United Nations Development Fund for Women facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
United Nations Development Fund for Women

Abbreviation	UNIFEM
Merged into	UN Women
Parent organization	United Nations

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) was an important part of the United Nations. It started in December 1976. Its first name was the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade for Women. This was during the International Women's Year.

UNIFEM helped women around the world. It gave money and advice for new projects. These projects aimed to help women with their human rights. They also helped women get involved in politics. And they worked to make sure women were safe financially.

From 1976, UNIFEM supported women's empowerment. This means helping women gain strength and control over their lives. It also worked for gender equality, which means treating everyone fairly, no matter if they are a boy or a girl. UNIFEM did this through its offices and by working with women's groups.

One of its big projects was about "gender responsive budgets." This means making sure government money helps both men and women fairly. This work started in 1996 in Southern Africa. It then grew to other parts of the world. UNIFEM wanted everyone in the UN to understand how these budgets could help countries. In 2011, UNIFEM joined with other groups to become UN Women.

What UNIFEM Did

2010 meeting in Ecuador

UNIFEM was a special organization. It worked closely with the UN Development Program (UNDP). But its rules said its money should add to, not replace, what other UN groups did. UNIFEM helped pay for projects that supported women and their families.

UNIFEM had a special way of helping. It wanted women to be "their own agents for change." This means helping women make changes for themselves, instead of just getting help. UNIFEM also made sure UN programs followed rules from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This convention works to stop all unfair treatment against women.

UNIFEM also worked hard to show that women's rights are human rights. It pushed for gender equality everywhere. UNIFEM also believed that women's rights were important for peace and safety in the world.

UNIFEM got its money from people and countries who wanted to donate. It was based in New York City. Many countries and regions had their own UNIFEM groups. UNIFEM was one of the smaller groups within the UN.

UNIFEM's History

The First World Conference on Women in 1975 led to UNIFEM's creation. After this meeting, governments saw a need to put money into women's issues. The United Nations Voluntary Fund for the Decade for Women (UNVFDW) started in December 1976. Margaret Snyder became its first leader in 1978.

The 1980s

In February 1985, the UNVFDW got a bigger job. It became the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). A new rule, Resolution 39/125, said the fund should help women in developing countries. It aimed to give them a voice and make them more visible. Between 1985 and 1988, the money for UNIFEM projects doubled.

The 1990s

In the 1990s, UNIFEM started working on more things. It began a campaign called "women's rights as human rights." It also showed how violence against women affected their ability to get jobs and earn money. UNIFEM hired experts like Roxanna Carrillo to study this link. The "women's rights as human rights" campaign was very successful. UNIFEM started projects to reduce violence against women. It also worked to make more people aware of the problem.

Also in the 1990s, UNIFEM created African Women in Crisis (AFWIC). This group focused on problems faced by women in Africa. AFWIC helped women who had to leave their homes because of violence or emergencies.

UNIFEM's work helped shape the topics discussed at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995. Women at the conference decided it was important to have power to make public rules.

UNIFEM also set up a special fund. This fund helped 23 projects fight violence against women. It also helped with war crimes against women. The fund started giving money for projects in 1997.

The 2000s

In 2000, UNIFEM was allowed to lead and work on projects for UNDP. These projects were about women's rights and gender equality.

In 2001, UNIFEM released a new report called Progress of the World's Women. This report showed what UNIFEM had achieved over the years. Also in 2001, UNIFEM and International Alert started the Millennium Peace Prize for Women.

Noeleen Heyzer, who led UNIFEM, asked for a global group to study violence against women. On January 26, 2006, the famous actress Nicole Kidman became a goodwill ambassador for UNIFEM. The last leader of UNIFEM was Inés Alberdi.

The 2010s

In January 2011, UNIFEM became part of UN Women. UN Women is a bigger group within the UN. It also includes other organizations that worked for women's rights.

Leaders of UNIFEM

Here are the people who led UNIFEM:

Nr	Director	From country	Term
4.	Inés Alberdi	Spain	2007–2014
3.	Noeleen Heyzer	Singapore	1994–2007
2.	Sharon Capeling-Alakija	Canada	1989–1994
1.	Margaret C. Snyder	United States	1978–1989

See also

• United Nations Decade for Women
• UN Women