UNIFEM Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary

Following a call by a committed group of women and men at the First World Conference on Women in 1975, the UN General Assembly established the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in 1976. Since then, UNIFEM has provided financial and technical assistance to thousands of innovative approaches throughout the world aimed at fostering women's empowerment and gender equality.

Noeleen Heyzer, Nicole Kidman and Terry Lundgren speak to reporters at UNIFEM's 30th Anniversary Gala Dinner.
Noeleen Heyzer, Nicole Kidman and Terry Lundgren speak to reporters at UNIFEM's 30th Anniversary Gala Dinner. View photo album »

To celebrate UNIFEM's 30th Anniversary, UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman and Executive Director Noeleen Heyzer hosted a gala dinner on Saturday 13 May 2006 at the Hilton New York to raise funds for UNIFEM's programmes around the world.

UNIFEM honoured H.E. Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, President of Liberia, first democratically elected woman head of state in Africa, with the Global Leadership Award; and Mr Terry J. Lundgren, Chairman, President and CEO, Federated Department Stores, Inc., with the Global Champion Award. The Honourable Ms Vabah Gayflor, Minister of Gender and Development, Republic of Liberia, accepted the award on President Johnson Sirleaf's behalf.

UNIFEM celebrates its 30th Anniversary, 1976-2006

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UNIFEM Around the World

UNIFEM, UNV Gender Budgeting Project Advances in Latin America
In late 2005, UNIFEM and the UN Volunteers Programme (UNV), with support from UNDP, launched a joint programme entitled "Engendering Budgets: Making visible women's voluntary contributions to national development in Latin America." Operations began recently in five countries — Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru — and an induction seminar was held 17–19 April in Brasilia with the participation of 30 people, including representatives of local governments and non-governmental organizations from the municipalities where the programme is underway. This joint initiative is part of UNIFEM's global programme on gender-responsive budgeting conducted in 30 countries. Read the news release on the seminar in English or French.

African Consultation on Women's and Girls' Rights and HIV/AIDS
2006 offers opportunities to advocate for women's rights in the context of HIV/AIDS at major events — the Abuja+5 Review, the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV and AIDS, and the International HIV/AIDS Conference in Toronto, among others. With this in mind, and to prepare a plan that outlines African women's perspectives and rights, a meeting was convened in Johannesburg, South Africa, in April 2006, by the African Women's Development Fund (AWDF), ActionAid International, the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, and UNIFEM.
         The meeting brought around 55 women activists from across Africa together to develop a set of advocacy positions around women's rights and HIV/AIDS, and to plan for women's participation in key policy dialogues and processes in 2006. The meeting resulted in the Johannesburg Position on Women and Girls' Rights and HIV/AIDS in Africa (PDF, 183KB), which will be used in advocacy efforts. For more information, contact ActionAid International.

Local Gender Budgeting Study of Women Farmers in Kosovo
UNIFEM and its partners supported a local gender-responsive budgeting initiative in the Gjakova municipality in Kosovo in May 2006, where a local women's group, in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture and the Municipal Office of Gender Affairs, analyzed the agricultural department's budget. The analysis found that budgetary allocations have failed to reflect the needs and priorities of women farmers and to create the necessary conditions for their economic empowerment. The study makes a case for establishing a more inclusive process of planning and formulation of agricultural policies and their accompanying allocations, where women's input and needs are recognized. Plans are being considered for a follow-up to the study and its replication in other Kosovo municipalities. The study is available on request in Albanian, Serbian and English. Contact Mirlinda Kusari, mirlinda.kusari[at]gmail.com, or Pavla Maskova, pavla.maskova[at]unifem.org

UNIFEM to Provide Technical Support to African Union Committee of Inquiry on Allegations of Sexual Misconduct by Forces in Darfur
The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the United Nations Mission for Sudan will provide technical support to the African Union's (AU) newly established Committee of Inquiry, following recent reports in the news media of alleged sexual violence, including rape and child abuse, by AU forces in Darfur. Read the complete news release.

