WORKSHOP ON GENDER MAINSTREAMING CONCLUDES ITS WORK

Press Release
HR/4337

WORKSHOP ON GENDER MAINSTREAMING CONCLUDES ITS WORK

GENEVA, 18 September (UN Information Service) -- A Workshop on Gender Mainstreaming, organized by the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, was held in Geneva from 15 to 17 September to exchange experiences among bilateral and multilateral organizations about implementing gender equality policies.

The Workshop, which was attended by members of the United Nations Inter- agency Group on Women and Gender Equality and the Expert Group on Women in Development of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, recommended a continued professional exchange and flow of information, using among other methods, e-mail and the Internet.

The final statement issued at the conclusion of the Workshop said the two groups agreed to develop partnerships to prioritize future joint activities, including a review of the role and terms of reference of gender focal points in all agencies and organizations; the exchange of information on best practices in gender mainstreaming; and the consideration of further multilateral and bilateral field level collaboration on mainstreaming, involving civil society and partner governments.

The statement acknowledged that further funding would be needed by the United Nations system and donors to support such activities.

Ms. Angela King, the Chairperson and United Nations Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, said that meeting had produced "rich and constructive" exchanges of views which outlined different challenges faced by the various participants. She said that gender mainstreaming was important to development and human rights, and promised that the Division for the Advancement of Women would continue to support Governments and agencies in its implementation.

Lack of funds was an obstacle, but the cooperation between the two groups, which faced similar challenges and modalities, would help to strategically use scarce resources, Ms. King said.

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Ms. Carolyn Hannan-Andersson, Chairperson of the Expert Group on Women in Development of the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD and Senior Policy Adviser of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, said the Workshop was "very successful" and praised the discussion on the challenges facing gender mainstreaming.

Sixty-one men and women participated in the Workshop which was held at the headquarters of the International Labour Organization.

The final statement said that the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1997 defined mainstreaming a gender perspective as the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action including legislation, policies, and programmes, in any area and at all levels. The statement said the Workshop recognized that gender equality was not a goal in itself, but also a means to reduce poverty, promote human rights, and create a democratic system which effectively addressed the needs of both women and men.

There was a need to commit greater human, technical and financial resources to the task of ensuring that a gender equality perspective was fully institutionalized. There was also a need for organizations to assess and monitor the implementation of gender mainstreaming to date, and to establish appropriate accountability mechanisms.

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