Office of the Focal Point for Women in the United Nations

Achievement of gender balance

BACKGROUND

By way of resolution 43/224 of 21 December 1988, the General Assembly endorsed the Secretary-General's decision to deploy, on a full-time basis, a Focal Point for Women in the Secretariat, at the Principal Officer level, in the Office of Human Resources Management. The Focal Point was mandated to monitor the status of women in the United Nation's Secretariat, and through the Special Adviser on Gender, reports on progress to the Secretary General.

This initiative of creating an office for one Focal Point for Women  was in direct response response to calls at three global conferences on women -- Mexico, Copenhagen, and Nairobi -- and the resulting General Assembly resolutions which decreed that the United Nations must provide leadership and an example for Member States by achieving gender equality for women in the Secretariat, in particular, at the decision-making levels (posts D-1 to ASG/USG).

The Focal Point for Women in the Secretariat

Under the guidance of the Special Adviser, the office of the Focal Point, assists the Secretary-General to meet the General Assembly's mandated target of achieving 50/50 gender distribution at all post levels. The Focal Point  assists, in collaboration with OHRM, in the monitoring and implementation of the Human Resource Action Plans  that establish gender goals for departments and offices. The Focal Point is also committed to the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat including Policy formulation, grievance redress and advocacy for work/life issues. The main goals of the office of the Focal Point are:

1. Policy Formulation for issues related to the improvement of the Status of Women
2. Intervention in recruitment, promotion and placement processes to ensure that more women are recruited and promoted, in particular at decision-making levels;
3. Development of reports for the General Assembly on the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat;
4. Counseling and guidance to women staff members;
5. Communication, outreach and information dissemination to ensure that the UN and other outside institutions benefit from the lessons learned in addressing gender issues in the work place;
6. Participation in the debates of the Third Committee, the Commission on the Status of Women and any other intergovernmental as required.

The Focal Point for Women in the Secretariat: Ms. Aparna Mehrotra
United Nations, Two United Nations Plaza,
44th St. 12th Floor, NY ,NY 10017
Tel. (212) 963-6828, fax (212) 963-9545 e-mail: mehrotra@un.org

Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
 United Nations, Two United Nations Plaza,
44th St. 12th Floor, NY ,NY 10017
URL: http://www.un.org/osagi