Wow – it is now one year since we launched the SoroptiVoice Blog
at CSW 55! And now we are back again, reporting live from CSW 56! Thank
you to our team of Soroptimist delegates who will be keeping us up to
date with all the latest news from New York. This update is from SIE Federation Programme Director Ulrike Neubert who reports from the UN Women launch of the 2012 Gender Equality Fund.
On
March 1st UN Women launched its 2012 fund for Gender Equality with a call for
proposals. Dedicated to supporting pioneering national and regional
initiatives that help women determine their own lives and influence others for a
brighter future, the fund is a great opportunity for civil society groups world wide.
At a high-level event at the Commission on the Status of Women in New
York, Michelle Bachelet, Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive
Director, issued a new call for proposals for UN Women’s Fund for Gender Equality
from organisations working to advance economic and political
empowerment in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the
Caribbean, and Europe and Central Asia.
The grants fund
‘Women’s political and economical empowerment’ which aim to increase women’s
political participation and leadership as well as increasing women’s access
to and control over resources and assets.
The
Fund, started in 2009, focuses on high impact results and has so far invested 43 million USD$ in support of 55 grantees in 40 countries. However, this is far below
the envisioned 500 million USD$. Many donor countries (especially the larger ones) have
not yet lived up to their funding commitment.
Several
grantees presented their impressive impact of changing national government
policies to include gender budgeting (Uganda)
and the creation of women’s cooperatives for better product marketing (Liberia).
Soroptimist
International as a global voice for women present in 124 countries could advocate with their Governments
to support the Fund for Gender Equality. Clubs could build relationships and
work closer with UN Women national committees where they exist. I was able to
give our Global Impact Report 2010 to several representative of UN Women who
reacted very positively. It is obvious that our work is closely linked with
the goals and objectives of this agency, promoting female empowerment on an
international and local level. For more information on the fund visit http://www.unwomen.org/fge