General Assembly okays creation of UN

3rd Ld-Writethru: General Assembly okays creation of UN body for gender equality, women's empowerment
UNITED NATIONS, July 2 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly unanimously voted on Friday to create a single United Nations body tasked with accelerating progress in achieving gender equality and women's empowerment.

The president of the 192-nation General Assembly, Ali Treki, announced that the Assembly adopted a resolution to approve the establishment of the new UN body, which is known officially as the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
"The General Assembly decides to establish, by the present oil painting resolution, as a composite entity, a United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women," the resolution said. The new UN entity will become operational on Jan. 1, 2011.
"This resolution also seeks to institutionalize our joint efforts to empower women who are one of the world's greatest assets today," Treki said. "I am delighted that this resolution establishes United Nations Women and United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women."
"The United Nations is uniquely placed to take a leading role in advancing the status of women and I have no doubt of the significance of this resolution in advancing this vital area," Treki said. "A strong organizational structure will undoubtedly better serve us in improving our work, particularly in our results on the ground."

"But our work does not stop here," he said. "Excelling in our efforts to provide aid and development, secure global peace, and protect rights of the world's most vulnerable people requires constant reflection and continuous institutional improvement. Today ... is a major step towards that end."
For his part, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, after the adoption of the new resolution, said in addressing the General Assembly, "Today, you have oil painting adopted a landmarking resolution."
"I oil painting am grateful to member states for having taken this major step forward for the world's women and girls," the secretary- general said. "UN Women will significantly boost UN efforts to promote gender equality, expand opportunity, and tackle discrimination around the global."

The new UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, merges and will build on the important work of four previous women-oriented bodies -- the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI), and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).
"I commend the leadership and staff of DAW, INSTRAW, OSAGI and UNIFEM for their commitment to the cause of gender equality; I will count on their support as we enter a new era in the UN's work for women," Ban said. "I have made gender equality and the empowerment of women one of my top priorities -- from working to end the scourge of violence against women, to appointing more women to senior positions, to efforts to reduce maternal mortality rates." NFL jerseys

Meanwhile, Ban said that he will ask UN Deputy Secretary- General Asha-Rose Migiro "to guide the NFL jerseys transitional process" after the formation of the new UN entity.
Earlier Friday, Migiro told a press conference here that the " historic" action taken by the Assembly "will do more than simply consolidate United Nations offices." "It will consolidate United Nations strengths," she said.
Despite major achievements over the years, she said, the world body has come up against serious hurdles, including inadequate funding and fragmentation.
Migiro said UN Women, to be headed by an UN under-secretary- general, "will give women and girls the strong, unified voice they deserve on the world stage," calling today a "positive and exciting moment for all the UN family."
The new body will have two main roles: to support inter- governmental bodies formulate policies, and to assist Member States implement these standards and forge partnerships with civil society.

UN Women will also hold the world accountable for its own gender equality commitments, the deputy secretary-general said.
"The new entity will become relevant and universal when it provides support for all women in developing and developed countries," said Moushira Khattab, Epyptian minister of NFL jerseys state for family and population affairs, requesting the secretary-general to "put in place the framework of accountability."