Via IPS News:
After more than three years of political foot-dragging, the 192-member General Assembly adopted a historic resolution Monday aimed at creating a new U.N. agency for women.
The decision to create a separate powerful body to deal exclusively with gender-related activities comes years – or decades – after the United Nations created specialised agencies to deal with specific issues, including children, population, refugees, food, environment, education, health and tourism, among many others.
Currently, there are four existing women’s U.N. entities in the world body: the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues; the U.N. Division for the Advancement of Women; and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).
When the new women’s agency is created, perhaps by the middle of next year, it will be headed by an under-secretary-general (USG), the third highest ranking position in the U.N. system, after the secretary-general and the deputy secretary-general.
The four existing women’s entities are not headed by USGs, while all agencies such as the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) and the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are.
Charlotte Bunch, executive director of the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University, told IPS: “We are very relieved that the General Assembly has finally taken decisive action to create the new gender equality entity on the eve of the 15th anniversary of the Beijing women’s conference.”
“We consider this a great victory for women’s rights as well as for the coalition of women’s and other civil society organisations that have worked hard for over three years to bring this entity into being,” she added.
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