SG report to the 54^th CSW emphasizes GRB for accelerating Implementation of Beijing Commitments

The 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women CSW (1-12 March 2010) brings gender equality advocates from around the world at the UN headquarters in New York. This session marks the 15th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and presents an important venue for reviewing implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA). One of the key concerns on the agenda is the lagging progress in implementation of the gender equality commitments.

Read full article >>

Issue focus: Applying GRB to address women's health needs

Access to quality health care is a basic human right. Yet, there is evidence across the globe that health systems are not meeting the needs of women and girls. Every day, 1600 women die from preventable complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Almost 99% of maternal mortalities occur in the developing world (WHO, 2009). For each death, another 30 to 50 women suffer short or long-term disability due to the same complications (Brown, 2004). While the sexual and reproductive health needs of women are generally well known - and are given considerable attention under CEDAW, the Cairo and Beijing Declaration and the MDGs- women also face other important health challenges including malnutrition and chronic, infectious and non-communicable diseases (i.e. diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc). These challenges are compounded by social and economic factors - such as illiteracy, lack of access to decent employment, housing, water and sanitation- which create staggering health disparities both across and within countries. Additionally, in many countries, spending cuts in the health sector have shifted the burden of health care costs to populations in the form of user fees. This has led to an increase in the time women spend as informal health-care providers at home or in the community especially in the context of the HIV/Aids pandemic and a decrease in the number of women and girls seeking needed health care (OXFAM, 2009).

Read full article >>

GRB a useful approach in formulating gender equitable responses to the HIV/Aids Pandemic

Globally, the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age is HIV/AIDS (WHO, 2009). Girls and women are particularly vulnerable to HIV infection due to a combination of biological and social factors. Gender inequality and discrimination are key drivers of women's increased risk of HIV infection. Worldwide, women represent 50% of all people living with HIV, and over 60% of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa. HIV prevalence among women has been on the rise in other regions - the Caribbean, from 37% in 2001 up to 43% in 2007; Asia, from 19% in 2001 to 35% in (UNAIDS, 2008)². Women are also disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic, including in terms of bearing the brunt of AIDS-related care in households and communities. Women and girls account for between 60-90%³ of all care givers in countries hardest hit by the epidemic and miss out on employment and education opportunities.

Read full article >>

Application of GRB to address Violence against women

Violence has serious health consequences for women, from injuries to unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections and chronic diseases. According to WHO, between 15% and 71% of women around the world have suffered physical or sexual violence committed by an intimate male partner at some point in their lives. Every year, about 5,000 women are murdered by family members in the name of honor. For women and girls 16-44 years old, violence is a major cause of death and disability (WHO 2009). UNFPA's State of the World's Population notes that currently violence kills and harms as many women and girls, between the ages of 15 and 44, as cancer does (UNFPA, 2005).

Read full article >>

Gender equity in health sector budgeting: recommendations for gender responsive aid

Research supported by UNIFEM in 2008 carried out gender budget analysis of the health sector in Cameroon, Ethiopia, India, and Mozambique. The research investigated how health policies, programmes budgets and financing (donor and government) addressed women's health concerns. Below are excerpts of the findings of this analysis.

Read full article >>

Country focus: Mozambique: Applying GRB to respond to women's health needs: Interview with Francelina Romao, Gender Advisor in the Mozambique Ministry of Health

Achieving gender equality is one of the priorities identified by the constitution of the Republic of Mozambique. The country is a signatory to all the major human rights conventions and has ratified CEDAW and the SADC Gender and Development Declaration plus its addendum on eradicating Violence against Women and Children. In 2006, the Mozambican Council of Ministers approved the country's Gender Policy and related implementation strategy. In addition Gender Units and Gender focal points have been established and appointed respectively in all sectors at central, provincial and district levels. The Government has also established an advisory body, the National Council for the Advancement of Women (CNAM) tasked with coordinating the implementation of the gender policy. Mozambique submitted its first CEDAW report in 2007. The Government's commitment to addressing gender inequalities is further evidenced by the increased emphasis on mainstreaming gender in the Government's Five-Year Plan and National Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty (PARPA II 2006-2011) and the adoption of a National Plan for the Advancement of Women 2008-2011.

Read full article >>

Efforts in support of GRB:

Morocco: Building NGOs' Capacity to apply GRB in the Fight against VAW

Addressing VAW is a major concern of the Moroccan government as demonstrated by the introduction of a specific national target under MDG 3 - to reduce violence against women by half by 2015 - and the adoption in 2008 of a five-year national strategy to combat violence against women, under the leadership of the Ministry of Social Development, Family and Solidarity.

Read full article >>

Serbia: Promoting gender equality in the employment sector through the application of GRB tools.

UNIFEM has been supporting the work of the Secretariat for Labor, Employment and Gender Equality (PSLEGE) in the province of Vojvodina, Serbia to promote gender equality in the employment sector by using GRB tools.

Read full article >>

News in brief:

Learning Workshop on Financing for gender equality and women's rights: Methodologies for tracking the money in aid and national budgets, New York City 2-5 November 2009

In November 2009, UNIFEM hosted a Learning Workshop on the theme "Financing for gender equality and women's rights: Methodologies for tracking the money in aid and national budgets". The workshop was convened amid increasing calls for accelerating implementation of commitments towards gender equality and women's rights and for adequate financing of programmes aimed at addressing gender gaps. The majority of participants were practitioners involved in efforts to develop methodologies for assessing and tracking financing for gender equality and women's rights.

Read full article >>

Four regional training workshops were convened in 2009 for UNFPA and UNIFEM staff and partners in Africa, Asia and LAC. The workshops organized respectively by Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) in Tanzania, Analytica International in Morocco, Equidad de Genero in Mexico and the National Institute for Public Policy and Finance (NIPFP) in India, brought together 120 participants (53 UNFPA staff members, 33 UNIFEM staff and 34 partners from government, civil society and academia) from 70 countries including staff representatives of Finance Ministries, Health Ministries, Women Ministries and civil society. While the majority of participants were gender focal points and programme specialists, UNFPA Advisers respectively on HIV/Aids, on Reproductive Health and on Gender Based Violence attended the workshops and the senior management of both organizations represented 27% of the total number of participants.

Read full article >>

The Gender Responsive Budgets initiative led by the Ministry of Finance of Ecuador has been awarded a prize for innovation in addressing gender inequalities by the German International Cooperation Agency (GTZ). The initiative which was selected out of 28 programmes worldwide is the result of a strategic alliance between the Ministry of Finance of Ecuador, UNIFEM and GTZ.

Read full article >>

Publications

• Guide for the formulation of public budgets in the health sector using a gender perspective.
• Violence against Women in Mozambique Issue Paper
• HIV/AIDS and Human Rights: Public budgets for the epidemic in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico
• Investing For Life: Making the Link between Public Spending and the Reduction of Maternal Mortality
• The Response of International Aid Agencies to Violence against Women in Central America: The case of Honduras
• Gender Responsive Budgeting and Women's Reproductive Rights: A Resource Pack
• Gender Responsive Budgeting and Aid Effectiveness Knowledge Briefs

Websites

• Fundar, Centro de Análisis e Investigación
• Transforming the National AIDS Response