letter from the focal point for women - welcome to the ... · based in the lack of respect for...

Interview with Ms. Rachel Mayanja

Assistant Secretary-General and SpecialAdviser for Gender Issues and Advancementof Women

A woman who made it to the top!

Dear friends and colleagues, It is our pleasure to bring to you this particularly sig-

nificant issue of network. It brings to you a synopsis ofthe latest report of the Secretary-General on the improve-ment of the status of women, the most comprehensiveproduct of the work of this office. The synopsis providesa statistical review of progress between 1 July 2003 and30 June 2004 of the UN system and the Secretariat and ananalysis of past trends and hypothetical projections, aswell as a summary of a study on the causes for the lowadvance in the improvement of the status of women in theUnited Nations Secretariat.

In addition, and equally meaningful, the issue carriesan interview with Ms. Rachel Mayanja, the SpecialAdviser of the Secretary-General on Gender Issues andAdvancement of Women, and a brief summary of the

insights that emerged in the annual meetings of ORIGIN,the network of focal points of various institutions work-ing on issues of gender and diversity. You will find, weare sure, that both convey the type of enlightenment thatcomes from the wisdom of experience and the courage ofcandour.

I do hope you will find these and the many otheritems in this issue of network interesting, useful and,most importantly, inspirational.

I take this opportunity to wish you all a healthy andsatisfying new year.

In solidarity,

Aparna Mehrotra

The UN Women’s Newsletter, Vol. 8 • No. 3 • July, August, September 2004

networkLetter from the Focal Point for Women

network

Sylvia Hordosch,Aparna Mehrotra, Rachel Mayanja,Andrei Abramov, Katarina Salmela, Rebeca Dain and Kay Govia—the OSAGI team

Contents

Letter from the Focal Point for Women . . . . 1Interview with Ms. Rachel Mayanja . . . . . . . . 1Appointment of women to UN bodies . . . . . . 6Congratulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Synopsis of the Secretary-General’s report on the improvement of the status ofwomen in the United Nations system . . . . . 7

Resolution on the improvement of the status of women in the United Nations system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Around the UN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Gender in the news . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Women discussing their differences: a promising trend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Women, peace and security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14In your interest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Work-Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Women’s health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16News flash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Recommended reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Web sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1. Could you please tell us about yourself and specialinfluences/experiences you feel shaped your characterand aspirations?

My life was shaped largely by my father and by mycountry, Uganda, where I was born and raised. Myfather was a chief and was extremely supportive of hisdaughters—in a way different from other parents thatdidn’t consider that girls should have any priority. Iwas afforded the best possible education in a privateschool for girls that provided us with a very competi-tive arena. My father believed very strongly in equaltreatment of boys and girls. It is because of his supportthat I felt good about being a girl. From the beginning,he convinced me that the sky was the limit and, if Iwanted, with hard work, I could achieve anything andeverything.

After high school, I considered then that mychoices were not many—either a bachelor’s degree inscience or in liberal arts. At 17 years of age, I was notsure what I wanted and I decided to follow liberal artsso I could eventually become a laywer. The year Icommenced university, we were only four women outof 29 students. One of my women friends introducedme to the then representative of the High Com-missioner for Refugees in Uganda and, after talking tohim, I decided that I was going to pursue a career withthe UN. After enquiring about working opportunitieswith the UN, I was told that as a minimum I had tohave a master’s degree. Accordingly, I went to HarvardLaw School where I obtained a master’s degree in lawin order to work for the UN. That, however, provedvery difficult and, after my graduation, I took the barin Massachusetts. During one of my outings to NewYork, I was introduced to an UN official who, after lis-tening to my credentials and ambitions, offered me ashort-term contract and thus I joined the UN at the P-2 level and have been working here ever since.

2. How would you like to use your position as SpecialAdviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Womenand what personal and career experiences have influ-enced your understanding and vision of gender issues?

This position is different from other senior posi-tions in that it is an advocacy position. As such, I willuse it to speak out on issues that should be addressed.For instance, respect for all staff—women as well asmen; equal opportunities for women—allowing themto demonstrate their capabilities, competencies andcreativity. I saw this first-hand during the Namibiamission (UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG),April 1989 to March 1990) when women assumednew political and peacekeeping roles. It is my beliefthat when women are given the opportunity, theyshow what they are capable of doing! I would like toencourage heads of departments and offices, as wellas fellow colleagues, to give women better chances.

Respect for the individual and for one another isparamount, and I would hope that through this posi-tion I can influence not only staff working in myoffice, but others, including in senior management, tobe respectful to all staff. Many of the problemsencountered at the workplace, such as harassment,sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, are really

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network • The UN Women’s Newsletter

Ms. Rachel Mayanja joined the UnitedNations in 1977 as an Associate SocialAffairs Officer in the then Centre forSocial Development and HumanitarianAffairs in the UN Secretariat. Her careerwith the UN spans 27 years, where sheserved with distinction in different depart-ments and offices of the UN common system. Her last posting before becomingthe Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advance-ment of Women was that of Director of the Human Resources ManagementDivision at the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the UN (FAO) in Rome.Some of her earlier assignments includedPrincipal Officer in the Office of HumanResources Management, Secretary of theJoint Appeals Board/Joint DisciplinaryCommittee and Chief AdministrativeOfficer to the UN Iraq-Kuwait ObserverMission (UNIKOM). Ms. Mayanja has anLLB from Makerere University, Uganda,and an LLM from Harvard Law School.She is a widow with three children.

based in the lack of respect for others. If we all treatothers as we would like them to treat us, I am surethat would go a long way to improving the work envi-ronment.

In terms of gender equality, again, we need to givewomen a chance and we must ensure policies are gen-uinely applied, and not to indulge in behaviour thatgives the perception that policies are being appliedwhen in fact they are not. This causes grievancesamong staff. The selection processes, for example,need to be transparent to assure staff that manage-ment decisions are well founded and can be sup-ported.

3. How do you think the Organization can combinegender mainstreaming, attitudinal changes and moni-toring progress on gender issues?

We need to look at careers horizontally and verti-cally. Although one can get satisfaction both ways, ulti-mately we all want satisfaction vertically—we wantpromotions. But I also think that people want to excelin their work and, yes, you need a work environmentthat is conducive to growth, the ability to networkwithin one’s profession, the ability to go for trainingand the possibility to grow professionally. Without it,people tend to stagnate and, if they stagnate, they can’tbe competitive, especially in today’s work environmentwhich is highly competitive. Also the financial con-straints faced by the Organization lead to a reduction inposts, reducing substantially the chances for upwardmobility of staff. That means that there are feweropportunities for promotion. How can one advanceone’s career when posts are shrinking, and upwardmovement becomes almost impossible? Difficult as itis, women have to think mobility and versatility. Whenone is mobile, one’s chances of advancement are muchgreater.

I myself have moved almost every five years, andthat has been key to my professional growth. But it wasnot easy to move for a number of reasons. First theremust be a vacant post to move into. Then one’s per-sonal situation must be conducive to such a move.Movement should not only be upwards, but also later-ally, and I moved both ways. I remember that my firstmove was lateral at the P-2 level, and after working fora while in the new office I was then promoted.

