meeting and working with all UN Women staff, at Headquarters and in the field. As we move forward, we will place a very early focus on strengthening UN Women’s capacity in the field so that we can deliver where the need is greatest and to respond to demands for vastly enhanced support of Member States.

► UN Women is committed to strengthening the response of the entire UN system to assist Member States to advance gender equality. That is why my second priority is to consult and strengthen collaboration with entities of the United Nations system to determine how, together, we can start a new era where the gender equality support from the entire system, including UN Country Teams on the ground, achieves greater coherence, depth and impact, and where we truly can deliver as one. This is crucial in every country and every sector, whether in relation to the way that the UN system responds to sexual violence — and in that regard, I look forward to building a strong partnership with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence, Margot Wallström [left], and recognize the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, Rashida Manjoo [above left]. I also look forward to UN Women’s support to countries to implement the CEDAW Convention and recognize the Vice-Chair of the Committee, Ms. Xiaoqiao Zou, who will be addressing you later this morning. We will build on good practices and I look forward to spearheading a systematic and coordinated approach to collaboration across the system, from global to national level.

► My third priority is to re-engage with the many constituencies that advocated so vigorously for the establishment of UN Women. I remember, when I travelled to Haiti shortly after the horrific earthquake, how important it was to listen directly to the women who were affected and who always know what it is that they need to rebuild the country, but who, too often, are not at the tables where these decisions get made. In setting priorities for UN Women, I look forward to hearing from women’s groups and networks from countries worldwide. We are already receiving statements, manifestos and many expressions of support and guidance. It is imperative for me to understand, with as much specificity as possible, what women from every country and region of the world expect from UN Women.

► In his comprehensive proposal leading to UN Women, the Secretary-General determined that US$500 million will be required for UN Women’s start-up phase, with the bulk for catalytic, country-specific United Nations programmatic support. We intend to meet this challenge in 2011. My fourth area of focus over the next three months is to reach out to Member States and to also build new innovative partnerships to secure these new resources so that UN Women can make the necessary investments for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and so that we can turn aspirations into change for women and girls.

Member States’ support will be crucial in enabling UN Women to deliver on all these priorities. Later this fall, the relevant bodies of the General Assembly will be reviewing the Secretary-General’s proposal for the revised use of the regular budget component of UN Women for 2011, including options for the administrative arrangements for the regular budget. I look forward to the Assembly’s support for this proposal, and in particular the approval of the so-called grant modality, to enable UN Women to function as a truly composite entity with a clear identity and a strong esprit de corps. I look forward to the Economic and Social Council’s election of UN Women’s Executive Board so that it can be established and initiate its work without delay.

Over the next weeks and months, we will embark on a consultative process involving all stakeholders to develop UN Women’s future strategy. The hallmarks of the strategy will align with the founding resolution. It will focus on expanding support to Member States at the national level, in line with national priorities; strengthening coherence between the normative support provided to global intergovernmental processes and the technical and thematic advice provided to national partners at the country level; and strengthening leadership, coordination and accountability on gender equality and women’s empowerment and support to gender mainstreaming across the United Nations system.

As we move forward, UN Women has the unique opportunity to strengthen coherence between the policy/normative guidance generated by intergovernmental bodies and operational support provided to national partners at the country level. This Assembly plays a primary role in policy-making for gender equality and women’s empowerment, and in follow-up and monitoring the implementation of these policies and norms.

This brings me to the reports that have been prepared for consideration by this Committee by the offices that now make up UN Women, and which I have the pleasure of introducing. I also draw delegations’ attention to the briefing note on these reports of 1 October, by Ms. Rachel Mayanja [above right], Assistant Secretary-General and Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, and Ms. Joanne Sandler [below right], Deputy Executive Director of UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, which is available in the room. One area that has clearly moved to the centre of global and local attention is ending violence against women. Two reports before the Committee — on intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women (A/65/208) and on trafficking in women and girls (A/65/209) — are indicative of the scope and range of actions taken by Member States and other stakeholders to strengthen legal frameworks, adopt dedicated policies, enhance prevention measures, improve support services for victims/survivors, and expand data collection. Yet, notwithstanding this attention, violence against women continues in all parts of the world, and trafficking in women persists. The reports highlight key actions and strategies that should be in place and effectively enforced. I call on this Committee to continue its critical work in this area, and I pledge UN Women’s enhanced support at national level to strengthen implementation of your recommendations.

