petition overview | letter Build a United Nations that really works for all women!

HELP GET 3000 SIGNATURES BY THIS WEEKEND!
UN General Assembly session ends September 14th!

Background:

\"A UN women's agency will not speak for women, but will ensure that at long last, women's own voices can be heard, at all levels of society, and in the decisions that affect their lives... It should have the capacity to collect and analyze data on women's lives and rights; to develop policy; to provide technical advice and assistance on gender and women's empowerment in every specialized field; to support and monitor the gender-related work of other UN agencies; and to work closely with government partners to plan and oversee programmes at the national level.\" - Excerpt from the statement of H.E. Mr. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, the President of the United Nations General Assembly on International Women's Day, March 8th, 2009.

For the past three decades, the United Nations has been a galvanizing force in efforts to define a comprehensive global agenda for peace and security, human rights, poverty eradication and sustainable development. As a result, there have been significant commitments made towards gender equality and women's empowerment.

However, the UN still lacks a strong driver for women's rights at the leadership level both at Headquarters and at the country level, as well as a systematic and effective mechanism to deliver on many of the essential commitments made. The UN has several small under-resourced agencies focused exclusively on women's issues. Other larger agencies make critical contributions to women's human rights and gender equality, but this is usually a small part of their mandate.
Currently, there are four separate women's entities within the UN:
%uFFFD The Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)