4. What were the highlights of your tenure as Directorof Personnel at FAO?

I went to FAO from the Office of Human ResourcesManagement, and my assumption was that I wouldhave an easy adjustment, picking up more or less fromwhere I had left in OHRM. I was surprised to find outthat, on the contrary, it was very difficult to settledown in FAO largely due to different organizationalcultures. I found FAO to be more centrally managedthan the UN, with less delegation of authority. It tookme a long time to adjust to that. Secondly, I found thatthe staff bodies were segregated by categories; there isthe union of General Service staff; an association forProfessional staff; another for professional staff in thefield. I could not understand the rationale behind thedifferent representative bodies, especially comingfrom the UN where the staff has only one representa-tive body. That was indicative of the culture of theorganization. Eventually, once I got used to the set-up,I was able to accomplish a number of things; in par-ticular we introduced spouse employment, which hasbeen considered almost impossible; we introduced anumber of reforms including in the work/life areasuch as tele-working and paternity leave; and we initi-ated a number of others that were still pending at thetime I left.

5. You came back to the UN as the Special Adviser forGender Issues and Advancement of Women. As such,you oversee the work of the Division for theAdvancement of Women, which deals with genderissues globally, and the work of the Office of the FocalPoint for Women, which deals with the improvement ofthe status of women in the UN system. In this context,what constitute some of the upcoming challenges togender issues at large and to the advancement ofwomen in the UN, in particular?

I am glad to return to the UN and complete a full cir-cle as I am back where my UN career started—workingon gender issues. Regarding gender issues globally, oneof my main concerns is the plight of poor women espe-cially in developing countries—in particular, the ruralwomen. They are almost neglected and special attentionshould be given to these women. I believe that if we canassist them to become economically empowered, wewould have done a lot. These women don’t want hand-outs, they want to be given the necessary tools to

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Vol. 8 • No. 3 • July, August and September 2004

become financially viable so that they can take care ofthemselves and their families. I would like to pursue thiskind of initiative and network and partner with institu-tions that can assist rural women. Before my arrival atNew York, focus on the plight of women in conflict sit-uations had been galvanized. I shall continue to high-light the situation of women in conflict situations andinsist that they are included in both conflict resolutionand post-conflict reconstruction. Another issue of graveconcern is trafficking in women and girls worldwide.Most of these women are lured into this situation bypromises of economic opportunities. They go in searchof livelihood and better living conditions only to end upsubjected to sexual exploitation, diseases, abuse and insome cases loss of their lives. We should insist onnational mechanisms to economically support women,so that they do not fall victim to criminal networks.There has been notable progress in the area of women’srights with the adoption of various conventions onhuman rights; economic rights; national legal systems;constitutions; and other institutional tools. What is lack-ing is the full implementation and enforcement of allthese tools. This is an area where a lot of effort and workis being done by our Division and others, but moreneeds to follow.

Another challenge for the Special Adviser is theimprovement of the status of women in the UN system,as well as to continue mainstreaming gender issues. Todo this, the newly introduced staff selection systemwill need to be readjusted to redress the problemsencountered by both staff and management.

I believe that most managers find management andrecruiting people secondary to their major role in theirarea of expertise. When trained on managerial issues,managers feel more comfortable managing people andtheir problems, as well as better equipped to makedecisions on promotion and recruitment which areobjective, transparent and fair.

Throughout my tenure, I intend to insist in holdingmanagers accountable while, at the same time, request-ing them to give women the opportunity to serve and tobe promoted; to improve the work/life environment;and to see that spouse employment becomes a realityin the UN system, partnering with funds, programmesand agencies. Likewise, in their substantive work I willcontinue to pursue gender mainstreaming in all areasof the Organization’s work.

6. Throughout your career, have you felt any con-straints as a woman staff member and as a senior-levelwoman?

Yes indeed. I feel constraints all the time. I mustsay that constraints didn’t always come from men, butfrom women as well. But I never allowed myself tofocus too much on it; and I did not allow it to derail mefrom my objectives. My objectives were to get on withwork and do what I was hired to do the best way Icould. I refused to be hindered by the views of peoplewho thought that because I was a woman my perform-ance would not be as good as that of a man.

Discrimination based on sex is generally not obvi-ous, making such incidents hard to report let alone toprove, even though they happen to women quite often.There are subtle ways of putting women down to showthat they are not in charge. For example, requests foraction may be deliberately addressed to male subordi-nate instead of the female boss. As a black woman, Ihave felt discrimination so many times in my life onaccount of my combined race and gender. Moreover, Ihave also been subjected to another form of offensivediscrimination, namely age-based discrimination.Many times I was told by my supervisors: “You are tooyoung, you can afford to wait for your promotion!”It is very offensive and presupposes that a woman issomehow flattered that she is “young” and shouldtherefore be happy to be denied an opportunity/consideration. “Time is on your side” and this has fol-lowed me throughout my career. I have found this veryinsulting because, in the meantime, my male col-leagues that entered the UN with me and looked just asyoung if not younger did not have to “wait” to be pro-moted.

7. You have combined family and work very success-fully. What advice do you have for other women?

I guess my case is a bit special, because my latehusband also worked for the UN and thus we needed tomanage our family life and combine it with careers.Marrying into the UN family can complicate one’s life.In our case I maintained my maiden name and man-aged to lead an individual professional life and to pur-sue different interests. We worked hard to protect eachother’s privacy. But it was not easy to combine workand family. I placed equal importance to both since I

4


had made a deliberate choice to have children as wellas keep my career. We had a very good family supportsystem and friends. Without the network of friendsworldwide it would not have been possible. Of coursehaving both a career and family requires sacrifices,some things have to give. We gave up socializing afteroffice hours and at weekends. This time was devoted toour children and these arrangements helped us tomaintain some balance. In hindsight, yes, I would havechanged some things. I wish I had given more time tomy children and that we would have had longer vaca-tions together as a family. But otherwise, I have noregrets.

8. What ideas do you have for the Organization abouthow to better support women and men who are lookingto balance work and family?

In our approach to this very important topic, weshould take a broad view of family and remember thatfamily includes women and men and different struc-tures of family. I have known many men that are theonly parents supporting and educating a family. Thereare also many men who support their spouses’ pursuitof a career and are ready to share in the family respon-sibilities. I believe many men have learned through theyears the wisdom of supporting a work environmentthat recognizes the need to balance work/life issues. SoI would urge that the policies that the UN is pursuingtake into account the needs of both women and men. Ithappens that people not only have nuclear familyresponsibilities, but others such as cultural responsibil-ities, voluntary responsibilities and contributions totheir communities, and these responsibilities should berecognized in today’s work force, which has changeddramatically.

9. You are a woman who has risen fast through theranks, and surely not without difficulties. Can youshare with network the personal philosophy which hasmost contributed to your career, and that which hasguided you personally in difficult moments?

First and foremost, one has to know oneself and betrue to one’s beliefs, which for me are perseveranceand the certainty that I am truly privileged because,when I look around the world, there are so many peo-ple who are worse off than me. This knowledge has

obliged me to give and do my very best and keeps megoing through my ups and downs and in all difficulties.Secondly, there is wisdom in living life one day at atime, which is linked to planning. Plan your life and berealistic about life, about what you can change andcan’t change. There is no point for me to keep bangingmy head against some door that won’t open; instead itis better to pursue those doors that are partially open.Maybe through them I can find a way into the otherroom. Women should not restrict themselves, but sethigh goals and go about achieving them in a realisticway. It is nice to be romantic about things, but we neednot dwell too much on fantasies. We need to be wellgrounded and pursue our goals and use every opportu-nity to get where we want to go.