Last March, the Commission on the Status of Women commemorated the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. This Assembly has annually contributed to the follow-up effort. The report before you (in document A/65/204) focuses on progress made by intergovernmental bodies in gender mainstreaming. It concludes that certain bodies, such as this Committee as well as the Second Committee, were more likely to address gender equality issues in their work, while the large majority of outcomes of the other Main Committees did not explicitly address gender equality aspects. There is thus a need for improved monitoring and reporting on progress in relation to policies, strategies, resource allocations and programmes. This Committee should continue to take a leading role in monitoring measures taken and progress achieved.

Also before this Committee is a report on the improvement of the status of women in the UN system (A/65/334). Its statistical data give a quantitative picture of the extent and rate of progress towards the goal of gender parity, and the results are mixed. At the senior-most levels, the advances are unprecedented. However, at the professional levels progress remains far less encouraging. In overall terms, the representation of women in the entities of the UN system increased only 1.5 percentage points, from 38.4 to 39.9 percent, over the current two-year reporting period. The report identifies a number of good practices with a positive bearing on progress, and submits a set of recommendations to accelerate the representation of women in the UN system.

Finally, the Secretary-General’s annual Note on the 2009 activities of UNIFEM is also before the Committee (A/65/218). As the report notes, UNIFEM has been able to stretch its limited resources to respond to demands for support in 98 countries, in support of laws and policies to improve women’s rights, to institutionalize gender-responsive budgeting for greater accountability and resources for gender equality, and to support women as candidates and voters in a growing number of national and local electoral processes. The report also shows a critical focus on building the agency and voice of those women who are most excluded: HIV-positive women, women home-based workers, indigenous women, rural poor women, women in crisis situations, and women survivors of sexual and domestic violence. Finally, the report shows that the demand for the UN’s support on gender equality far outpaces its ability to respond. And in that, esteemed colleagues, it provides yet another building block in the case for a strong and effective UN Women, including through expanding the reach and effectiveness of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women.

I look forward to my dialogue with you today and to many more in the years to come. I thank you for your kind attention.

The Protection of Women's Rights: Power, Equality, and the MDGs

The news on violence against women, women and poverty, maternal mortality, and gender gaps in education can be disheartening. Prospects for the equality and empowerment of women and the protection of their human rights can seem further away than ever. That's why it's necessary to pause occasionally to assess where we've been and to strategize on how to build the necessary political will for future action.
During UN Week, I participated in a conference on “The Protection of Women’s Rights” sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute of New York.
It was an energizing gathering, reflecting both serious challenges and exciting possibilities ahead in making the phrase “women’s rights are human rights” a reality, not just an inspiring slogan.
The meeting, co-sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for Equal Opportunities, the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, and the Consulate General in New York, was also aimed at highlighting the contributions of Italians and Italian-Americans to women’s rights internationally.
Held the same week as the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals , a 10 year review of the mixed progress toward ending poverty by 2015, the event brought together a diverse group of participants. The leading diplomats, judges, scholars, advocates, and political leaders there discussed a wide range of issues and empowerment strategies. Rachel N. Mayanja, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the UN on Gender Issues (photo, left) was among the distinguished speakers.
As IntLawGrrls Stephanie Farrior and Fiona de Londras discussed here, there has been increasing international focus on the status of women, but further progress remains to be seen. The UN has just launched an Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), and appointed former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to head the new body.
Key Themes
Several themes surfaced in the presentations:
►Women’s Access to Power (political, economic, and social), including Vice-President of the Italian Senate Emma Bonino’s stirring call for women to exercise their own agency on this front)) (photo, right);
►Women’s Access to Justice (including informative talks by Flavia Lattanzi, Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (photo, below left), and Antonio Baldassarre, President Emeritus of the Constitutional Court of Italy);
►Violence Against Women and Traditional Practices (several representatives from sponsors of a High-Level Meeting on the International Campaign for a UN General Assembly Resolution Banning FGM held earlier in the week attended the conference): (See IntLawGrrls posts on FGM here and my entry on “Female Genital Mutilation and Female Genital Cutting” in 2 Encyclopedia of Human Rights 200-213, David P. Forsythe, et al, eds., Oxford University Press (2009) here);
►Transnational Migration and the Global Economy (including talks on the daunting challenges facing women refugees and asylum-seekers by Susan Akram, Clinical Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law, and on the economic, social, and cultural rights of migrant domestic workers by yours truly, IntLawGrrl Hope Lewis);
►The “Locations” of Women’s Rights (including a thought-provoking presentation by Suzanne Goldberg, Clinical Professor of Law and Director, Center for Gender and Sexuality, Columbia University School of Law, on the implications of the varied identities of women and the different positions from which they speak);
►Women and Peace (including a review and critical analysis of developments since the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (Women, Peace, and Security) by Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, Research Affiliate, Center for International Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology);
►Regional Approaches to Women’s Rights (including encouraging presentations by Inter-American Human Rights Commissioner Dinah Shelton, Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law, George Washington University School of Law, and on other regional systems by Angela del Vecchio, Director of the Master in L.A.W.S. (Legal Advanced World Studies), Luiss Guido Carli University Professor, Law Faculty, LUISS University, Rome (delivered by transboundary water issues expert Mara Tignino, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva, in her absence).
The Full Program
Welcome and Introduction
Riccardo Viale, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, New York
Mara Carfagna, Minister for Equal Opportunities of Italy
Session I
Chair: Antonio Baldassarre, President emeritus of the Constitutional Court of Italy
Emma Bonino, Vice-president of the Senate of Italy, cofounder of No Peace Without Justice, "A worldwide ban on female genital mutilation: ending a violation of the human rights of women and girls"
Flavia Lattanzi, Judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, “Women`s rights in international criminal tribunals”
Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, Massachussetts Institute of Technology, “UNSC Resolution No. 1325 on women, peace and
security”
Suzanne Goldberg, Columbia University, “Women’s rights: issues for the next decades”
Susan Akram, Boston University School of Law, “The failure of protection of women and girls under the international refugee regime”
Session II
Chair: Suzanne Goldberg, Columbia University
Antonio Baldassarre, President emeritus of the Constitutional Court of Italy, "Constitution and Gender"
Hope Lewis, Professor of Law, Northeastern University, Boston, "Economic, social and cultural aspects of women's rights protection”
Rachel N. Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of the UN on Gender Issues, “Safeguarding women’s rights: the United Nations role – past, present and future”
Dinah Shelton, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law, George Washington University,"Protection of women's rights and the interamerican commission on human
rights"
Angela del Vecchio, LUISS University, Rome,"The protection of women in the international regional conventions on human rights” (delivered by Mara Tignino, Senior Researcher, Faculty of Law, University of Geneva)
Federiga Bindi, Italian National School of Public Administration, Rome, “Women leadership training as a way to fill the gender gap”
Concluding Remarks
Franco Frattini, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy,
Congratulations and heartfelt thanks to the Italian Cultural Institute, its staff, and interns for hosting such a substantive meeting on the advancement of women and girls.

