United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, part of UN Women)

What is UNIFEM (part of UN Women)?

UNIFEM (part of UN Women) is the Women's Fund at the United Nations, dedicated to advancing women’s rights and achieving gender equality. It provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies that foster women's empowerment. UNIFEM (part of UN Women) works on the premise that it is the fundamental right of every woman to live a life free from discrimination and violence, and that gender equality is essential to achieving development and to building just societies.

UN WOMEN

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. In doing so, UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It will merge and build on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system which focus exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:

The main roles of UN Women are:

To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms
To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

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Two international agreements frame UNIFEM's work:

The Beijing Platform for Action resulting from the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), known as the women's bill of rights.

The spirit of these agreements has been affirmed by the Millennium Declaration and the eight Millennium Development Goals for 2015, combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy and gender inequality, and building partnerships for development. In addition, UN Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) and 1889 (2009) on women, peace and security, and 1820 (2008) and 1888 (2009) on sexual violence in conflict are crucial references for UNIFEM’s work in support of women in conflict and post-conflict situations.

UNIFEM (part of UN Women) focuses its activities on one overarching goal: to support the implementation of existing international commitments, at the national level, to advance gender equality. In support of this goal, UNIFEM works in the following thematic areas:

enhancing women’s economic security and rights,
ending violence against women,
reducing the prevalence of HIV and AIDS among women and girls, and
advancing gender justice in democratic governance in stable and fragile states.

UNIFEM (part of UN Women) presence in the world

UNIFEM has its headquarters in New York City and works worldwide out of 4 liaison offices,15 sub-regional offices, 10 country programme offices, and 46 project offices. A dedicated group of volunteers and friends also provide valuable support to UNIFEM's work, including the National Committees for UNIFEM and the NGO Committee on UNIFEM.

What does UNIFEM (part of UN Women) Brussels Liaison Office do?

In 2008, UNIFEM established a Liaison Office in Brussels with the objective of building and strengthening cooperation and partnerships for advancing women’s rights and achieving gender equality with the European Union and other Brussels based institutions, as well as to contribute to the strengthening of gender equality in EU external development policies in line with international commitments to women’s empowerment and human rights. The office also engages in outreach, information, advocacy, representation and policy dialogue with the governments and other partners in Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

UN Women website

www.unwomen.org

UNIFEM (part of UN Women) Website

http://www.unifem.org/

Subscribe to UNIFEM Newsletter

http://www.unifem.org/news_events/currents.php

UNIFEM in Social Media

http://twitter.com/UNIFEM
http://www.facebook.com/UNIFEM
http://www.youtube.com/UNIFEM
http://www.unifem.org/feeds/

Contact information

UNIFEM (part of UN Women) Brussels Liaison Office
Rue Montoyer, 14
1000 Brussels
Tel : +32 2 213 14 44
Fax : +32 2 213 14 49

Library

You may view the UNIFEM publications at the following website:
http://www.unifem.org/materials/

Contact

UNIFEM (part of UN Women)
Brussels Liaison Office
Rue Montoyer, 14
1000 Brussels
Tel : +32 2 213 14 44
Fax : +32 2 213 14 49

Women hardly ever fight the world's wars, but often suffer the most, and are targets of systematic sexual violence. Yet, fewer than 10 percent of the people who negotiate peace deals are women. Through the month of June and July, senior UN officials are listening to the concerns and recommendations voiced by women peace activists around the world. You can play a role in making women count for peace. Sign the 1325 Petition today!