I always enjoyed support from my husband andfrom my family and friends. A network of friends is soimportant to provide objective advice, to relax and tolaugh with. Then, dedication to one’s work is funda-mental. If you have commitment and you give yourbest no matter how your gender/race/age gets in theway, nobody can take away the good work you do inyour job. Discriminatory treatment usually leads toinsecurity, lack of confidence and eventually affectsthe quality of work. Therefore, I have always made aconscious effort not to allow such conduct to destroyme.

Finally, I was always ready to learn and to take onnew challenges. I never shied away from asking ques-tions. My learning sources have no bar as far as cate-gory of staff or level. I have always learned from any-body who has the information and knowledge that Ineed and always found people ready and willing toteach me.

Since the beginning, I have been fascinated withthe UN and I am happy to end my career pursuing thesame issues that I started with—those of gender. I amglad to find that remarkable progress has been made.We have moved from sensitizing the world to the roleof women to asking what actions have been taken toimplement decisions, conventions and protocols toassure women’s equality, development and peace.

5


APPOINTMENT OF WOMEN TO UNBODIES . . .

No women were elected to chair any of the MainCommittees of the fifty-ninth session of the GeneralAssembly. The Chairmen are as follows:

• First Committee: Mr. Louis Alfonso De Alba(Mexico)

• Second Committee: Mr. Marco Balarezo(Peru)

• Third Committee: Mr. Valeriy P. Kuchinsky(Ukraine)

• Fourth Committee: Mr. Kyaw Tint Swe(Myanmar)

• Fifth Committee: Mr. Don MacKay (NewZealand)

• Sixth Committee: Mr. Mohamed Bennouna(Morocco).

States parties to the Convention on theElimination of All Forms of Discrimination againstWomen elected, on 5 August 2004, 11 of 23 experts toserve on the Committee that monitors compliance withthe Convention. The 12 members remaining will con-tinue to serve until their terms end on 31 December2006. The new women members that will begin toserve their terms on 1 January 2005 are: MaryShanthi Dairiam (Malaysia); Magalys ArochaDominguez (Cuba); Françoise Gaspard (France);Tiziana Maiolo (Italy); Silvia Pimentel (Brazil);Hanna Beate Schöpp-Schilling (Germany); HeisooShin (Republic of Korea); Glenda P. Simms(Jamaica); Anamah Tan (Singapore); Maria ReginaTavares da Silva (Portugal); and Zou Xiaqiao(China).

Seven women (out of 17 members) were appointedto the Committee on the Rights of the Child on 9September 2004. The Committee was formed in 1991to monitor the implementation of the Convention on

the Rights of the Child which gives a comprehensivecollection of children’s rights the force of internationallaw. The women appointed are: Ghalia Mohd BinHamad Al-Thani (Qatar); Joyce Aluoch (Kenya);Saisuree Chutikul (Thailand); Moushira Khattab(Egypt); Rosa Maria Ortiz (Paraguay); Awa N’DeyeOuedraogo (Burkina Faso); Marialia Sardenberg(Brazil); Lucy Smith (Norway); and NevenaVuckovic-Sahovic (Serbia and Montenegro).

CONGRATULATIONS TO . . .

UN-related

• Ms. Margareta Wahlstrom (Sweden) for her appointment on 13 July 2004 as Assistant Secretary-General for Humani-tarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency ReliefCoordinator. Ms. Wahlstrom was recentlythe Deputy Special Representative of theSecretary-General in Afghanistan and hasworked for international relief organiza-tions, and as a consultant. She replaces Ms. Carolyn McAskie.

• Ms. Mehr Khan Williams (Pakistan) forher appointment on 25 August 2004 asDeputy High Commissioner for HumanRights at the Assistant Secretary-Generallevel. Ms. Khan Williams has held seniormanagement positions within the UN com-mon system in New York, Florence,Bangkok and Sydney.

• Ms. Fatou Bensouda (Gambia) for herappointment on 8 September 2004 asDeputy Prosecutor, Head of Prosecutions,for the International Criminal Court (ICC).

• Ambassador Ingrid Hall (Canada) for herappointment on 29 September 2004 asChairwoman of the Governing Board of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) for 2004-2005. One of the responsi-bilities of the Board is to appoint theDirector General of IAEA.

6


network welcomes this distinguished woman to thegroup of senior-level women at the United Nations.

• Ms. Sachiko Kuwabara-Yamamoto (Japan) wasappointed on 1 June 2004 as Executive Secretaryof the Basel Convention in the United NationsEnvironment Programme in Geneva.

In government

• Ms. Amalia Garcia Medina (Mexico) whobecame the first woman governor of Zacatecason 5 July 2004, and the fourth in Mexico’s history. Governor Garcia is seen as an exampleof the rising status of political women inMexico—a country that just a generation agohad a law that allowed men to bar their wivesfrom working outside the home.

network wants to congratulate the new womenAmbassadors accredited to the United Nations in NewYork. This brings the total number of womenAmbassadors to 12:

Cape Verde

H.E. Mrs. Maria de Fatima Lima da Veiga(17 September 2004)

Colombia

H.E. Ms. Mariá Ángela Holguín(16 September 2004)

El Salvador

H.E. Mrs. Carmen María Gallardo(17 September 2004)

Grenada

H.E. Mrs. Ruth Elizabeth Rouse(1 November 2004).

Women recipients of Nobel Prizes in 2004

Peace

Ms. Wangari Maathai (Kenya), an environmentalactivist, received the Peace Prize on 8 October 2004 forher contribution to sustainable development, democracyand peace. Ms. Maathai has sought to empower women,improve the environment and fight corruption in Africafor almost 30 years. Ms. Maathai is the first Africanwoman to win the Nobel Prize in this category and she iscurrently a deputy environment minister in her country.

Literature

Ms. Elfriede Jelinek (Austria) received the Prize“for her musical flow of voices and counter-voices innovels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zealreveal the absurdity of society’s clichés and their sub-jugating power”.

Physiology/Medicine

Dr. Linda B. Buck (United States), who shared thePrize with Dr. Richard Axel, for the discoveries ofodorant receptors and the organization of the olfactorysystem. They discovered a large gene family compris-ing some 1,000 different genes that give rise to anequivalent number of olfactory receptor types.

Synopsis of the Secretary-General’sreport on the improvement of the statusof women in the United Nations system(A/59/357)

The report to the General Assembly covers theperiod from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2004. This year’sreport includes the annual statistical update on thestatus of women in the UN system as well as a trendsanalysis and hypothetical projections by category ofstaff. In addition, an analysis of the probable causesof the slow advance in the improvement of the statusof women in the UN Secretariat mandated byGeneral Assembly resolution 57/180 is also included.

Overview of the current representation ofwomen staff in the United Nations system

The overall situation with regard to the status ofwomen in the UN system shows that progress has beenmade in most areas and for all categories of staff.


