On the 13th of April, an action plan for gender equality and women’s empowerment was adopted at a UN Board of Coordination meeting. The action plan, which will be implemented in all UN organisations, will provide concrete and measureable indicators on gender related work within the UN, which will include a gender perspective in all UN operations.
Un women reacts
The president of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, praised the launching of the new measuring method, and lifted that the implementation of it needs to be done in a fast fashion to be efficient in UN operations. She also reiterated that the action plan is not a tool for only mentioning women in UN policies, but to ensure that a full integration of the contribution of women is done.
One of five focus areas
The process of developing the new measuring method was initiated in June 2011. Several important actors within the UN, like secretarits and UN entities, have been directly involved in this process. Another driving force has been UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon. As a part of his second term as Secretary General, he has put women’s empowerment as one of his fice focus areas, pushing forward the agenda of women’s particpation and gender equality.
Rio +20: a possible forum for gender equality?
To raise gender equality and women’s empowerment on the global agenda, Michelle Bachelet demands that the issues have to be prioritised at the Rio +20 conference about sustainable development. Bachelet points out that women’s empowerment is necessary to obtain a sustainable development, and that a gender perspective has to be present in all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the post-Millennium Development Goals.
