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Network for Women and the UN in Oslo 30 May 2006 To Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, The UN high level panel – input regarding UN
reform The network of Women and the UN was present at the meeting For several decades the UN system has played an important role for women
and equality by keeping the issue on the international agenda, adopting
normative instruments and action plans to strengthen the status of women and
promote gender equality, organising global conferences and meetings and
supporting concrete measures of different kinds. The large global conferences
(Mexico 1975, Copenhagen 1980, Nairobi 1985 and Beijing 1995) have had
special significance. They have established that the discrimination of women
is a worldwide phenomenon. A steadily growing range of women’s problems have
been made visible and agreement has been reached regarding the elimination of
all obstacles to equality and the empowerment of women. Important instruments
for the promotion of equality have been created: the CEDAW, UNIFEM and
INSTRAW in addition to the UN Commission on the Status of Women and
departments of the Secretariat. At the same time, Governments as well as UN organisations have
experienced difficulties translating the good intentions into practice.. When it comes down to it, the political will has failed
and knowledge, resources and effective implementation mechanisms have been
lacking. The gender architecture in the UN system has remained weak and
fragmented. With few exceptions the organisations are male dominated and the
activities related to women and equality are few and scattered, to the extent
that we are informed at all about what is being done. In spite of progress the world in 2006 is still characterised by
widespread discrimination of women and inequalities between women and men.
Girls and women generally receive less education and maternal mortality in
developing countries is high. The position of women on the labour market is
weak and they earn less than men even if they often work more. Large groups
of women live in abject poverty and many are the victims of violence and
abuse. At the same time the representation of women in political and economic
decision-making bodies is with few exceptions very weak, if they are
represented at all. The UN Secretary-General has underlined that there is no policy for
progress more effective than the empowerment of women and girls: to reduce
child and maternal mortality, improve nutrition and promote health, increase
the chances of education for the next generation, raise economic productivity
and avoid armed conflict. It will not be possible to achieve the UN
Millennium Development Goals if the international community does not take the
Beijing Platform for Action seriously and intensify the efforts for women and
equality. The same goes for the UN system. By adopting the UN Millennium Goals the UN system has achieved a much
greater coherence with regards to policy and goals than before. To implement
the goals the challenge is not first of all one of “coherence” or “review of
mandates”, but how the UN system can be strengthened to assist in the most
effective way. Greater organisational coordination may be a useful course of
action, but not necessarily. Coordination may reduce the flexibility of the
system, make the range of measures narrower, less focused and less varied and
lead to lower priority for the needs of weak groups. With the experience we have so far, there are no simple solutions or
rapid fixes to strengthen the efforts regarding equality. Action must be
broad based and include many different kinds of measures. All UN
organisations must have - policies and programmes aimed at strengthening women and gender
equality, - an actively committed leadership that is accountable for the
efforts, - a gender balance among staff at all levels, including the highest, - knowledge about women, gender relations and equality, - effective strategies and mechanisms of implementation for the
promotion of equality in programmes and projects (mainstreaming is not
enough), - resources to implement measures of different kinds and - regular reporting and evaluation of efforts
and results. As every single organisation must have one or more units that can
accumulate knowledge and draw lessons from experience, act as a watchdog and
innovator, such units must also exist for the UN system as a whole. The
existing units – for example UNIFEM and INSTRAW- must be strengthened, and possible
reorganised, so the system can have an autonomous and dynamic organisation of
one kind or the other, that can give women a voice, with a mandate to view
women’s lives as a whole, a structure ensuring that views are heard at the
highest political levels and resources making it possible to stimulate or
implement actions that make a difference. The effectiveness of the UN system is important above all at the
country level. The panel should therefore study the situation in a selection
of recipient countries to find out how the system can be strengthened to
promote the implementation of the Millennium Goals, including gender
equality, before concrete reform proposals are elaborated. In the recipient
countries different ministries, including women’s ministries, and NGOs,
including women’s organisations, should be consulted. Such a course of action
may provide constructive, user friendly and effective solutions and at the
same time contribute so that the different approaches in the North and the
South will not prevent useful reforms. Strengthening the efforts of the UN system with regards to women and
gender equality will be very much appreciated by the international women’s
movement and We wish the panel good luck with its work. Best regards Torild
Skard Network for Women and the UN in For the core group of the Network Bitten Schei, Innovator, Mother Courage Torild
Skard, Researcher, Norwegian Institute of
International Affairs Bjørg
Skotnes, Manager, FOKUS (women’s organisation for
development) Kari Solholm, Leader, UN Association Ågot
Valle, MP, Socialist Left Party The Network for Women and the UN is an open network with the aim of
strengthening the efforts of the UN system for women. |