7

Comparison of gender distribution of staffin the Professional and higher categories with appointments of one year or more,

as at 30 June 2003 and 30 June 2004

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Men

Women

% of WomenChange %

USG

ASGD-2

D-1

SubtotalP-5

P-4

P-3

P-2

P-1

Subtotal

Total

Men Women % of Women Change %

USG

ASG

D-2

D-1

Subtotal

P-5

P-4

P-3

P-2

P-1

Subtotal

Total

Level

30

29

92

216

367

602

1 088

984

293

1

2 968

3 335

6

6

35

103

150

271

563

698

303

5

1 840

1 990

16.7

17.1

27.6

32.3

29.0

31.0

34.1

41.5

50.8

83.3

38.3

37.4

3.2

2.5

2.8

3.5

3.4

0.8

2.6

1.7

0.8

16. 7

1.6

1.7

USG

ASG

D-2

D-1

Subtotal

P-5

P-4

P-3

P-2

P-1

Subtotal

Total

Men Women % of WomenLevel

32

35

88

225

380

598

1 184

1 078

315

4

3 179

3 559

5

6

29

91

131

259

544

714

315

8

1 840

1 971

13.5

14.6

24.8

28.8

25.6

30.2

31.5

39.8

50.0

66.7

36.7

35.6

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

35003500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

Men

Women

% of Women

USGASG

D-2D-1

SubtotalP-5

P-4P-3

P-2

P-1

Subtotal

Total


8

30 June 2004

30 June 2003

The representation of women in the Professionaland higher categories in the entities of the UnitedNations system has increased from 35 per cent, as at31 December 2002, to 36.4 per cent, as at 31December 2003. Two organizations (out of 30) haveachieved gender balance in representation of the cat-egory of Professional women staff: the UnitedNations Institute for Training and Research (UNI-TAR), with 50 per cent (13 men, 13 women) and theUnited Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with 49.9per cent (174 men and 173 women). Another sixorganizations have more than 40 per centProfessional women on their staff and nine organiza-tions have less than 30 per cent women on their staff.

Cumulatively, at the D-1 level and above, the sit-uation improved slightly, with women constituting22.3 per cent of Professional staff compared to 21per cent as at 31 December 2002. Gender balance hasonly been achieved at the P-1 and P-2 levels in theorganizations of the United Nations system.

To increase the representation of women, severalagencies have taken initiatives designed to promotegender balance. These include, inter alia, the settingof specific gender targets and time lines, regularreporting to governing bodies on the recruitmentand status of women, gender policy development,training and specific efforts to identify suitable can-didates through targeted outreach to Member States,professional organizations and recruitment mis-sions.

Overview of the current representation ofwomen staff in the United Nations Secretariat

In the United Nations Secretariat, womenaccount for 37.4 per cent of Professional and higher-level staff with appointments of one year or more. Theincrease of 1.7 percentage points compared to the pre-vious year represents the most significant increasemade since 1998. In posts subject to geographical dis-tribution, 42.3 per cent of Professional and higher-level staff are women. The largest increases were reg-istered at the Under-Secretary-General, AssistantSecretary-General and D-1 levels: 3.2, 2.5 and 3.5 per-centage points, respectively.

The table on the previous page illustrates thechanges made since June 2003 for Professional andhigher categories with appointments of one year ormore in the United Nations Secretariat.

Only five departments and/or offices (out of 37)have met or exceeded the target of 50/50 representa-tion: the Office of Programme Planning, Budget andAccounts, 50.8 per cent; the Office of HumanResources Management, 52.1 per cent; the Departmentof Public Information, 51.1 per cent; the Departmentof Management, 56 per cent; and the Executive Officeof the Secretary-General, 50 per cent. The overall rep-resentation of women with appointments of one year ormore in peacekeeping operations increased by 4.3 percent to 27.5 per cent. Of nine missions with 20 or moreProfessional staff members, three missions had morethan 30 per cent women staff. Two out of 27 peace-keeping operations are headed by women (the UnitedNations Observer Mission in Georgia and the UnitedNations Operation in Burundi); and three women aredeputy special representatives (the United NationsMission for the Verification of Human Rights inGuatemala, the United Nations Assistance Mission inAfghanistan and the United Nations Observer Missionin Georgia).

While the 50/50 overall gender balance goal hasnot been met, there has been more progress in promo-tions and transfers than in appointments. Women com-prised 45.9 per cent of promotions from the P-1 to D-2 levels or 146 out of 318 promotions. At the D-1and D-2 levels, women constituted 38.9 and 55.6 percent respectively. The promotion of professionalwomen overall stood at 46.5 per cent.

Trends and projections in the improvementof the status of women in the Professionaland higher categories with appointments ofone year or more, 1998-2004

Analysis of the longer-term trends portrays a pic-ture of mixed progress in women’s representation atall levels, with an average annual growth rate of only0.4 per cent in the Professional and higher category ofstaff on appointments of one year or more, andapproximately 1 per cent per year for Professional andhigher staff on geographic posts. The overall growthaccounted for 2.5 per cent, from 34.6 per cent in 1998to 37.1 per cent in 2004. Assuming that the observedtrends continue at some levels, the target of 50 percent women with appointments of one or more yearswill remain elusive. At other levels, such as P-5,achievement of the gender balance goal would remainseveral decades away; at the P-4 level, the tendency


9

is towards stagnation (0.4 per cent growth). At the se-nior levels of Under-Secretary-General, AssistantSecretary-General, D-2 and D-1, the increase in therepresentation of women was better (2.8 per cent forUnder-Secretary-General, 5.4 per cent for AssistantSecretary-General, 10.9 per cent for D-2 and 8.1 percent for D-1). Despite this progress, at these rates,hypothetical projections indicate that gender balancecould be achieved on average in 17 to 21 years at theD-1 and D-2 levels.

Among its other conclusions, analysis of thetrends revealed that there is no immediate correlationbetween the increase in numbers of women at lowerlevels and the representation of women at higher lev-els. For example, at the P-4 level, the rate of growthin women’s representation on geographic posts wasthe lowest it had been in the past 10 years, despite thefact that at the P-2 and P-3 levels the gender balancegoal was achieved. Hence, a sustained effort toincrease the representation of women at these andhigher levels is required to reach the 50/50 genderdistribution.

Analysis of the causes of slow progress inthe improvement of the status of women

The report also reviewed the “Analysis of the prob-able causes of the slow advance in the improvement ofthe status of women in the United Nations Secretariat”.The analysis covered six areas in which challengesmust be addressed if progress is to be made (recruit-ment and selection processes, progress within theSecretariat, accountability, working climate and cul-ture, informal barriers to gender balance and regionalability to meet the 50/50 gender distribution target).The analysis revealed that gender imbalance is a multi-dimensional and systemic problem, which requires anintegrated response. As candidates for recruitment,women are discriminated against by external factorsunfavourable to them, such as limited access to labourmarkets, information and communication technologies,to technical and substantive training and education, andto decision-making. Within the Organization, recruit-ment strategies, promotion and retention policies,career development, justice and anti-harassment poli-cies, human resources planning and succession plan-ning, work/family policies, management culture andmechanisms for accountability need to be reviewed toensure that they do not directly or indirectly disadvan-tage women. For example, the system of posting

vacancy announcements on the Galaxy system web siteis not sufficiently proactive or targeted to attract themost qualified women candidates for these posts; thevacancy announcements often contain highly special-ized evaluation criteria, as well as overly restrictiveeducation and experience criteria. With respect tomobility, women staff are likely to be at a disadvantage,owing to four key issues: family constraints; informalnetworking; the need to have a sponsor; and proactivecareer planning. No enforcement mechanism currentlyexists to ensure that programme managers fulfil thegender balance targets in the human resources actionplans. Hard-to-identify informal barriers can hinderwomen’s advancement to policy-making levels.

