The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment. A global fighter for the rights of women and girls, UN Women was created to accelerate progress in meeting their needs worldwide.
UN Women is a United Nations entity dedicated to fighting for gender equality and women’s empowerment. A champion of women’s and girls’ rights, UN Women was created to accelerate progress around the world to meet their needs and demands.
UN Women assists UN member states in their efforts to meet global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with national governments and civil society to develop laws, policies, programs, and services to ensure that these norms are effectively implemented and effectively benefit women and girls worldwide. The organization works to implement the global agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals for women and girls and to promote women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on the following five priorities
- Increasing women’s leadership and political participation;
- Ending violence against women;
- Involving women in all aspects of peace and security;
- Women’s economic empowerment;
- and making gender equality central to national planning and budgeting.
UN Women also coordinates and supports the work of the entire UN system to achieve gender equality, as well as all discussions and agreements related to the 2030 Agenda. The Entity works to define the central role of gender equality in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and inclusive peace.
The situation of women
Gender equality is not only a basic principle of human rights; its achievement has enormous social and economic significance. Women’s economic empowerment stimulates economic prosperity, production growth and development. However, gender inequality is still deeply rooted in society. Women lack access to good jobs, experience gendered occupational segregation and wage gaps. They often have limited access to general education and health care. In all corners of the world, women suffer from violence and discrimination. They are under-represented in political and economic decision-making.
As a result of decades of work, the UN has made significant progress in advancing gender equality, including through important agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
UN Women’s work to advance the economic empowerment of women and girls around the world has the following key objectives:
- Support intergovernmental structures such as the Commission on the Status of Women in their work to formulate policies, strategies, global standards and norms.
- To assist UN member countries in their efforts to implement these standards and to be ready to provide the necessary technical and financial support to countries in need and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
- Lead and coordinate the work of the UN system on gender equality, and promote accountability, with regular monitoring of progress across the UN system.