Incorporating Gender into the Eleventh Plan in India
A regional South India Consultation, part of a UNDP-UNIFEM endeavour to incorporate gender concerns into the Eleventh Five Year Plan, took place in April 2006 in Bangalore over three days, drawing a hundred participants from civil society and government. Sessions were held to discuss the issues of dalits and adivasis; minorities, especially Muslims; the urban poor; "unorganized" sector workers; women in local self-government (Panchayati Raj); and women in disaster situations, especially tsunami-affected women. Participants agreed that a specific mechanism at the State Government level is needed to ensure that local and district-level Plans reach the Planning Commission. They also called for a gender auditing and monitoring mechanism to look into the impact of the Plan on women. Participants focused on land and agricultural issues, recommending that women's concerns be made more visible in agricultural policy — their concerns are largely invisible despite women's being a majority of agricultural workers — and that support to women should focus on their access to land, decision-making, and property rights in particular. For more information, please contact Firoza Mehrotra, firoza.mehrotra[at]unifem.org

National Media Workshop Held in Goa
UNIFEM and its partners organized a workshop for national and vernacular media in Goa, India, in April 2006. Based on the premise that the media can play an important role in sensitizing people on issues of concern, and highlighting successes and solutions to difficult challenges, the workshop aimed to stimulate knowledge exchange and dialogue on responsible journalism and how this could help address challenges such as trafficking, sexual abuse, and violence against women and children. The workshop included representatives from law enforcement agencies, faith-based organizations, government, and community groups, so that media participants could hear their perspectives and understand first hand their everyday realities in dealing with the issues. The workshop concluded with the adoption of the "Goa Declaration," which creates a multi-partner national coalition to focus on and monitor issues of "trafficking and violence with a gender-sensitive and rights-based perspective." It also led to the launch of the National Coalition of Media Persons against Gender Violence, Human Trafficking and HIV/AIDS website and a blog, N-CAT.
         UNIFEM has been working in Goa through local NGO partners like Children's Rights in Goa (CRG), Women's Institute for Social Education (WISE) and Sangath since 2005. A key focus of the work is to raise awareness of the root causes of violence against women in its many forms, and to explore solutions with government and other important stakeholders on strengthening social structures in Goa, particularly in the context of its growing tourism industry, so as to reduce the vulnerabilities of women and children to potentially negative effects. For more information, please contact Archana Tamant, archana.tamang[at]unifem.org

Gender Equality in the EU – Two Years after Accession of the New Member States
UNIFEM convened a consultative meeting in Bratislava in April 2006 to assess the de facto situation of gender equality in the new Member States from Central and Eastern Europe two years after they joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. Participants represented national gender equality institutional mechanisms, EU integration offices and non-governmental organizations from the new Member States, acceding, candidate and potential candidate countries.
         Participants agreed to a range of measures and actions that they believe would meaningfully contribute to addressing key concerns around gender equality. These include investing in an advancement of enforcement legislation; addressing the persistent watering down of gender language in EU terminology; increasing the involvement of and support for civil society groups, especially women's organizations; matching the EU commitment to gender equality with the necessary resource allocations; addressing multiple discrimination against women, particularly those from vulnerable groups; and strengthening governmental mechanisms to work effectively for women. Read the concluding statement (PDF, 28KB). For more information, contact Asya Varbanova, asya.varbanova[at]unifem.org

United Nations System in China Marks Second Anniversary of Gender Facility
The United Nations Theme Group on Gender in China, in partnership with the All-China Women's Federation, held an event in April 2006 in Beijing to mark two years since the setting up of a China Gender Facility. Administered by UNIFEM, the China Gender Facility is a unique model for policy dialogue and joint programming on gender and development among the government, UN agencies, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, and the All-China Women's Federation. It now represents one of the largest joint projects operated in China with UN support to advance gender equality and women's empowerment, especially through promoting advocacy and social dialogue on the development and implementation of policies and laws in China.
         Panellists at the anniversary gathering included beneficiaries of the Facility who shared some of the preliminary findings of their work. These beneficiaries represent nine projects implemented throughout China and vary from studies that address the needs of aged and disabled women to specific training on gender issues developed for Party schools. According to a panellist from the Women Research Centre of the Central Party School, they had delivered more than 100 lectures on gender analysis and action-oriented research over the last year and reached some 5,000 students. For more information, contact Janet Wong, janet.wong[at]unifem.org

UNIFEM National Committees Meeting
A number of National Committees for UNIFEM came together on 2–3 May 2006 in Helsinki, Finland, to discuss their programme and relationship with UNIFEM. The meeting was hosted by the Finnish National Committee and chaired by their President, Helena Ranta. Barbara Adams, Chief of UNIFEM's Strategic Partnerships and Communications Section, attended from UNIFEM headquarters. The success of the meeting has led to an agreement among the National Committees to hold meetings on an annual basis going forward. The next meeting, 10–12 May 2007, will be hosted by the National Committee for UNIFEM, United Kingdom. In addition, the National Committees will continue to meet at the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York.
         National Committees, through their volunteer efforts, have continuously supported the mission of UNIFEM with dynamic membership programmes, public education and awareness raising activities around global women's issues, and fundraising efforts to support UNIFEM programmes worldwide.