Some of the measures proposed for review and sub-sequent incorporation into future policy and imple-mentation include to:

• Increase the representation of women fromunrepresented and underrepresented countries;

• Broaden the pool of women applicants at themid-professional levels;

• Target women applicants for posts at the D-2level and above;

• Develop effective special measures adapted tothe current staff selection system;

• Strengthen the mandate of central review bod-ies;

• Involve the departmental focal points forwomen in the selection process;

• Expand opportunities for promotion from theG to P levels;

• Expand gender-disaggregated data;

• Enhance mobility across duty stations;

• Promote greater accountability of programmemanagers for the fulfilment of the gender bal-ance targets in the human resources actionplans;

• Promote and sustain the implementation andusage of work/life balance policies;

• Develop an organizational culture that is moreinclusive of all staff.

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None of the obstacles mentioned in the report is insurmountable. The Secretariat has establishedmany elements of an effective gender balance sys-tem that need to be enhanced by new strategies toachieve gender balance. The report is availableonline at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/fpdocumentation.htm.

Resolution on the improvement of the status of women in the UnitedNations system (A/RES/59/164 of 20 December 2004)

The resolution welcomes the continued commit-ment of the Secretary-General to meeting the goal ofgender equality and reaffirms General Assembly res-olution 58/144 of 22 December 2003. In addition, itregrets that the goal of 50/50 gender distribution hasnot been met and that overall progress in achievingthis goal remains limited and notes with concern thecontinuing lack of representation of women at higherlevels of decision-making, especially at the USGlevel. The resolution stresses the need to address thecontinuing lack of representation or underrepresen-tation of women from certain countries, in particularfrom developing and least developed countries. Iturges the Secretary-General and the executive headsof the organizations of the UN system to redoubletheir efforts to realize significant progress towardsthe goal of 50/50 gender distribution in the very nearfuture. Member States are encouraged to supportthese efforts by identifying and regularly submittingmore women candidates for appointment to positionsin the UN system while encouraging the UN todevelop innovative recruitment strategies to identifyand attract suitably qualified women candidates. Italso reaffirms resolution 58/144 of 22 December2003 and requests increased and sustained effortstowards its full implementation. It calls once againfor the timely submission of comparable data fromorganizations of the United Nations system, whichshould be reflected in the next report presented to theGeneral Assembly at its sixty-first session.

AROUND THE UN . . .

• The first meeting of the Executive Board of the International Research and Training

Institute for the Advancement of Women(INSTRAW) was held in New York on 27 July2004. The Board, established by Economic andSocial Council resolution 2003/57, will governINSTRAW by guiding the Institute’s policies and programme of work and assist in fund-raising.Ms. Carmen Moreno, former Deputy Ministerfor Foreign Affairs of Mexico, was appointed bySecretary-General Kofi Annan as the new Director(D-2 level) late in 2003.

• Ms. Louise Arbour, United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights since 1 July2004, met the Geneva press corps for the firsttime in her new capacity. Speaking of her priori-ties, the High Commissioner said she would focuson the most vulnerable—the very poor, the imprisoned, the disenfranchised and the targets ofintolerance and hatred, and said that she intendedto come to their assistance through the most effec-tive legal means at her disposal. She spoke of thenumerous challenges ahead, perhaps the mostobvious and the most insidious of all being themagnitude of extreme poverty. Paradoxically, shesaid, in an age of advanced human rights con-sciousness, we were also witnessing daily and ona massive scale the worst atrocities that humanbeings can perpetrate on one another—too oftenwith the passive acceptance of others or under thebenign gaze or even at the instigation of people ina position of power and influence.

• International Literacy Day wascelebrated on 8 September 2004.The theme of this year’s commem-orations was gender and literacy.The General Assembly proclaimed the UnitedNations Literacy Decade for the period 2003-2012in a bid to address the plight of millions ofadults—mostly women—who are unable to reador write. In this second year of the UN LiteracyDecade, more than 500 million women make upthe majority of adult illiterates around the world,while girls constitute the majority of children whoare not in school. Secretary-General Kofi Annansaid that there was no time to lose if we were totranslate into reality the Millennium DevelopmentGoal of increasing the world’s literacy rate by 50per cent by 2015. “The cost of building a literatesociety is relatively low,” he says, “compared with

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the cost of failure, in terms of prosperity, health,security and justice. Renewed, coordinated andsustained efforts must be taken in the next fewyears to reverse these trends and ensure that weare on the right track towards Literacy for Alland thus Education for All.”

• More than 400 Arab women, ministers, parlia-mentarians and non-governmental representativeslaunched a “call for peace” in a regional forumin Beirut from 8 to 10 July 2004, organized bythe UN Economic and Social Commission forWestern Asia (ESCWA).

GENDER IN THE NEWS . . .

• Saudi Arabia prepares for its first municipal elec-tions in 40 years for half the seats in 178 munici-pal councils. One woman architect has made his-tory in becoming the first woman to declareherself a candidate for elected office. However,she said that she would drop her candidacy if theSaudi Government did not grant women the rightto vote.

• The United States Department of Laborreleased on 21 September 2004 a new surveycalled the “American Time Use Survey”. Thesurvey revealed that working women spend moretime looking after the house, family and childrenthan working men. The study indicated that theaverage working women spends about twice asmuch time as the average working man on child-care and household chores, while men spend moretime both at their jobs and on leisure and sports.In addition, though almost as many women asmen hold jobs—78 per cent of women comparedwith 85 per cent of men—the Labor Departmentreported that over half of all women said they didhousework and almost two thirds prepared mealson a daily basis (www.womensenews.org);

• According to a recent survey, “Transformational,transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles:A meta analysis comparing women and men”,(by A. H. Eagly et al., Psychological Bulletin, vol.129, No. 4 (9 July 2003, pp. 569-591)), the debatecontinues as to whether women make better leadersthan men. According to the survey the world mightbe in better shape if women were more often in

charge, as women’s approach to leadership may bemore effective than men’s. The authors suggest thatwomen may behave differently as leaders becauseof the demands society makes on them and theirown internalization of those demands. Also becausepeople may be less willing to tolerate a tough,authoritarian “unfeminine” style in a woman, shemay take a more democratic and collaborativeapproach.

• UNFPA held a videoconference on gender balance and gender mainstreaming between repre-sentatives from Geneva, New York and Paris on 30 September 2004. The participants discussedcurrent challenges on gender balance and main-streaming in their respective organizations, andthey brainstormed on ways to address them.

