Presenter: NUTH Sotheavy, D2 Student, Nagoya University
22 November 2013
Purposes:
◦ To provide an introduction and context to the UN Gender Mainstreaming Strategy.
◦ To point out some constraints in the process of
mainstreaming a gender perspective within the UN system.
Scope: Within the UN Framework
What is “women’s rights”?
◦ Derives from Human Rights = Men’s Rights
◦ Human Rights => Women’s Human Rights / Women’s
Rights (a result of global women’s movement in the 80s & 90s)
What is “gender mainstreaming”?
◦ “… the process of assessing the implications for women & men of any planned action including legislation, policies & programs, in all areas & at all levels. It is a strategy for
making women’s as well as men’s concerns & experiences an integral dimension of the design in all political,
economic, & societal spheres so that women & men benefit equally & inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.” extracted from 1997 ECOSOC Agreed Conclusion.
Charter of the United Nations (1945)
Universal Declaration on Human Rights (1948)
ILO, Convention on Equal Remuneration (1951)
Convention on the Political Rights of Women (1952)
Convention on the Nationality of Married Women (1957)
Convention on the Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages
(1962)
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979)
The Charter affirms the equal rights of men & women and declares that the work of the
Organization must be conducted without
distinction to race, sex, language or religion.
However, the Charter’s words are not self- enforcing.
Half a century later, women’s status quo still remains on the side-track even in the UN
itself.
Gender Mainstreaming is imposed in order to achieve gender equality.
Eleanor Roosevelt was the one who brought up the so-called “woman question” and committed to the equality between both sexes during the 1st session of the UNGA.
Though no state had expressed the opposing voice against this principle and commitment, not all were convinced that this political commitment was
sincere.
Gender Turn began in the 1990s when the language of gender is being introduced.
Other than the Commission on the Status of Women & the CEDAW Committee, the number of female serving in the treaty body
machineries is very small.
CSW & CEDAW have been criticized for
marginalizing women & for creating a ghetto of women’s issues within the UN.
There is a distinction between women’s issues and real politics.
Gender mainstreaming is a process-oriented strategy.
It was introduced by the 1997 ECOSOC Agreed Conclusions.
However, this document did not focus any details on the concept of gender or how gender analyses should be carried out.
It just outlines principles & recommendations for gender mainstreaming.
UN Women was created in 2010.
It was a unification of various organs of the UN that have been working on improving women’s status.
With this reform, the budget has
tremendously increased, so have the decision making power.
UN Women serves as a knowledge banks for gender mainstreaming.
They try to stimulate all entities within UN to take gender perspectives into account.
Conceptual confusion of gender
◦ what it means, how it can be employed, & how
mainstreaming can be implemented in different contexts.
No adequate conceptualization of what is meant by gender can lead to neutralization & re-
marginalization of equality politics.
A failure to provide clear definition of gender mainstreaming.
Uncertainties about what it is supposed to do and how it is supposed to be done.
Despite these efforts, gender issues remain institutionally and politically sidelined;
instead of being mainstreamed.
Under-funded & marginalized, gender
mainstreaming may prove to be politically ineffective as a means to achieve equality between women & men.
A lot has to be done to improve gender
mainstreaming strategy so that the ultimate goal in gender equality can be achieved.
Thank you for your attention!
Any questions or comments are welcome.
