Stephen Lewis deplores that U.N. May Shelve Creation of New Women's Body

Excerpted from Inter Press Service, see full text at: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48337

U.N. May Shelve Creation of New Women's Body

by Thalif Deen, United Nations, Sep 5, 2009 - A coalition of over 300 international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is "outraged" that an impending decision to create a new women's entity at the United Nations is being postponed once again. ( . . . ) The proposal to set up a new gender entity, to be headed by an under-secretary-general, was expected to be approved by the 192-member General Assembly before it concludes its current sessions on Sep. 14. But the longstanding proposal is now expected to be passed onto the next session of the General Assembly beginning Sep.15 through September 2010.

"NGOs are outraged that this would continue to be postponed," (Charlotte) Bunch (executive director of the Centre for Women's Global Leadership at Rutgers University) told IPS. "No further delay is justified when no government has said they are opposed to taking this step." The international coalition is pursuing a global campaign for Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) in the U.N. system ( . . . ) As part of its campaign, the coalition has been calling for the consolidation of four existing women's U.N. entities into a single body ( . . . )

Stephen Lewis, a co-director of AIDS-Free World and one of the strongest advocates of the gender proposal, told IPS ( . . . ) it would be "a terrible slap in the face to the women of the world, a dreadful rejection of the views of the secretary-general, and a deep blow to the credibility of the United Nations." As things now stand, the consensus that had emerged is being sabotaged by a consortium of countries, belligerently disruptive and destructive, led by Cuba, Sudan, Iran and Egypt ( . . . ) "They're using women as a bargaining chip in the effort to exact concessions on governance and finance, the other prongs of the System-Wide Coherence process. They care not one whit for the rights and needs of the women of the world," ( . . . ) Lewis told IPS, "What we have here is a direct challenge to the authority and influence of the secretary-general and the deputy secretary-general (Asha-Rose Migiro)." ( . . . )