UN Women What is it?


The establishment of UN Women (UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women) marks a watershed, unanimous decision taken by the UN General Assembly. UN Women will combine and streamline gender equality work in the UN from four previously distinct parts of the UN system: • Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW, established 1946) • International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW, established in 1976) • Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI, established in 1997) • United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, established in 1976)


a unified powerful voice. The agency will have two primary roles: supporting inter-governmental bodies such as the Commission on the Status of Women in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms, and helping Member States to implement these standards. It will also help the UN system to be accountable for its own commitments on gender equality. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has also empowered UN


UN Women will be a champion for women and girls, providing Asia


Women with an Under-Secretary-General, Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile. Ms. Bachelet was the first female president of Chile and most recently has been working closely with UNIFEM advocating for Haitian women affected by the earthquake. In November, ECOSOC elected the Executive Board of UN


2 year term Africa


Côte d’Ivoire Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Lesotho Libya Tanzania


Bangladesh India Malaysia Pakistan Timor-Leste


Eastern European


Women. The 41 board members were selected as follows: 10 from Africa, 10 from Asia, 4 from Eastern Europe, 6 from Latin America and the Caribbean, 5 from Western Europe and 6 from contributing (funding) countries. The length of term was determined by drawing lots (with the exception of the contributing countries). Of note, Iran was not elected to the Board, as the late addition of Timor-Leste as a candidate meant that there were 11 possible choices for the 10 places reserved for Asian states. There is some criticism that there is no representation from the


Pacific region.


UN Women will be operational by January 2011. Please visit http://www.unwomen.org/ for more information.


World Food Day SI UN Representative Cinzia Palmi reports from Rome


World Food Day (WFD) was a great opportunity for SI to gain visibility. As this was my first time, it was interesting to participate in the WFD Ceremony. The Food and Agriculture Organisation


(FAO) Director, General Dr. Diouf presented his address calling for global efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goal 1: “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger” and he launched a global campaign for people to sign a petition against “1 Billion Hungry” as a way for individuals to show their moral outrage toward the situation. Other well-known personalities spoke


to the audience including an address on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, was the guest of honour, and several Goodwill Ambassadors were present. Children from schools in Rome were


there were two side events. One was the Private Sector Forum “Creating shared value” attended by Cristina Gorajski, the co-ordinator of our AHG/INGO group, who spoke about enhancing procurement from smallholders, innovation and transfer of technology to different regions. The other was the Civil Society Forum


“Actions against hunger”. SI was invited to present our activities in support of the “1 Billion Hungry” Project, taking stock of action taken and making suggestions regarding the way forward for the campaign. It was an opportunity for stakeholders


to agree on some concrete strategies for highlighting the “1 Billion Hungry” Project and take responsibility for the key solutions to ending world hunger. The panel counted only seven “1 Billion


rewarded for winning the WFD poster competition organised by the UN Women’s Guild. In addition to the official programme,


“Actions against Hunger”. ©FAO/Alessandra Benedetti


World Food Day Civil Society Forum


Hungry” Project partners: Sergio Marelli – CISA, George Dixon –YUNGA, Anna Stensland – IAAH, Aksel Naerstad – More and Better, Hanna Mattinen – ACF and me


as a SI Representative to FAO. It was strongly suggested that the campaign should be linked with concrete examples of successful actions and programs at all levels. Emphasis should be put on policy making and accountability of countries, incorporation of nutrition in the materials, stress on the role of sustainable agriculture and access to natural resources and the necessity for a multi-stakeholder approach to the fight against hunger. The paper on the role of SI in support of


the Campaign and future action was greatly appreciated and is available on the members section of the SI website.


TIS December 2010 Page 5


Western European and Other


Latin American & Caribbean Contributing states


Estonia Russia


France Italy


Argentina Brazil El Salvador


3 year term


Angola Cape Verde Congo Ethiopia Nigeria


China


Indonesia Kazakhstan Japan Republic of Korea


Hungary Ukraine


Denmark Luxembourg Sweden


Dominican Republic Grenada Peru


Mexico Norway Saudi Arabia Spain


United Kingdom United States


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