ORIGIN (Organizational and Institutional GenderInformation Network) held its 9th annual meeting inParis, France, on 1 and 2 July 2004. It was hosted bythe United Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization together with the EuropeanSpace Agency and the Organization for Security andCooperation in Europe. ORIGIN was established at theFourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in1995 and it addresses issues related to achieving gen-der balance in the workforce and organizationalchange in the broader context of diversity programmes.Over the years, it has consistently proved to be a use-ful network to exchange best practices, policies, proce-dures and data to improve gender equality as well as the work-life condition of employees in general. The two-day meeting focused on the trends and chal-lenges regarding women and leadership as well asenabling and innovating workplace policies such astele-working, flexi-time, spouse employment and dualcareers. Speakers from the private sector were alsoinvited to share their experiences, in particular on thedifficulties and opportunities for recruitment ofwomen at senior levels. The agencies/participantsidentified certain factors that contribute to success inachieving gender balance. These include:

• A publicly available analysis of trends byrecruitment, promotion and attrition as well asby office and contractual category

• Mandatory justification by managers torecruitment and promotion bodies when menare selected

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• Increased percentage of women in leadershippositions

• Allocation of autonomous authority, budgetaryand managerial, to offices mandated to moni-tor and further gender balance and diversity

• Implementation of strong partnership betweenhuman resources departments and those moni-toring gender

• Enforcement of effective work-life policies

• “Walking the talk”.

With specific reference to work-life issues, it wasnoted that employees today, as compared to a few yearsago, are seeking a different organizational culture—one which promotes greater flexibility and work-lifebalance. In this context, the empirical study under-taken in the OECD on tele-working was particularlynoteworthy. It noted that complications in tele-workingwere essentially more about attitudes than practicaldifficulties. In fact, it was found that tele-workingresults in no loss of productivity and most likely in anincrease since workers actually tend to spend moretime working. Its implementation thus far has provedto be possible and desirable.

The study, however, identified potential disadvan-tages, which can be easily addressed:

• Decreased social and professional interactionof the employee; this isolation may lead todecreased personal confidence

• Technical problems with information technol-ogy.

The above constraints were, to a large extent,addressed in some agencies by requiring telecom-muters to report to work 1-2 days a week and by dis-tinguishing between medical ad hoc and maternitytele-working. With respect to technology, some agen-cies are requiring harmonizing technological equip-ment to allow the agencies’ technological specialists toaddress the issues.

The sessions and presentations helped participantsthink about the various barriers to gender balance, as

well as the potential avenues for improvement andenhanced programming that promotes gender diversityin the workplace and in the United Nations system (formore information please contact [email protected]).

Women discussing their differences: a promising trend

Summary from the article posted in the Diversity Factor(vol. 12, No. 2 (Summer 2004))

Across the United States, several organizations andbusinesses participated in conferences focused onbringing working women from a diversity of races andethnicities together to converse, network and improvetheir skills for advancement. One goal of these confer-ences was to discuss differences among racial groups,so that women could address these, realizing their indi-vidual potential and making more gains for all womenin organizations. A second goal was to acknowledgethat a unified women’s experience or agenda was elu-sive because race, ethnicity, sexual orientation andclass did impact the advancement of women in organi-zations.

Researchers from Simmons School of Manage-sment in Boston, Massachusetts, noticed that severalpatterns emerged from discussions among womenfrom different races, including:

• Caucasian women and women of colour enteredconversations in the conferences at different placesbecause of their experiences in racial and ethnicgroups. They reported, for example, that they thinkmore about gender than race and ethnicity;

• Afro-American women tended to converseamong each other, excluding women from otherracial/ethnic groups, including Latina, Asian andNative American women, while demanding thatCaucasian women acknowledge their advantagesin a racist workplace.

Conference organizers countered these discussionpatterns by diversifying the women participating in theconferences, and by providing competently trainedfacilitators for the conversations, under tight guide-lines. Organizers hope that more businesses and organ-izations will organize similar conferences in the futurebecause these discussions provide an opportunity for

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women to come together and candidly discuss their dif-ferences, as well as provide valuable networking andcommunication skills needed for advancement in busi-nesses and organizations (http://diversityfactor.rutgers.edu).

WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY

• The Department of Peacekeeping Operations(DPKO) recently welcomed their new GenderAdviser, Ms. Comfort Lamptey. She is to bebased in the Peacekeeping Best Practices Unit atDPKO Headquarters, New York. Also, in October2004, Anna Shotton was appointed DPKO’s FocalPoint on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.

• The 58-page report Struggling to survive:Barriers to justice for rape victims in Rwandapublished by Human Rights Watch on 30September 2004 states among other things thatwhile tens of thousands of Rwandan women wereraped during the genocide, only a few perpetra-tors of sexual violence have been prosecuted. Thereport investigates the persistent weaknesses inthe Rwandan legal system that hampered theinvestigation and prosecution of sexual violence.The penal code and the laws governing prosecu-tion of genocide suspects criminalize “rape” and“sexual torture” without expressly defining thelegal elements of either crime. That leads toambiguity over what forms of conduct are legallyprohibited leading to inconsistent court verdicts,confusion among law enforcement and govern-ment officials and inattention to sexual violenceagainst women (www.hrw.org/reports/2004/rwanda0904/).

• The United Nations Development Fund forWomen (UNIFEM) and the International LegalAssistance Consortium (ILAC) organized a con-ference on gender justice in post-conflict situa-tions on 16 September 2004 at the UnitedNations. ILAC is a consortium of over 30 mem-ber organizations throughout the world that areinvolved in providing technical legal assistance inpost-conflict situations. The goal of the confer-ence was to highlight gender justice as an issuedeserving of urgent special attention, because ofthe increasingly disproportionate impact of war

on women and girls, so that women in conflict-affected areas can have better equal access tolegal, judicial and constitutional processes.Women living in war-torn countries suffer from a“gender deficit” when it comes to justice, as theyare very exposed to sexual violence and lack ade-quate protection. Participants were women in keylegal and judicial positions from over 12 conflict-affected countries, such as Afghanistan, Burundi,the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti,Iraq, Kosovo, Liberia, Namibia, Rwanda, SierraLeone, South Africa and Timor-Leste. Thesewomen shared with members of the internationalcommunity their perspectives on best practicesthat have emerged in the area of gender justice, aswell as the most pressing requirements to imple-ment Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) intheir countries. A key goal of the conference wasto use these perspectives as a basis for developingmore effectively coordinated bilateral and legalprotection for their rights (www.unifem.org).

IN YOUR INTEREST . . . reports

• The annual report of the Secretary-General on thework of the Organization (A/59/1) offers a com-prehensive overview of improvements in theadministration of the Organization, and of the fullrange of its efforts in the service of humanity: tohelp the afflicted and the suffering; to oppose war,violence and intolerance; to promote the rightsand dignity of every individual; and to help bringabout the economic, social, political and environ-mental conditions for long-term human progress.The report acknowledges that while there havebeen some successes, progress towards achievingthe Millennium Development Goals has beenmixed.

• General Assembly report A/59/206 of 4 August2004 on the New Partnership for Africa’sDevelopment (NEPAD) cites progress instrengthening Africa’s own peacekeeping capaci-ties, as well as in advancing the African PeerReview Mechanism, a voluntary process of whichAfrican leaders agree to subject their standards ofdemocracy, human rights, governance and eco-nomic management to review by other Africans.There have been advances in promoting women’s

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involvement in NEPAD implementation. Out ofthe seven members of the African Peer ReviewMechanism’s panel of eminent personalities, three are women, one of whom is the panel’schair (www.africarecovery.org then click on linkto “NEPAD/UN Reports”).

