Jordan Times
Thursday, July 8, 2010
UN Women to boost women’s
empowerment programmes in Jordan
By Rana Husseini
AMMAN - A new UN entity recently established in New York to address women’s
rights is expected to boost UN programmes in Jordan and across the region.
On July 2, the United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously to establish
the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women - to be known as
UN Women - with the aim of accelerating progress in meeting the needs of women
and girls worldwide.
The establishment of UN Women is the result of years of negotiations between UN
member states and advocacy by the global women’s movement and aims to pool
resources and mandates for greater impact, according to UN Resident Coordinator
in Jordan Luc Stevens.
“Gender equality is not only about human rights. The achievement of gender
equality has many socio-economic benefits for women and the country’s economy,”
he said in a press conference at the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
office in Amman on Wednesday.
“The aim is to talk in one voice on gender equality and empowerment of women in
Jordan and elsewhere in the world,” he added.
UN Women will have two key roles, according to Stevens.
“It will support inter-governmental bodies such as the Commission on the Status
of Women in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms, and it
will help member states implement these standards, standing ready to provide
suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, as
well as forging effective partnerships with civil society,” he said.
The new entity will also help the UN system be accountable for its own
commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide
progress, he added.
UN Women will build on the work of four previously distinct parts of the UN
system which focus exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment, said
UNIFEM Regional Programme Director Dena Assaf.
The offices include UNIFEM, the Division for the Advancement of Women, the
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, and
the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women,
according to Assaf.
“We are optimistic that the establishment of the new office will reflect
positively on our work here in Jordan by increasing the number of projects and
hopefully expand programmes in the region,” Assaf said.
UN Women, which will be operational starting January 2011, was created by the
General Assembly to be a “dynamic and strong champion for women and girls” to
provide women with a powerful voice at the global, regional and local levels,
Assaf added.
She pointed out that the new entity will enhance, not replace, other parts of
the UN system that work for gender equality and women’s empowerment in their
areas of expertise such as UNICEF, UNDP and UNFPA.
The UN Women’s operations will be funded by voluntary contributions, while the
regular UN budget will support its normative work, the UN official said.
In a statement to press, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed the formation
of UN Women as a “major step forward” for women and girls across the world.
“UN Women will significantly boost UN efforts to promote gender equality, expand
opportunity and tackle discrimination around the globe,” Ban said.
Ban stressed that gender equality and the empowerment of women are one of his
top priorities, “from working to end the scourge of violence against women, to
appointing more women to senior positions, to efforts to reduce maternal
mortality rates”.