As the 63rd session of the General Assembly came to an end this week, and after three years of protracted negotiations, the 192 member States of the UN General Assembly unanimously agreed to establish a new UN agency dedicated to advancing the rights and well-being of women. General Assembly Resolution 63/311 (14 September 2009) merges the UN's four separate women's entities into a single, fully-fledged UN agency headed by an Under Secretary-General (US-G), the the third highest ranking position within the UN hierachy.

As the 63rd session of the General Assembly came to an end this week, and after three years of protracted negotiations, the 192 member States of the UN General Assembly unanimously agreed to establish a new UN agency dedicated to advancing the rights and well-being of women. General Assembly Resolution 63/311 (14 September 2009) merges the UN's four separate women's entities into a single, fully-fledged UN agency headed by an Under Secretary-General (US-G), the the third highest ranking position within the UN hierachy. It is hoped that this enhanced status will be matched by a dramatic boost in funding, which will come from the regular budget of the UN, as well as voluntary contributions from States.

The resolution calls on the UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon, to consult with Member States before appointing the US-G, but beyond a reference to having regard to 'equitable geographic representation and gender balance', he is free to determine all other aspects of the recruitment process. The Secretary-General is also tasked with developing a 'comprehensive proposal' to settle a range of outstanding issues that were not able to be resolved during the 63rd session, including the governance, funding and oversight mechanisms for the new agency. Despite the enormity of this task, many Member States and NGOs hope the agency will be operational by March 2010 to coincide with the Beijing +15 Review at UNHQ. 

The General Assembly's adoption of this resolution reflects the widely-held view among States that the UN's fragmented and poorly resourced approach to women's rights and development was woefully inadequate and in need of a complete overhaul. It is intended that the new agency will have the political clout, resources and unified vision needed to better protect and promote women's rights across the UN system, and to ensure their active involvement in development and peacebuilding programmes at the country level. This is essential if the international community is to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those relating to ending poverty, achieving universal education, reducing maternal mortality and combating HIV/AIDS.
This sea-change in the UN's approach to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women owes much to the concerted advocacy efforts of a coalition of over 300 NGOs from around the world who joined forces to form the GEAR (gender equality architecture reform) Campaign. GEAR welcomed the resolution as "a great victory for women's rights" and all the organisations that fought for its adoption, but acknowledged that the work was far from over. It called on the Secretary-General to "immediately begin the recruitment process for appointing a strong leader grounded in women's rights and gender equality as the USG", and appealed to donor countries to pledge the substantial funding (US$1 billion) to support the agency's proposed field operations.  GEAR will also be working to ensure NGOs, particularly women's organisations, have "systematic and ongoing participation" in "every stage of the process at global, regional, national and local levels, including the governing board" of the new agency.

ISHR will be publishing a 'New York Alert' to outline the expected highlights of the 64th session of the General Assembly and its Third Committee, which deals with human rights issues and is in session from October through November 2009. We will also periodically publish 'news stories' as the 64th session unfolds, and produce an analytical report on the key  human rights developments and outcomes at the conclusion of the session.

For further information, see the Secretary-General's statement and the UN press release that covers the General Assembly's meeting.

The UN's four entities currently dealing with women's rights and welll-being are the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI), the UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), and  the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).