Laut vernehmbare Stimme
UN-Vollversammlung beschließt Gründung einer eigenen Weltfrauenorganisation
Von Thalif Deen (IPS), New York *
Die Vereinten Nationen haben den Weg für eine eigenständige
Weltfrauenorganisation freigemacht. Die UN-Vollversammlung beschloß am
Freitag abend (2. Juli), ein neues Ressort zur weltweiten Unterstützung von Frauen und Mädchen einzurichten. Asha-Rose Migiro, die stellvertretende
UN-Generalsekretärin, sprach von einem neuen Instrument, das Frauen und
Mädchen eine laut vernehmbare und gemeinsame Sprache geben werde.
»UN-Women«, so der Name der neuen Agentur, wird aller Voraussicht nach
unter weiblicher Führung stehen. Ein UN-Diplomat aus dem Süden lobte die
Zusammensetzung des Exekutivausschusses der künftigen Organisation, die
geographische Kriterien ebenso berücksichtigt wie einzelne Geberstaaten.
So entfallen von den insgesamt 41 Sitzen jeweils zehn auf Afrika und
Asien, vier auf Osteuropa, sechs auf Lateinamerika und Karibik und fünf
auf Westeuropa und andere Gruppen (WEOG). Die vier größten
UN-Beitragszahler erhalten vier und Geberstaaten des Südens zwei Plätze.
Auch das nichtstaatliche Bündnis GEAR, das sich für Reformen für eine
bessere Gleichstellung von Frauen innerhalb der Vereinten Nationen
einsetzt, äußerte sich zufrieden über den Ausgang der Verhandlungen.
»Wir sind sehr erfreut darüber, daß die Regierungen sich endlich in den
schwierigsten Punkten geeinigt haben«, hieß es in einer Erklärung der
Koalition, die aus etwa 300 Frauenorganisationen besteht. Ein wichtiger
Punkt sei die Definition des institutionellen Charakters des neuen
Gremiums gewesen, erklärte GEAR. »Schließlich verständigte man sich
darauf, daß die Neugründung kein Sekretariat, Programm oder Fonds werden
würde.« Statt dessen sei an ein neues Konstrukt gedacht worden, das die
Strukturen der vier bestehenden Gleichstellungsgremien miteinander
verbindet. Unter dem Dach der Vereinten Nationen gibt es bereits den
UN-Frauenentwicklungsfonds (UNIFEM), das Büro des Sonderberaters für
Gleichstellungsfragen, die UN-Abteilung zur Frauenförderung sowie das
Internationale Forschungs- und Ausbildungsinstitut zur Förderung von
Frauen (INSTRAW). Diese vier Entitäten sollen unter Berücksichtigung
ihrer Mandate in der neuen Organisation zusammengefaßt werden. Die neue
Organisation kann mit einem Jahresbudget von rund 500 Millionen
US-Dollar rechnen, bedeutend mehr, als den bisherigen vier Gremien zur
Verfügung stand.
Die Entscheidung für eine Weltfrauenorganisation kommt Jahre, wenn nicht
gar Jahrzehnte nach der Gründung von UN-Sonderagenturen, die sich
ausschließlich mit Kindern, Bevölkerung, Flüchtlingen, Ernährung und
Bildung befassen.
* Aus: junge Welt, 5. Juli 2010
Press Conference on Establishment of New Gender Entity, 'UN Women'
"UN Women" would give women and girls the strong unified voice they
deserve on the world stage, said United Nations Deputy Secretary-General
Asha-Rose Migiro, ahead of an anticipated decision by the General
Assembly to bring together four distinct parts of the United Nations
system devoted to women's issues into one composite entity.
Speaking alongside Ms. Migiro at a Headquarters press conference were
Tiina Intelmann, Permanent Representative of Estonia, and Ghazi Jomaa,
Permanent Representative of Tunisia, who co-facilitated the talks on the
resolution on system-wide coherence -- containing a section devoted to
the new entity -- expected for passage by the General Assembly this
afternoon. UN Women was expected to be operational by January 2011.
Ms. Migiro acknowledged the great progress made in the last few decades
to advance the cause of women's empowerment and gender equality, but
explained that the movement had suffered at times from inadequate
funding as well as fragmentation, owing to the lack of a single driver
on women's issues. There was hope among Member States, the Secretariat
and other stakeholders that UN Women would address those hindrances.
So far, she said, eight countries had already put forward their
suggestions on who should head the new body, following an invitation
from the Secretary-General in April. Once the entity was formally
endorsed by the Assembly, the Secretary-General was expected to announce
a deadline for submission of candidates, which she said would probably
spur more stakeholders to contribute to the list, including civil
society partners. (See Press Release DSG/SM/515 for Ms. Migiro's
opening remarks)
According to Ms. Intelmann, the decision had taken more than four years
to negotiate, and had been unanimously agreed at an informal meeting of
the General Assembly on 30 June. The agreement was part of a package of
measures to allow the United Nations to better respond to country needs,
through enhanced coherence of its development work.
The new body was designed to be stronger than the sum of its four parts,
she said, with Member States recognizing that the normative side of the
women's empowerment movement had existed in isolation from operational
activities being carried out by the United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM), one of the four parts of the United Nations system
tasked with women's issues. The others were the Division for the
Advancement of Women, the International Research and Training Institute
for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and the Office of the Special
Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women.
The Assembly would give UN Women the mandate to oversee gender
mainstreaming in the United Nations system, which, she explained, would
involve studying "how women were represented across the United Nations
system". Member States were hopeful that the appointment of a
"visionary and active head" would add to the strength of UN Women. And,
she had heard repeated pledges from donor countries that they would
begin to channel funds once the entity was formally announced. Many
States had been frustrated at the lack of funding for UNIFEM, which had
constrained its response to the many requests for its assistance.
Member States had decided that the new entity would carry out both
normative and operational activities, she continued, making it different
from United Nations funds, programmes and agencies, which tended to be
mostly operational, and the Secretariat, which was largely policy-oriented.
Mr. Jomaa added the entity would have a brand new executive board,
telling one journalist that six seats would be reserved for donor
countries -- from both the developed and developing world -- according to
the formula derived by the Assembly. Other members of the board would
be appointed by the Assembly itself and the Economic and Social Council.
Asked to comment on how Member States had dealt with the situation of
women living under occupation, Ms. Entelmann explained that Member
States had striven to reach a balance in creating a mandate that
provided "universal coverage", while also mindful of the situation
specific to women living in especially vulnerable situations. The final
decision had been to give a mandate to the Under-Secretary-General to
develop an organizational structure that reflected both those goals.
Mr. Jomaa added that the issue of women and armed conflict was one of
the 12 priorities listed in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action, and was one of several documents referred to in the mandating
resolution.
** Source: United Nations, Department of Public Information, 2 July
2010; www.un.org
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