U.N. Women 'All Potential At Its Birth,' The Nation Opinion Piece Says

On July 2, the United Nations' General Assembly created U.N. Women, a new body "dedicated to promoting women's rights and involvement in development, peacemaking, politics and economic activity," The Nation's Barbara Crossette writes. U.N. Women will absorb the work of four existing U.N. funds and programs: the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women; the Division for the Advancement of Women; the U.N. Development Fund for Women; and the U.N. International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women. Advocates have "long argued" that the four programs "were grossly underfunded and unable to exert influence in the field," according to Crossette.

For decades, women's rights advocates "believed that a campaign for 'gender mainstreaming' at the United Nations ... was all that was needed to bring the status of women, and women's rights, in from the margins of the international system," she continues. Although the "principle may have been a good one, ... women were often sidelined," and many nations "signed agreements protecting and benefiting women but did not implement or enforce them," Crossette writes. She notes that a "look at the scorecard" of the 2000 Millennium Development Goals "show[s] major indicators specifically on women and girls lagging behind targets in other areas, such as poverty reduction."

U.N. Women is expected to have both operational and "normative" rules, which are those "dealing with policies and promoting and monitoring international covenants and agreements," according to Crossette. The new body will work with the intergovernmental Commission on the Status of Women and the U.N.'s Economic and Social Council.

Crossette argues that "[h]elping people devise culturally sensitive approaches" to advancing women's rights "might be the job for U.N. Women." However, funding such operations in the field will be the "hitch" for this approach, as funding will come from voluntary contributions, "not from the U.N.'s regular budget." A $500 million operating budget has been suggested "as a good starting point, but the majority of that will have to be raised from governments, and success is by no means assured," Crossette writes, noting that some advocates were hoping for a $1 billion budget.

Still, U.N. Women is "all potential at its birth, and the next six months will determine whether it will wield any more power than the pile of documents promoting and protecting women that have been accumulating in U.N. headquarters," she continues. Crossette adds that the "next few weeks are especially critical" because U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will select a head for U.N. Women. According to Crossette, the leader of the new body should be a diplomat with an understanding of the problems women face in the developing world. Ban has requested that governments submit their nominations by mid-July.

Women in the developing world "bear the largest, most painful burdens, and need a champion with enough clout to make governments listen -- and donate," Crossette argues, adding that "[m]illions lack access to reproductive health and family planning, making them vulnerable to HIV/AIDS." Moreover, women in the developing world "die in large numbers of preventable deaths in pregnancy and childbirth," and they "suffer rising levels of domestic violence" and sexual assault, she says. "Put in perspective, women in the developing world need the most help," and U.N. Women "has a lot of work to do," Crossette argues (Crossette, The Nation, 7/6).


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