United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNWOMEN) | Page 6 | Land Portal

In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

In doing so, UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system, which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:

  • Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
  • International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
  • Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
  • United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

The main roles of UN Women are:

  • To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.
  • To help Member States to implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
  • To hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNWOMEN) Resources

Displaying 26 - 28 of 28
Library Resource
International Conventions or Treaties
January, 1995
Global

The  Beijing Platform for Action, an agenda for women's empowerment, spelled out a set of objectives and actions to be taken by governments, the international community, non-governmental organisations and the private sector to overcome obstacles to women's equality. Amongt the critical areas of concern relevant to women's land rights mentioned in the document are the following:

Library Resource
International Conventions or Treaties
January, 1979
Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, Canada, United States of America, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, China, Japan, Mongolia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, Croatia, Greece, Italy, North Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa, Tonga

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) - currently ratified by 187 countries - is the only human rights treaty that deals specifically with rural women (Art. 14). Adopted in 1979 by the United Nations Generally Assembly, entered into force in 1981. The Convention defines discrimination against women as follows:

Project
Geographical focus: 

Women’s equal access to, use of and control over land and other productive resources are essential to ensuring gender equality and an adequate standard of living. Throughout the world, gender inequality when it comes to land and other productive resources is related to women’s poverty and exclusion. Removing inequalities requires changes in policies and more effective implementation. This project aims to contribute to these changes.

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