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At the cutting edge>>A single entity to promote gender equality and women's empowerment

First published: 2009-09-02

SDDirect undertook research and analysis of the United Nations' delivery for women in Tajikistan and Ecuador to inform DFID's contribution to debates on the reform of the UN's gender entity. Findings and recommendations were presented to members of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) who met in Geneva in July.

SDDirect's Lucy Earle reports on recent gender analysis which has informed DFID's contribution to debates on UN gender reform.

Gallery: Women from Tajikistan and Ecuador

Efforts towards overall reform of the UN system have been on-going for some years. However, these were given greater momentum after the Secretary General convened a high-level panel in 2006 to discuss how the UN might be made more effective, efficient and coordinated. The panel's recommendations included the establishment of a single entity that would work on promoting gender equality and women's empowerment. It would therefore either amalgamate, or improve coordination between the four UN bodies already working on gender - United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI) and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).

Debates on how a reformed gender entity might be structured are currently being held in New York. Realising that discussion on the composition, role and activities of a reformed or new entity could be usefully backed up with examples of current good practice from the field, and would benefit from the perspective of UN staff working on gender issues within UN country teams around the world, DFID commissioned a 'country stock take' of the UN's engagement with women.

Five countries were chosen as case studies: Tajikistan, Ecuador, Pakistan, Uganda and Tanzania (although SDDirect undertook the studies of Tajikistan and Ecuador only). These countries reflect the different ways that UN country teams organise themselves to deliver on gender issues. The researchers examined the way in which UN country teams currently undertake joint programming on gender equality and women's empowerment, on-going efforts to mainstream gender within the UN system, and the engagement of UN bodies, particularly UNIFEM, with Civil Society and host governments' Women's Ministries.

The researchers carried out semi-structured interviews with representatives of these institutions and sought to understand how examples of good practice in each country could be better supported and improved through a reformed gender entity.

The research in Ecuador, in particular, generated some very interesting findings. This is mainly because the country benefits from a large UNIFEM presence, with a team of gender specialists who work creatively with their UN colleagues, the government and NGOs. Their efforts are also facilitated by a cohesive UN country team, who have strong capacity in gender issues.

The presentation made to ECOSOC in July generated a lively debate. Delegates are organizing further opportunities to discuss the findings in New York later this year.