Global Governance
WEDO works to ensure global governance is transparent, accountable and effective.
Since its founding, WEDO has believed in the potential of, and indeed the necessity for, good global governance. The United Nations has played – and still must play – a strong role in facilitating governments’ agreements and holding them accountable to their commitments. As a result of decades of multi-level, multi-stakeholder action, global legal frameworks for the promotion of human rights, gender equality and environmental sustainability exist. These frameworks provide tools for officials, practitioners and activists to draft and implement sustainable national-level policies, programs and practices. Focused on the interlinkages and interdependence of its priority issues, WEDO works to uphold existing legal frameworks and support governments, civil society partners and UN agencies alike in turning words into action.
Civil society access to and participation in global decision-making fora is a critical part of good global governance. From UN processes at headquarters, to meaningful engagement and partnership with country offices, WEDO supports information-sharing between and engagement of non-governmental voices. Visit the “Civil Society Participation” page for more on this work.
Project in focus: Since 2007, WEDO has been working with the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) and a global network of diverse women’s organizations to hold the UN accountable to its commitment to gender equality and to ensure its architecture reflects that. The GEAR Campaign was founded to mobilize support for the creation of a new, more powerful and fully funded women’s entity under the UN system; in 2010, the GEAR partners celebrated the Resolution to found UN Women and, a few months later, the appointment of Michelle Bachelet as its Under-Secretary-General. Today, WEDO and the GEAR partners continue to support the effective operationalization of UN Women, at headquarters, regional- and country-level.
“We are proud of everybody who has been [part of] the creation of the new gender architecture for the UN. What comes next will equally depend on our continued commitment and women’s involvement in all processes, at all levels. I want to emphasize “women”– not because I think they need to be overburdened, solely responsible or have special rights – but because the next phase for what’s now called ‘UN Women’ is all about their life, their needs, their roles and their interaction with the developments in every country of the world.” – Monique Essed Fernandes, WEDO Board Chair, 2010 WEDO Newsletter
The Latest Global Governance News
Environmental Sustainability in the Post-2015 Development Agenda
[ March 18, 2013 6:00 pm to March 19, 2013 6:00 pm. ]
COSTA RICA (March 18, 2013)–This week, WEDO Program Coordinator Eleanor Blomstrom is attending a consultation in Costa Rica around environmental sustainability in the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Co-hosted by the Governments of France and Costa Rica, the Leadership Meeting is a milestone event for the Thematic Consultation on Environmental Sustainability, as it will bring together leading and emerging thinkers from around the world who can bring different perspectives and expertise to start generating consensus around …
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Women’s Rights Activists Welcome UN Agreements on Ending Violence Against Women
NEW YORK (March 15, 2013)– FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Today, the UN Member States resoundingly committed to ending violence against women and girls, including strong agreements on promoting gender equality, women’s empowerment, and ensuring reproductive rights and access to sexual and reproductive health services.
The Agreed Conclusions of the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women represent another important step forward, building on the global momentum of the past twenty years, which has …
CSW57- Women’s Organizations DEMAND States Commitment to Advance Women’s Human Rights
STATEMENT OF FEMINIST AND WOMEN’S ORGANISATIONS ON THE VERY ALARMING TRENDS IN THE NEGOTIATIONS OF OUTCOME DOCUMENT OF THE 57TH SESSION OF THE UN COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
DOWNLOAD STATEMENT HERE.
We, the undersigned organisations and individuals across the globe, are again concerned that the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is wavering in its commitment to advance women’s human rights as demonstrated in the constant negotiation of the …
Operationalizing a Gender-sensitive Approach in the Green Climate Fund
NEW YORK (March 12, 2013)– The board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) meets this week, March 13-15, 2013, to discuss key issues pertinent for the operationalization of the GCF. One of the main agenda items for this session is the business model framework, which includes discussions on the structure and organization of the fund, the private sector facility related matters, access modalities and the results management framework. Also important will be the discussion of …
Women at CSW57 Confronting Unsustainable Development
NEW YORK (March 8, 2013)- Feminists Confronting Unsustainable Development’ during the 57th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, CSW57, talk about the experiences of women and the struggle and resistance strategies of their communities against unsustainable economic activities.
Women from Guatemala, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Japan and Fiji, came together at the side-event on ‘Violence – Ecologies – Livelihoods. Feminists Confronting Unsustainable Development’ during the 57th session of the UN Commission on the Status …
