Great news for women around the world!! – On July 2nd 2010 the United Nations voted to implement a new advisory board called UN WOMEN, bringing together the research and resources of 4 previously separate UN-based departments, namely; Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

With this announcement, there is great hope that the UN will be more adequately equipped and positioned to respond to emergencies concerning women the world over. UN Women will also help hold a standard of international authority when stepping in on behalf of women. In an historic move, the United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously on 2 July 2010 to create a new entity to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide.

The establishment of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — to be known as UN Women — is a result of years of negotiations between UN Member States and advocacy by the global women’s movement. It is part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact.

“I am grateful to Member States for having taken this major step forward for the world’s women and girls,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in astatement welcoming the decision. “UN Women will significantly boost UN efforts to promote gender equality, expand opportunity, and tackle discrimination around the globe.”

The main purposes of UN Women are:
To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.

To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.

To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

Violence against Women:
Over the last decade, action to address violence against women has become a priority in many countries. The Secretary-General’s 2006 study on violence against women indicated that at least 89 States had some legislative provisions that address domestic violence, and 60 had specific domestic violence laws. Marital rape was a prosecutable offence in at least 104 states. Ninety-three States had some legislative provision regarding trafficking in human beings. Ninety States had provisions on sexual harassment.

Despite these advances, violence against women and girls is a global pandemic. The problem remains universal, with women and girls affected by violence in every region and every country. Women who experience violence suffer a range of health problems, and their ability to participate in public life is diminished.

In a 10-country study on domestic violence by the World Health Organization (WHO), between 15 and 71 percent of women reported physical or sexual violence by a husband or partner.

Among women aged between 15 and 44, acts of violence cause more death and disability than cancer, malaria, traffic accidents and war combined.

In 2006, women and girls comprised 79 percent of victims of human trafficking.
More than 60 million girls worldwide are forced into early marriage before the age of 18.

It is estimated that 100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of female genital mutilation/cutting, and 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk every year.

Impunity for perpetrators, inadequate services for victims/survivors, attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate negative stereotypes and violence against women, and an overall scarcity of resources for implementation of existing measures remain persistent barriers to preventing and ending violence against women.

“UN Women will significantly boost UN efforts to promote gender equality, expand opportunity, and tackle discrimination around the globe.”— UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon For more information on UN Women and t find out how you can support their work locally and nationally, please visit; http://www.unwomen.org/