• Information circular ST/IC/2004/28 of 26 July2004 on practice of the Secretary-General indisciplinary matters, 2002-2003 informs all staffmembers of the practice of the Secretary-Generalin exercising his authority in disciplinary mattersunder article X of the UN Staff Regulations, toensure that the Secretariat addresses the findingsof its oversight review bodies from a systemicperspective, and to reinforce existing accountabil-ity mechanisms, regarding accountability in disci-plinary matters among managers and staff.

• Report of the Secretary-General on contractualarrangements of 9 September 2004 (A/59/263/Add.1). This report presents the Secretary-General’s proposal to simplify existing contrac-tual arrangements through the use of only threetypes of appointments applicable throughout theSecretariat departments, duty stations and fieldmissions, as follows: short-term appointment upto a maximum of six months; fixed-term appoint-ment for a maximum period of five years; andcontinuing appointments which would be grantedto staff members who have served on fixed-termfor five years. With a greater focus on the needsof the Organization, continuing appointmentswould replace permanent appointments.

• The report of the Secretary-General on improv-ing gender distribution in the Secretariat(A/59/263/Add.2) of 21 September 2004, to be read in conjunction with the report of theSecretary-General on human resources manage-ment reform (A/59/263 of 13 August 2004),identifies a number of factors affecting progresstowards the goal of 50/50 gender distribution inthe Secretariat and presents proposed actions tocontribute to its attainment;

• The report of the Advisory Committee onAdministrative and Budgetary Questions(ACABQ) on human resources managementof 20 October 2004 (A/59/446) reviews a number

of human resources management reports and pro-vides observations and recommendations on vari-ous topics.

Recommendation on improving gender distribution:

“The Advisory Committee encourages theSecretary-General to continue his efforts towardsachieving gender parity, including at the Under-Secretary-General and Assistant Secretary-Generallevels. Care must be taken, however, to ensure thatsuch efforts do not unduly affect the timely fillingof vacancies and are in conformity with Article101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the UnitedNations”.

• The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)issued its report The State of World Population2004 on 15 September 2004. The report statesthat countries have made impressive progress incarrying out a bold action plan that links povertyalleviation to women’s rights and reproductivehealth. Since 1994 most Governments have inte-grated population concerns into their develop-ment strategies and almost all of the 151 develop-ing countries surveyed have adopted laws or othermeasures to protect the rights of girls and women.Some 131 have changed national policies, laws orinstitutions to recognize reproductive rights andhave acted to integrate reproductive health serv-ices into primary health care, improve facilitiesand training, adopt national strategies onHIV/AIDS and address the reproductive healthand rights of adolescents. New partnerships havedeveloped between governments and a broadrange of civil society organizations to meet repro-ductive health needs. Also, reinvigorated attentionis being paid to harmful traditional practices,gender-based violence, post-abortion care andwomen’s reproductive health needs among popu-lations affected by armed conflict or natural dis-aster. Notwithstanding the above, progress hasbeen uneven and enormous challenges remain:glaring gaps between rich and poor in the avail-ability and quality of health care persist through-out the world (http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=500&Language=1).

• The Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS(UNAIDS) 2004 Report on the Global AIDSEpidemic was issued on 6 July 2004. It stated that

15


despite an increase in funding to fight HIV/AIDS,last year’s infection rate was the highest ever.Radical and innovative approaches must bedevised to reverse the course of the disease.Currently, at least half of those infected worldwideare women. In addition, women are affected bybeing the ones burdened with taking care of thesick and are most likely to have to sacrifice jobsand schooling, a situation which the report high-lights by including gender sections in each chapter(http://www.unaids.org/EN/other/functionalities/Search.asp).

WORK-LIFE . . .

• The Staff Counsellor’s Office (SCO), Office ofHuman Resources Management (OHRM), UnitedNations, New York, has developed a SpouseSupport Programme to assist spouses of newstaff members to better integrate with the missionof the UN, including advice and assistance tonewcomers to facilitate the adjustment of staffmembers and their spouses/partners to their newenvironment in New York; a spouses/partners sup-port network; and guidance to facilitate searchesfor job opportunities and career development. Inaddition, consultation and referral on a variety ofissues is also given. For further information,please contact the SCO at 212-963-2530; fax 212-963-7044.

WOMEN’S HEALTH

• According to a study by the Alan GuttmacherInstitute (December 2004), women in the UnitedStates had to spend $1.4 billion more of their ownmoney on self-protection, because only 15 percent of insurance companies in the country coveroral contraceptives and four other leading methodsof birth control. In contrast, more than half ofinsurance companies in the United States coverViagra. In addition, almost one in six women donot have health insurance (www.agi-usa.org/).

• The World Health Organization (WHO)launched general principles Towards Age-FriendlyPrimary Health Care on 6 September 2004 to helptackle the public health implications of ageing. As

more than one billion people will be over 60 yearsold by 2025 and as populations age the burden ofchronic diseases will increase, the principles willserve as a tool for awareness-raising among olderpeople and their health-care practioners. This proj-ect is expected to conclude with the establishmentof minimum standards to determine the age-friendliness of Primary Health Care (PHC) centres(www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2004/pr60/en/print.html).

NEWS FLASH…

• It is said that in societies where the status ofwomen is so low that women are routinely culledfrom the population, even before birth. Theprospects of finding wives for tens of millions ofyoung men has become a major problem. Thepaucity of women also diminished the prospectsfor peace and democracy (Bare Branches: TheSecurity Implications of Asia’s Surplus MalePopulation by V. M. Hudson and A. M. Den Boer).

• In a region where restrictive and conservative atti-tudes towards a women’s role in society often pre-vail, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is provid-ing business opportunities for a new type ofwomen entrepreneurs. Women said that thingshave changed a great deal in Dubai over the past10 years and women have become much morevisible in the workplace and are now focusing ongood business practices as opposed to genderissues. The many opportunities for business-women in the UAE are not matched elsewhere inthe region. In Saudi Arabia, women are barredfrom working in most sectors of the economy(BBC, 31 August 04).

RECOMMENDED READING

• Faces: Women as Partners in Peace and Security,brochure prepared by the Office of the SpecialAdviser on Gender Issues and Advancement ofWomen (OSAGI) on the occasion of the fourthanniversary of Security Council resolution 1325,published by UN DPI. Can be requested by writ-ing to [email protected].

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• Gender, Conflict, and Development, by TsjeardBouta, Georg Frerks and Ian Bannon, publishedon 26 October 2004, was written to fill the gapbetween the World Bank’s work on gender main-streaming and its agenda in conflict and develop-ment. It highlights the gender dimensions of con-flict, organized around major relevant themes suchas female combatants, sexual violence, formal andinformal peace processes, the legal framework andthe rehabilitation of social services (www.worldbank.org/publications and http://peace.sandiego.edu/1325Conf/Gender_Conflict and Develop.pdf).