UN Women: Symbolism or Agent for Change?

As noted by IntLawGrrl Stephanie Farrior here, it was announced this week that former Chilean President, Michelle Bachelet (left) is the new UN Under-Secretary General and will lead the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, known as UN Women. In this post I want to both outline the structure of the agency and consider why such an agency is required within the UN. While the establishment of UN Women is to be welcomed, questions necessarily arise as to whether or not it will stand as a symbolic commitment to gender equality and the advancement of women and girls or whether (as I hope will be the case) it will really operate as an agent for change to improve the lot of women and girls around the world.

The UN General Assembly -- which, as IntLawGrrl Amy Senier then reported, had adopted a resolution in this regard about a year ago -- established UN Women in July, as part of the organisation’s ongoing reform agenda. Described on its website as “an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women”, UN Women is a new agency that merges four UN organisations: the Division for the Advancement of Women, the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, and the UN Development Fund for Women. Bringing these organisations together, UN Women will not only help to co-ordinate the work undertaken within the organisations but will also constitute a large and broad-ranging internal agency of the UN that can impact on the organisation’s wide range of work.

The establishment of UN Women will not, as far as I can tell, result in gender experts within different parts of the UN from being appointed (such as Professor Catharine MacKinnon’s role as Special Gender Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court); neither does it preclude the appointment of special rapporteurs to consider gender aspects of particular issues under consideration by the UN where this is thought appropriate. It should therefore be seen as a consolidation and, indeed, expansion of the gender equality mechanisms within the UN.

According to its website, UN Women has three stated aims:

► To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms;

► To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it and to forge effective partnerships with civil society; and

► To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

This marks an important further step in the full integration of women and, indeed, more generally of gender-consciousness into the work of the United Nations.

The exclusion of women from the originating processes of international law and of the United Nations has been extensively commented on elsewhere, most authoritatively perhaps by Hilary Charlesworth, an IntLawGrrls guest/alumna, and Christine Chinkin in their immensely important monograph on The Boundaries of International Law: A Feminist Analysis (2000). Excluding women from the founding processes of the United Nations resulted in a lack of perspective on the distinctive and particular ways that laws, states and inter-state relationships can impact on women and girls. It also resulted in the occlusion for a long period of time from human rights law of the realities of women’s experiences. This was not exclusive to human rights law, of course; women were traditionally excluded from essentially all areas of international law and interested readers will find the Charlesworth & Chinkin analysis illuminating and, perhaps, depressing. The focus of this post, however, is on human rights law.

