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UN to establish consolidated women's rights agency

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The UN General Assembly passed a resolution Monday to consolidate four agencies to create one large, overarching department that will be responsible for women's rights development. The UN Development Fund for Women, the Division for the Advancement of Women, the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women will be collapsed into one department, headed by an under-secretary-general. The resolution: Strongly supports the consolidation of the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, the Division for the Advancement of Women, the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, into a composite entity, taking into account the existing mandates.Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon supported the resolution, and he is to have the department operational within a year. Women's rights continue to be a controversial issue around the world. Last week, the president of Mali refused to sign a new law expanding women's rights after mass protests against it. Last month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that an Afghan Shi'ite law, amended to remove a provision requiring a wife to submit to sex with her husband, still violates women's rights. In November, HRW reported in anticipation of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women that female domestic workers still face abusive and exploitative treatment throughout Asia and the Middle East.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on September 16, 2009 (boomark / email).