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WomenWatch is the central gateway to information and resources
on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women
throughout the United Nations system, including the United Nations
Secretariat, regional commissions, funds, programmes, specialized
agencies and academic and research institutions. It is a joint
United Nations project created in March 1997 to provide Internet
space for global gender equality issues and to support implementation
of the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action. Since 1997 the intergovernmental
mandate has expanded, for example through the outcome document
of the Twenty-third special session of the General Assembly
in June 2000 and Security Council resolution 1325 of October
2000. The website now also provides information on the outcomes
of, as well as efforts to incorporate gender perspectives into
follow-up to global conferences.
WomenWatch is an inter-agency website and a good practice example
of United Nations coordination and collaboration. It was founded
by the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and United Nations International
Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women
(INSTRAW). The inter-agency website is managed by a taskforce
of the Inter-Agency Network, led by the Division for the Advancement
of Women. A Policy Advisory Group (currently comprised of the
Gender Focal Points in DPI, FAO, ILO, ITU, Regional Commissions
-ECA, ECE, ECLAC, ESCAP, ESCWA, and Regional Commissions New
York Office, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNIFEM, INSTRAW and
DAW) meets once a year. A working level Management Group collaborates
with the Web-Manager on regular maintenance and improvement of
the website. Funding for the website is provided by members of
IANWGE as well as external donors.
An immediate objective of the WomenWatch project is to consolidate
the involvement of all UN entities in the management and maintenance
of the website. WomenWatch gives direct access to all websites
of members of the interagency network. It should be noted that
some UN entities have large websites and some have more than one
website. Others have limited webpages or individual documents
posted.
Recent developments include the introduction of a directory of
resources to provide access to specific information on selected
topics - such as the Critical Areas of Concern from the Platform
for Action or other cross-cutting or topical issues, including
gender mainstreaming, etc.
The directory, which will be further expanded, provides links
to webpages of UN entities and/or to individual documents. A further
objective is to make the website as multi-lingual as possible,
i.e. available in all UN official working languages, English,
French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese and Russian.
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