While it is of course true that women and girls do not exclusively experience gender-based violence, sexual violence, discrimination and exclusion, it is equally true to acknowledge that women and girls experience these conditions more than men and boys do and that this is related to persistent and pervasive social and legal conditions that disadvantage women. The UN human rights system cannot be accused of having remained in its ‘original’ masculine state; it has over time developed a number of agencies, resolutions, institutions and Conventions that focus specifically on the conditions of life as they are experienced by women. This has been an especial focus of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its enforcement mechanisms, but also by a commitment (met to a greater or lesser extent in different situations) to consider the impact of policies, laws and conditions on women and girls. However, CEDAW is not enough on its own: not only is CEDAW not universally ratified and implemented in domestic law, but the extent to which States have entered reservations to important (if not in fact foundational) provisions within the Convention has long been a source of comment.

In addition, an enormous international organisation such as the United Nations is in need of a gender perspective—if not a kind of internal gender watchdog—as is any state or large organisation. It is therefore entirely fitting that UN Women would commit, as it does, to holding “the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality”. This will include not only monitoring of the UN’s institutional progress on gender equality but also, it seems, ‘gender auditing’ proposals from UN bodies and assisting states in the important work of actually operationalising the UN’s standards.

It is heartening to see reference in the above-quoted aims to the provision by UN Women of “suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it”, but the wording of this aim does give rise to a number of questions:

► Are states where gender inequality is systemic and where women’s rights standards of the UN are not being implemented really likely to “request” the support of UN women?

► Even if they do, will the agency be sufficiently supported in terms of finance, personnel and logistics to provide adequate “technical and financial support” to help those countries to move towards more effective standards of gender equality?

These are questions that cannot reasonably be answered until we have seen UN Women in operation for some years, but it is difficult to not feel some cautious impulses in considering the likely success of the agency. It is also to be hoped that in deciding how to “to forge effective partnerships with civil society”, UN Women will apply gender equality criteria in selecting its civil society partners, including the effective representation of women within the organisations themselves.

None of these notes of caution are intended to under-play the importance of the establishment of UN Women; this is a genuinely welcome development and one that it is hoped will make real progress in advancing the rights of women and girls, and the cause of gender equality, in and through the United Nations. However, until we see how it operates (and, indeed, is facilitated by the wider UN bureaucracy and the member states) UN Women stands as a symbol of the world’s commitment to gender equality and, without sounding too pessimistic a closing note, more symbolism is the last thing the world’s women need. Action, effective commitment, implementation of CEDAW and genuine progression towards gender equality in all areas of human rights protection—civil, political, social, economic and cultural—are much more urgently required.

(Cross posted from Human Rights in Ireland blog)

Michelle Bachelet named Under-Secretary-General for new UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet was named today by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to head the newly-established UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, known as UN Women. The UN press release about the announcement is here.
The new entity, which was established by a unanimous General Assembly vote on July 2 and is due to become operational in January 2011, merges four existing UN offices into one (see prior IntLawGrrls post here): UNIFEM, INSTRAW, DAW and OSAGI.
The UN Women website has some great intro information for those wishing to learn more about this new entity and the work it will be undertaking:

• FAQs about UN Women
• Facts and Figures on such areas as poverty and the economy; power and decision-making; media; armed conflict; health; and much more.

U.N. set to create new women's entity

The General Assembly of the United Nations voted Monday in favor of a draft resolution consolidating all U.N. agencies and divisions addressing women's issues into a single entity.
Called for is the amalgamation of the following:
► the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI);
► the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW);
► the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); and
► the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).
The move was partly driven by the lack of a centralized voice for gender issues in the U.N. labyrinth. As Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated:

'U.N. gender architecture lacks a recognized driver. It is fragmented. It is inadequately funded, and insufficiently focused on country-driven demands.'

To remedy such fragmentation and underfunding, the entity is expected to have a budget of approximately $ 1 billion and its own Under Secretary-General, who will report directly to the Secretary-General.

Tasks for the entity are much less clear. The draft resolution only states that the consolidation will "take into account the existing mandates" of the agencies to be merged.

Last-minute opposition to the resolution by member states such as Cuba, Egypt, Iran and Sudan allegedly resulted in the absence of a specific mandate for the composite entity -- an absence that led Oxfam to label such opposition "deplorable." Secretary-General Ban needs quickly to draft a mission statement, organizational chart, funding plan, and executive board proposal for General Assembly approval.

The consolidation initiative first had been proposed amid discussions about U.N. reform, which began during the tenure of former Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Advocacy around this week's resolution was led by a group called Gender Equity Architecture Reform. GEAR now is pressing for the timely appointment of an under secretary-general for the entity as well as full funding.