Violence against Women Study in Syria
UNIFEM and the General Union of Women released the first-ever comprehensive field study of violence against women in Syria in May 2006. The study included close to 2,000 families, selected at random, with men and women in each family questioned separately. According to UNIFEM, formal studies on the issue had not been done before and there was no data to conduct any sort of analysis. It is hoped that the report will bring the issue out into the open, and stimulate dialogue on topics such as honour killings, domestic abuse, forced marriage and sexual assault.
         Some general findings include:
         — 56% of the reasons given for women's being punished were for "disrespect" and cursing; 14% for neglecting their household duties. Husbands beat their wives in 49% of such cases, used insults in 38%, and used silent treatment in 8.4%.
         — 67% of women had been punished in front of their families — 52% were insulted and 87% were beaten.
         Read more key findings from the report. The full report is currently available only in Arabic. For more information, contact Shirin Shukri, shirin.shukri[at]unifem.org

UNIFEM and IDB to Conduct Study on Gender-Based Violence in Haiti
The limited evidence available suggests that Haiti has the highest rate of gender-based violence in the Caribbean. Frequent eruptions of political violence and social unrest in Haiti have been accompanied by sharp spikes in levels of violence against women.
         Addressing gender-based violence is a cornerstone of UNIFEM's work in the Caribbean region, and now, at the request of the Ministry of Women's Rights, it will conduct a gender assessment with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to generate data and make recommendations for the design and implementation of a comprehensive multi-sectoral programme in training, information systems and health care and prevention systems in the country. Work is expected to begin at the end of June 2006. The assessment will map actions taken by victims of gender-based violence in their search for support and justice, the difficulties they encounter, and the impact of the response to violence by service providers.
         The study will also boost the work of a national Coalition Against Gender-Based Violence, set up in 2004 as a response to escalating levels of violence. The Coalition, which is supported by UNIFEM, includes the Ministry of Women's Affairs, women's groups working on the issue, and international donors, all of whom are working to tackle the problem through coordinated action. A recent advocacy campaign included a number of radio spots on women's human rights and state accountability for ending violence against women. The radio spots were aired over four months on several radio stations both in Port au Prince and other provinces. The Coalition is expected to publish a National Plan of Action Against Gender-Based Violence before the end of summer 2006. For more information, contact Kalinda Magloire, kalinda.magloire[at]undp.org

Securing Darfurian Women's Participation and Rights
Darfurian women participate in AU deliberations.UNIFEM and its partners have been working for women's participation and the inclusion of their rights within the process of the African Union's (AU) mediation of the Darfur conflict. This has resulted in the appointment of a senior gender adviser on Sudan for the AU, and the secondment of gender experts to strengthen the capacity of the AU's mediation process in terms of gender concerns, and to document the process of the peace negotiations in Abuja.
        In addition, UNIFEM also supported the participation of a 20 member all-women Gender Experts Support Team (GEST) to the negotiations to provide inputs and recommendations on gender issues as well as on other issues generally. The contents of a document produced by the GEST — "Women's Priority Concerns for Reconstruction in Darfur" — have been successfully negotiated into the Darfur Peace Agreement. Furthermore, a broad policy framework on gender equality within the peace process has been adopted by the AU Mediation Commission, and draft texts on ceasefire and wealth-sharing contain substantive commitments to women and gender equality. For more information, contact Roselyn Gicira, roselyn.gicira[at]unifem.org

Focus On Grandmothers: Silent Managers of Home-Based Care for Orphaned Children and Children Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya
Grandparents of HIV/AIDS orphans in KenyaGrandparents in Africa today, especially elderly women, are finding themselves parents again — to their grandchildren. As HIV/AIDS takes its toll, increasing numbers of grandmothers already taking care of their sick or dying children must also provide care and shelter to their grandchildren. Many also take in orphaned children with nowhere to go and no one to care for them.

