Julia Greenberg
2 December 2008
(Page 2 of 3)
As the hours (yes, three of them) passed, my heart sank, as none of the African ambassadors who indicated to us that they would speak in support of the women's agency did so. Relief came, however, in the form of strong statements about the weaknesses of the UN on gender by Mongolia, Albania, Bangladesh, all including requests for the secretary general to produce a note presenting his views of how the UN could better deliver on its commitments to gender. Kazakhstan said it best: 'Almost two years passed after the report of the High Level Panel on system wide coherence recommended new gender architecture that would be able to bridge the system's gap between policy and implementation and be accountable for the outcome. The panel's proposal to consolidate mandates of OSAGI, DAW and UNIFEM into one entity led by an under-secretary general that would assume full responsibility for strategic planning, normative and operational functions is still a proposal on paper. While one of the most flashing issues that concerns 50% of the world population is still beyond the secretariat's action. In this regard, my delegation would like to request secretary general to get finalized the negotiations with members states on the structure and working methods of the gender entity that would play a leadership role to assist the governments in reaching gender equality worldwide and commence running the entity.'
The co-chairs ended the meeting by requesting that the secretary general heed the requests of the member states to produce a report on the UN's work on gender, for discussion by member states in one month's time. Interestingly, no one baulked at the fact that gender warranted two consultations, while funding and governance only got one each. We hoped that our powers of persuasion would compel African ambassadors to suggest that a new women's agency was exactly what was needed to address the weaknesses that would be laid out in the secretary general's paper. We awaited release of the report, and scheduled another round of meetings with ambassadors.
FROM RWANDA TO ZAMBIA: AFRICAN AMBASSADORS TAKE THE LEAD - 2 JUNE 2008
RWANDA
From the moment we sat down with the His Excellency Joseph Nsengimana, it became clear that the debate on the women's agency had been fast tracked. Governments like Rwanda, with impressive records on gender equality (Rwanda has more women in parliament than any other country on the planet) saw the future women's agency as an opportunity to enhance its presence and clout within the UN system. The ambassador was so confident that the women's agency would come to be, that he had submitted CVs of excellent Rwandan candidates for senior posts in the new structure.
ZAMBIA
We heard similar stories from Namibia and Lesotho, and ended the day on a high note during our visit with Ambassador Lazarous Kapambwe. Finally, he claimed to have called for the 'creation of the unit' before the system-wide coherence process even started, and suggested that we lobby key countries willing to make the women's agency the 'flagship issue' of the upcoming session of the General Assembly.
THE SECOND INFORMAL CONSULTATION ON GENDER - 16 JUNE 2008
The report on the state of the UN's work on gender was issued by the deputy secretary general on 5 June, and detailed weaknesses in the areas of coordination and coherence, authority and positioning, accountability and resources. It hit all the bases, and laid the groundwork for clear calls for reform which, this time around, the member states took up with what can only be described as gusto.
From Liberia: 'Gender equality and women's empowerment are key pillars in the quest for peace, stability, and economic prosperity. The rights of empowerment of women...are critical building blocks that support the structure of effective statehood... It is clear and obvious that we are morally and philosophically bound to new mechanisms on gender equality and women's empowerment.'
From Rwanda: 'It is in our common interest to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of the UN's work advancing women's empowerment and gender equality at country level as a matter of priority before the end of the 62nd session [of the General Assembly this September].'
From Benin: 'We know how much is still left to be desired in promoting the rights of women. The UN must strengthen its capacity to contribute to solutions. Assistance must become more effective and pressure on states must be more intense and sustained to loosen the grip of traditions that subjugate women. We must without haste, establish the entity that is being proposed. It's urgent that women take their rightful place in the life of nations and achievement of the millennium development goals.'
And the co-chair from Tanzania took his very obvious cue and concluded with the following remark: 'We have heard loud and clear from the membership a strong desire to address effectively the manifest weakness of the UN system in the area of gender equality and women's empowerment. We detect an unmistakable and broad-based momentum in this direction. The co-chairs believe that in light of the foregoing, we are now in a position to ask the secretary general, by mid-July, to produce a second paper which would focus on the institutional dimension of gender. The secretary general could be asked to present, in a non-prescriptive manner, a range of options to help the UN help improve its gender equality and women's empowerment work.'
And so the game had changed. We had moved on to brass tacks - an actual structure for the women's agency. We were determined to understand why, suddenly, a resistant, male-dominated institution had so completely changed its tune on gender reform. So we asked the ambassador from China.
FROM CHINA TO TANZANIA: THE WOMEN'S AGENCY BECOMES THE WINNING ISSUE ¬- 9 JULY
China: We were delighted that Ambassador Liu Zhenmin agreed to meet with us on the very day that he was concerned with important Security Council matters such as the proposed sanctions against the Zimbabwean government after last month's stolen elections (which they would veto). Considering China's statement at the June 16th Informal Consultation on Gender, we weren't expecting an open embrace of gender reform: 'China believes that strengthening the existing institutions and the Inter-agency Working Group on Gender and Women's Empowerment should be considered an option. There is no evidence to show that a new entity will solve these problems.'
Sitting on the white leather couches of the Indonesian lounge surrounded by clusters of ambassadors in heated acts of diplomacy, we asked the ambassador, why, suddenly was there so much momentum in support of the women's agency among member states? His response was simple and clear. Of all the reforms brought forward for discussion by the co-chairs, Ireland and Tanzania, the proposed women's agency is the 'easiest issue they are promoting.' He proceeded to explain, quite presciently, that it would not be the governments that would block progress, but the existing agencies focused on women's issues: 'Each will want dominance in the new structure.'
His analysis did not imply blanket support from China, but it did confirm our suspicion that even the most powerful and sometimes obstinate voices among the member states had come to believe that it was unlikely that the General Assembly would turn their backs on this reform. It would be 'easier' to resolve the issue of the women's agency than those related to funding or governance. A decision on this one reform would at least demonstrate a modicum of progress in the system-wide coherence process.
Tanzania: Much was revealed about the remarkable progress on the women's agency during our meeting with His Excellency Augustine Mahiga, the ambassador and co-chair from Tanzania. He openly shared the intricate, thoughtful and exhaustive strategy that he and Ambassador Kavanagh of Ireland had pursued to promote constructive engagement by member states in the system-wide coherence process, particularly the gender issue. He raised the following key points during our 90 minute meeting.
He and Kavanagh knew that support for the women's agency had to come from the bottom up. They travelled to several developing countries and were able to report back to resistant member states that governments had become impatient with the slow pace of the UN in pushing forward gender policies. It was during their field investigations that they heard the phrase 'gender issues are development issues.' He believed that given the member states' preoccupation with strengthening the UN's development functions, that this phrase would have lasting resonance and traction.
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