WEB SITES

www.womenworldleaders.org: The Council of WomenWorld Leaders web site provides access to informationon Council members and events. It serves as a hub tolink women prime ministers, presidents and ministersworldwide with one another through private pages onthe site while enhancing the visibility of women wholead their countries. It also creates a resource forresearch on women’s global leadership.

www.marwopnet.org/news_en.htm: The Mano RiverWomen’s Peace Network has launched its new onlinejournal “Voices of Peace”.

www.prudential.com/referencelibrary: Complimentaryresource to locate articles and reports on a variety ofglobal mobility topics.

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You can read all of network online at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/fp.htm

You can find a monthly list of senior vacancyannouncements (P-5 and above) at

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/

WHAT IS A GLASS CEILING? This phrase was coined in 1984 to mean

an invisible barrier to women being promoted beyond middle management.

In the Beijing Declaration, Member States expressedtheir conviction that:

13. Women’s empowerment and their full participationon the basis of equality in all spheres of society,including participation in the decision-makingprocess and access to power, are fundamental for theachievement of equality, development and peace.

Under the critical area of concern G,“Women in power and decision-making”, the Beijing Platform for Action called for actions to be taken by the United Nations:

193. (a) Implement existing and adopt new employmentpolicies and measures in order to achieve overallgender equality, particularly at the Professionallevel and above, by the year 2000, with due regardto the importance of recruiting staff on as wide ageographical basis as possible, in conformity withArticle 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of theUnited Nations;(b) Develop mechanisms to nominate women can-didates for appointment to senior posts in theUnited Nations, the specialized agencies and otherorganizations and bodies of the United Nations sys-tem;(c) Continue to collect and disseminate quantitativeand qualitative data on women and men in deci-sion-making and analyse their differential impacton decision-making and monitor progress towardsachieving the Secretary-General’s target of havingwomen hold 50 per cent of managerial and deci-sion-making positions by the year 2000.

The Platform also called on Governments to takeaction, namely to:

190. (j) Aim at gender balance in the lists of nationalcandidates nominated for election or appointmentto United Nations bodies, specialized agencies andother autonomous organizations of the UnitedNations system, particularly for posts at the seniorlevel.

Five years later, the outcome document of the specialsession of the General Assembly reiterated actions to be taken by the United Nations system andinternational and regional organizations as appropriate:

86. (b) Ensure and support the full participation ofwomen at all levels of decision-making and imple-mentation in development activities and peaceprocesses, including conflict prevention and reso-lution, post-conflict reconstruction, peacemaking,peacekeeping and peace-building, and, in thisregard, support the involvement of women’s organ-izations, community-based organizations and non-governmental organizations; (c) Encourage the involvement of women in decision-making at all levels and achieve genderbalance in the appointment of women and men,with full respect for the principle of equitable geo-graphical distribution, including as special envoysand special representatives and in pursuing goodoffices on behalf of the Secretary-General, interalia, in matters relating to peacekeeping, peace-building and in operational activities, including asresident coordinators.

88. Encourage the implementation of measuresdesigned to achieve the goal of 50/50 gender bal-ance in all posts, including at all the Professionallevel and above, in particular at the higher levels intheir secretariats, including in peacekeeping mis-sions, peace negotiations and in all activities, andreport thereon, as appropriate, and enhance man-agement accountability mechanisms.

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Women in decision-making and gender balance—seen from the Beijing Platform for Action (1995) and the outcome document

of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (2000)

At times, it is useful to look back at mandates on gender balance issues in the United Nations system as provided bythe Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995 and the Beijing +5 outcome document in 2000.

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The United Nations recruits qualified individuals inthe following occupational groups:

* Administration * Economics* Electronic data processing * Finance* Language and related work * Library* Legal and related work * Public information* Social development * Statistics

For junior Professionals (P1/P2), recruitment in theUN Secretariat only takes place through national com-petitive examinations; for language and related work,recruitment takes place through language examinations.For information on national and competitive exami-nations, please visit the following web site: http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/examin/exam.htm

For middle- and higher-level Professional posts,recruitment takes place through a competitive system of ap-plications (described below). The Secretary-General is com-mitted to the achievement of gender balance at all levels.

In addition to United Nations Headquarters in NewYork, the UN Secretariat has offices around the world,including: Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Nairobi,Santiago and Vienna. The International Criminal Tribu-nals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda are locatedat The Hague, Netherlands, and in Arusha, Tanzania,respectively.

UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIATTo review the listings of available posts, please visit the

United Nations web site at UN Human Resources “Galaxy” e-Staffing System at:https://myun.un.org/galaxy/release3/login/login.aspx

The system provides instructions on application proce-dures. Please follow them.

Online applications are strongly encouraged to enablethe UN to place your resume into a permanent database.It is most important that you observe the deadlines forapplications.

Should you not have access to Internet facilities, you canalso contact the Staffing Support Section, OperationalServices Division, United Nations, Office of HumanResources Management, Room S-2475, New York, NY10017, USA, for further information.

The site is also accessible through UN Intranet for staffmembers. For further information, go to the UN IntranetQuicklinks/staff selection. For frequently asked questions, andanswers, click on FAQ.

For general inquiries or technical support on applyingonline, please e-mail [email protected]

PEACEKEEPING MISSIONSPosts in UN peacekeeping missions are also listed on the

“Galaxy” system. Online applications are encouraged.Should you not have access to Internet facilities, you mayapply by sending your detailed resume to DPKO, PersonnelManagement and Support Service, Human ResourcesPlanning and Development Section, One UN Plaza, DC1-0980, United Nations, P.O. Box 20, New York, NY 10017,USA. Listings of vacancy announcements and forms areavailable at UN offices worldwide. In general, positions areoffered in the following fields: civil engineering, electionmonitoring, electronic data processing, civil and judicialadministration, human rights, humanitarian assistance, gen-der, legal affairs, logistics, political affairs, procurement andpublic information.

UN COMMON SYSTEMTo find out more information on vacancies in the UN

common system, please visit the following web sites forinstructions on how to apply:

* www.un.org/womenwatch/OSAGI/* www.undp.org * www.unicef.org* www.unfpa.org * www.who.org* www.fao.org * www.wfp.org* www.ilo.org * www.unesco.org

For more information on the status of women in the Secretariat, please e-mail [email protected]

United Nations, Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Womenasdf

How to get a job at the United Nations

Eligible women are urged to apply

Dear Readers . . . If there is any manager—female or male—that you would like to recognizeas somebody who shares our commitment to improving the status of women in the Secretariat, letus know. We will highlight her/his work in our next issue. If you want to send us your commentsabout network, an article that you wrote etc., we would be delighted to receive it. The more interac-tion with our readers, the better!!!

You can read all of network online at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/fp.htm

To receive hard copies of network please send an e-mailrequest to network-newsletter@ un.org

network—The UN Women’s NewsletterEditor-in-Chief: Aparna Mehrotra, Focal Point for Women, OSAGI, DESAProduction: Rebeca Dain, OSAGI/DESA, with the cooperation of Aimee LaPointe Terosky, Intern Design and Layout: Graphic Design Unit, Outreach Division, DPIPrinted by the United Nations Publishing Section, New YorkFocal Point for Women in the SecretariatUnited Nations, Two UN Plaza, DC2-1290, New York, NY 10017Telephone: (1) (212) 963-6828; Fax (1) (212) 963-9545 E-mail: [email protected] 21526—March 2005—2M

letter from the focal point for women - welcome to the ... · based in the lack of respect for...

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