A long-awaited United Nations agency to deal exclusively with woman’s issues is on its way to becoming a reality.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has provided an official proposal for the new entity, which would combine the major groups within the UN that currently deal with women’s issues.
– A new women’s agency would have the capacity to address many of the issues that are not able to be addressed in the current fragmented state of the existing agencies that work on women’s empowerment and gender equality, Rachel Harris of the Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO) told MediaGlobal.
This proposal came after a resolution made by the General Assembly in September 2009 supporting the establishment of a new women’s agency.
The resolution represented an important victory for women’s rights groups who have long been vocal advocates of a new agency for women.
– The agency would not replace what is already there but support and improve what is happening now and add to it, especially strengthening the effectiveness on the ground, said Miss Rachel Harris