"I could not even afford to buy paracetamol as a painkiller or anti-itch cream for his rash. He decided to throw himself in a well because the pain was too much. I had nowhere to turn to. I could only pray to God. I am now left to look after his five children. These children are always hungry, so we always have to tie our belts tight. We as old mothers and old fathers are crying to Kenya to help us. We have educated you our children, now we want you to help these children." —Grandmother from Ahero, Kenya

Grandmothers in Kenya recently had an opportunity to dialogue with Stephen Lewis, Special Representative to the Secretary General on AIDS in Africa, during his mission to Kenya. The dialogue was organized by UNIFEM and HelpAge Kenya to raise visibility for the situation of elderly women as care-givers, a considerably marginalized group in society living with high levels of poverty.
         Twenty grandmothers who provide home-based care for their HIV/AIDS-affected grandchildren and orphans spoke up about the major difficulties they face on a daily basis and how they would like the government and civil society groups to help. Their limited involvement in HIV/AIDS interventions stands in sharp contrast to the fact that their lives are severely affected by the pandemic. They provide economic, social and psycho-social support, but are largely excluded in the planning, resource allocation and programme implementation of governments and developmental health and humanitarian agencies. For more information, contact Roselyn Gicira, roselyn.gicira[at]unifem.org

Protecting IDPs in Somalia
Mother and child in a Somalian IDP campInternally displaced (IDP) women in Somalia are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violations within IDP communities. Somalia is a clan-based society that has strict socio-cultural structures for its members. Displacement and relocation disrupt these structures, leading to gender-based violations of women during times of transit and at their settlement areas. Protection for IDPs has emerged as a key component for humanitarian actors in Somalia, including UNIFEM, and a UN Joint IDP strategy is providing a framework of action and calling for collaboration among all stakeholders, including IDPs themselves. There is a clear need to identify, recognize and address the special vulnerability of IDPs and raise awareness of their special needs among local authorities and other relevant stakeholders.
       Participants of a recently concluded series of training workshops for humanitarian actors in Somalia reiterated the importance of exploiting all protection mechanisms available within the Somali community to protect IDPs, with host communities and traditional elders having the responsibility of overseeing implementation. They stressed the importance of sensitizing displaced communities about their rights and empowering them to claim them. They also agreed on the development of programmes aimed at preventing displacement with an emphasis of tackling the root causes of displacement in Somalia. Civil society and women's organizations were seen as key players in the provision of psychosocial support and counselling often needed by survivors of various forms of abuse. UNIFEM and its partners are working in the country to train peer psychosocial counsellors on dealing with gender based violence and its link to HIV/AIDS infection within their communities. For more information, please contact Roselyn Gicira, roselyn.gicira[at]unifem.org

UNIFEM Newsletters

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Other News

Launch of UNRISD Report on Gender Equality
The UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) launched its global report, "Gender Equality: Striving for Justice in an Unequal World," in May 2006 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. An international seminar, involving 30 experts from across the Latin American region, was also organized around the launch to discuss the study. The report is available on the UNRISD website.

Call for Applications: The ICTJ Transitional Justice Fellowship Program
The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR), invite applications for the Transitional Justice Fellowship Program, a funded, three-month residential fellowship from 15 August to 15 November 2006 in Cape Town, South Africa, for approximately 12 professionals from select countries. For more information, please visit the ICTJ website.

The Dutch Women in Conflict Situations and Peacekeeping Taskforce Presents the 1325 Award
The 1325 Award is a one-off prize granted to an individual or a civil society organization that has effectively and innovatively contributed to the promotion of women's rights, and the increase of their participation at decision-making levels in peace processes. In short, the 1325 Award aims to reward those who have contributed to the implementation of Resolution 1325. The deadline for nominations has been postponed to 15 July 2006. For more information, visit the 1325 Award website.

Kopanong Declaration – 365 Days of Action to End Violence against Women and Children
The Kopanong Declaration is the outcome statement adopted at the National Action Planning Conference to end Violence against Women and Children, held 3–5 May 2006 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Conference participants convened to adopt and implement a comprehensive, multi-sector strategy and plan for ending violence against women and children. For more information, visit GenderLinks.

UN Department of Public Information NGO Conference, September 2006
The NGO Section of the Department of Public Information, in cooperation with the NGO/DPI Executive Committee, will hold the 59th Annual DPI/NGO Conference, entitled "Unfinished Business: Effective Partnerships for Human Security and Sustainable Development," in New York on 6–8 September 2006. The full conference programme will be available shortly on their website. In addition to three plenary sessions, there will be six roundtables and a series of 30 "midday workshops," organized by NGOs, featuring the participation of civil society, United Nations, government representatives, the private sector and youth.

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