Steven Vanackere welcomes the establishment of UN Women
On Friday, 2 July, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling into life an important new United Nations agency, dubbed UN Women, that will combine the activities of the organisation’s four existing gender-equality institutions.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere is happy that from now on a single body will ensure that the UN system systematically takes account of gender and women’s autonomy. UN Women will start work on 1 January 2011 from its base in New York. The minister said that what needs to be done now is strive “to plug the gap between normative work and operations on the ground”. UN agencies will henceforth have to systematically take account of how their activities impact on women and girls. Furthermore, he said that the VN will now be better placed to meet the demands of countries that need its assistance at the policy level and in their actions designed to combat discrimination against women and girls, including in the education and health care sectors.
Steven Vanackere hopes that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will not delay in appointing the head of UN Women, so that the new UN agency can get down to work immediately.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere is happy that from now on a single body will ensure that the UN system systematically takes account of gender and women’s autonomy. UN Women will start work on 1 January 2011 from its base in New York. The minister said that what needs to be done now is strive “to plug the gap between normative work and operations on the ground”. UN agencies will henceforth have to systematically take account of how their activities impact on women and girls. Furthermore, he said that the VN will now be better placed to meet the demands of countries that need its assistance at the policy level and in their actions designed to combat discrimination against women and girls, including in the education and health care sectors.
Steven Vanackere hopes that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will not delay in appointing the head of UN Women, so that the new UN agency can get down to work immediately.
