UN Women facts for kids
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| Formation | 2 July 2010 |
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| Type | UN entity |
| Headquarters | New York City, United States |
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Official languages
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English
French Spanish Chinese Arabic Russian |
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Head
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Sima Sami Bahous |
UN Women is a special part of the United Nations. Its main job is to work for gender equality and to help women and girls around the world. This means making sure everyone, no matter their gender, has the same chances and rights. UN Women also works to stop violence against women and other forms of violence.
The organization started in 2011. It was created by combining several smaller UN groups that already worked on women's issues. This made a stronger, more focused team. Michelle Bachelet, a former President of Chile, was the first leader of UN Women. Today, Sima Sami Bahous from Jordan is its executive director.
Contents
How UN Women Started
For a long time, people at the United Nations wanted to do more for women's rights. They realized that having many small groups working on gender equality wasn't as effective as one big, strong one. In 2010, the UN Secretary-General suggested creating a new, powerful group. This new group would help all parts of the UN work better together for gender equality.
After many talks between countries and groups that support women, the UN decided to create UN Women. This happened on July 2, 2010. It brought together four different UN groups that focused on women's issues. The goal was to make a bigger impact and help more women and girls globally.
When UN Women was formed, the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "grateful" for this big step. He believed UN Women would greatly improve the UN's efforts to promote equality and stop discrimination worldwide. In September 2010, Michelle Bachelet was chosen to lead the new organization. Many world leaders were happy about this and praised the new group's goal to "empower women."
How UN Women Works
UN Women is led by an Under-Secretary-General, who is chosen by the UN Secretary-General. This leader serves for four years and can be chosen again. The organization has a special structure to guide its work. This includes the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and the Commission on the Status of Women. These groups help set the rules and goals for UN Women.
UN Women also has an executive board. This board has 41 members from different parts of the world. They are chosen for three-year terms. The board includes members from:
- Africa
- Asia
- Eastern Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Western Europe and other countries
- Countries that give a lot of money to UN Women
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The money UN Women uses comes from two main places. Some money comes from the UN's regular budget, which is approved by the General Assembly. More money comes from voluntary donations from countries and other groups. This money helps fund UN Women's projects and activities around the world.
Executive Board Members
As of 2023, Sima Sami Bahous from Jordan is the executive director of UN Women. The executive board includes countries from different regions. For example, countries like Angola, China, Hungary, Argentina, and Canada have been members. Some of the biggest donating countries, like Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States, also have seats on the board.
What UN Women Does
UN Women's main job is to lead and coordinate the UN's efforts for gender equality. It makes sure that all parts of the UN system work together to empower women. UN Women doesn't replace other UN groups like UNICEF or UNDP. Instead, it helps them do even better in their own work related to gender equality.
UN Women follows the rules of the UN Charter and the Beijing Declaration. The Beijing Declaration is an important plan that lists 12 key areas to improve women's lives.
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UN Women focuses on several important areas:
- Helping women get into leadership and politics.
- Making sure women have economic opportunities and can earn money.
- Working to end violence against women.
- Helping women and girls in times of crisis and natural disasters.
- Supporting women's roles in peace and security efforts.
- Helping governments plan for gender equality.
- Working towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, especially Goal 5 on gender equality.
- Addressing issues related to HIV/AIDS for women and girls.
UN Women also supports the rights of LGBTIQ people. It believes in intersectional feminism, which means understanding how different parts of a person's identity (like gender, race, and class) can affect their experiences.
In 2013, UN Women created a special database about constitutions. This database looks at how different countries' laws protect or deny the rights of women and girls. It's a helpful tool for activists and researchers. You can search it by keywords to see how women's rights are handled in laws around the world.
UN Women is also a key organizer of International Women's Day events and the Commission on the Status of Women. In 2015, UN Women played a big role in creating the new post-2015 development agenda. This plan includes a specific goal (Sustainable Development Goal 5) to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Main Goals
UN Women has clear goals:
- To help international groups, like the Commission on the Status of Women, create policies and rules for gender equality.
- To help countries put these rules into action.
- To make sure the UN system itself is doing its part for gender equality.
See also
In Spanish: ONU Mujeres para niños
- UN Women Goodwill Ambassador
- United Nations:
- Special measures for gender equality in the United Nations (UN)
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- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)
- Declaration on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women
- EGM: prevention of violence against women and girls
- Global Implementation Plan to End Violence against Women and Girls
- HeForShe
- NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York (NGO CSW/NY)
- United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSRC 1325)
- Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention)
- Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR)
