UNIFEM Takes Action Worldwide

Globally

UNIFEM has several global flagship programmes intended to support women’s engagement in public decision-making. Making Politics Work with Women is a global programme that supports efforts to increase women’s leverage as voters, including through tools such as women’s manifestos or nationally agreed agendas, enabling them to articulate their concerns to political parties during elections. The programme also supports policy watch groups that build women’s capacity to track the performance of politicians in order to hold them to account for meeting campaign promises.

Gender and Democratic Governance is another flagship programme that aims to support gender mainstreaming in contemporary good governance reforms, with a view to delivering higher-quality and better-targeted public services for women. A range of innovative approaches to promote women’s engagement in democratic politics are found in UNIFEM-executed projects funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) in 10 countries.

Africa

In Kenya, UNIFEM is working with the Human Rights Commission and other organizations to influence the integration of gender concerns in the constitutional reform agenda that is underway. In Sudan’s Khartoum and Northern States, electoral law analysis is being used to build public awareness of and commitment to defend women’s rights in the electoral process, ahead of the 2010 presidential and parliamentary elections. A mechanism through which civil society can collectively engage to monitor laws and action plans and work with the government to counter sexual and gender-based violence has been established in Madagascar.

At the sub-regional level, strategic alliances have been forged with partners such as the Network of West African Religious Leaders for promoting gender equality and to fight negative traditional and cultural beliefs. The Network has already formulated a three-year Action Plan with clear goals for gender equality, good governance, women’s economic security and rights and ending violence against women.

Arab States

In Egypt, UNIFEM supported the establishment of the Forum of Women Members of Parliament to advance training of women parliamentarians and to strengthen their voices in governance structures and reforms. Similarly, through the Arab Women Parliamentarians programme, a variety of trainings and workshops on participatory planning, communications and gender-sensitive budgeting has strengthened the capacity of more than 100 MPs to lobby for gender equality in parliaments. At the regional level, consultations are underway for the establishment of a CEDAW Regional Support Committee with the League of Arab States to build understanding on CEDAW and develop clear action plans.

In the parliamentary elections in Syria in April 2007, 31 of the 250 parliamentary seats were filled by women. Seventeen of the newly elected women Members of Parliament, or 55 percent, had participated in the regional project Arab Women Parliamentarians, implemented by the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs and the General Women's Union in collaboration with the UNIFEM.

Asia and the Pacific

In Nepal, UNIFEM, in partnership with the National Commission for Women and local NGOs, boosted efforts that contributed to a historic 33-percent representation of women in the Constituent Assembly in 2008. With support from the German government, Nepal’s Making Politics Work with Women programme has supported capacity building of female and male members of the Constituent Assembly and continuous advocacy with various subcommittees for the inclusion of gender and women’s rights concerns within the draft Constitution.

In Timor-Leste, UNIFEM supported the establishment of a Gender Resource Centre under the National Parliament, which will build awareness of parliamentarians on gender-related issues.

Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS

In Albania, UNIFEM advocated for the inclusion of special measures for women in the Electoral Code, practically allocating at least 30 percent of appointed positions to the under-represented gender, and subsequently supported advocacy efforts by women’s organizations to ensure political parties adhered to the code in their campaigns ahead of the June 2009 national elections.

In Southeastern Europe, support was provided for the capacity development of a Regional Women’s Lobby, based in Croatia, to advocate for implementation of women’s human rights at national and regional level.

In Moldova, following employment research, analysis and public consultations, the national Labour Code is being reviewed through a participatory process. The review is expected to address persistent discrimination faced by women and increase their employment, feeding into the country’s efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Latin America and the Caribbean

UNIFEM supported sustained efforts in Ecuador to draft a more inclusive and democratic Constitution, responding to women’s demands on issues such as reproductive rights, protection from gender-based violence, and gender equality in electoral processes, the labour market and education. The mobilization paid off: 95 percent of the demands were included in the text of the 2008 Constitution.