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The Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women

Gender Mainstreaming
Gender Mainstreaming is a globally accepted strategy for promoting gender equality. Mainstreaming involves ensuring that gender perspectives and attention to the goal of gender equality are central to all activities.
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Focal Point for Women

The Focal Point was mandated to monitor the status of women in the United Nation's Secretariat, and report on progress to the Secretary General. Learn more >>

Secretary-General's Report: Improvement of the Status of Women in the United Nations System (A/63/364)
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IANWGE
The Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) is a network of gender focal points in UN entities. The Network is chaired by the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. IANWGE monitors and oversees the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the programmatic, normative and operational work of the UN system.
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Women, Peace and Security

The adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security marked an important step toward increasing the participation of women and bringing gender perspectives to the centre of all United Nations peace-making, peacekeeping, peace-building and reconstruction efforts. Learn more >>

2008 Report of the Secretary-General on women and peace and security (S/2008/622)
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2008 Statement by the President of the Security Council (S/PRST/2008/39)
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Quick Links
  Network
The UN women's newsletter which serves as a forum for dissemination and exchange of information on gender issues. It provides regular updates on gender statistics, recent resolutions, administrative instructions, and other policies and issues concerning gender. The latest issue is available online, please click here.

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In our efforts to disseminate UN vacancy announcements to reach as many senior qualified professional women as possible, please find enclosed the latest list of vacancies at the senior levels. Click here.

 

What's New
New!Statement by Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at the "International Conference and Expert Meeting on the global financial crisis - Implications for women" - Haifa, Israel, 8-12 November 2009
New!Statement by Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at the "Fourth Session of the Committee on Women" - Beirut, Lebanon, 21-23 October 2009
Introductory statement by Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at the "Sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly, Third Committee " - NY, 12 October 2009
Statement by Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at the "Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security" - NY, 5 October 2009
Statement by Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at the "G8 International Conference on Violence against Women" - Rome, 9 September 2009
Statement by Rachel Mayanja Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at the "Regional Conference on the Implementation of the National Action Plans on resolution 1325 (2000) in the Great Lakes Region" - Bujumbura, 13–14 August 2009
Statement by Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, at the "ECOSOC Substantive Session of 2009" - Geneva, 28 July 2009
Statement by Rachel Mayanja, Assistant-Secretary-General, UN-DESA, at the "International Conference: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security" - Iceland, 19-20 June 2009
Opening remarks by Rachael Mayanja, Assistant-Secretary-General, UN-DESA, at the "UN Staff College Managers Learning Forum" - Turin, 3-5 June 2009
Introduction to the Session by Rachael Mayanja, Assistant-Secretary-General, UN-DESA, at the "17th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development" - New York, 12 May 2009
Statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja Assistant Secretary-General Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, on "Equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men in the context of caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS" - New York, 3 March 2009
Concluding remarks by Ms. Rachel Mayanja Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, at the eigth session of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) - New York, 26 February 2009
Opening remarks by Ms. Rachel Mayanja Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, at the eigth session of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) - New York, 24-26 February 2009
Statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja Assistant Secretary-General Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at the Second NAM Ministerial Conference on the Advancement of Women - Guatemala City, 21-24 January 2009
"15 Years of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its Causes and Consequences [1994-2009]"
A high level event with representatives from the United Nations, Member States and Civil Society - UN Headquarters, New York, USA, 25 November 2008
>> Download flyer
Statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, at the Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security - New York, 29 October 2008
Panel Discussion on Intersecting Human Rights Crises: Organ Transplantation and Organ Trafficking, organised by the IHEU-Appignani Center for Bioethics in NYC, co-sponsored by the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women (OSAGI), and The Council of Europe - New York, 11 December, 2007
>> View flyer
Statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, at the Security Council Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security - New York, 23 October 2007
Introductory statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, at the 62nd session of the General Assembly - 15 October 2007
Statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, at the 10th session of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean - Quito, Ecuador, 6 August 2007
International Women's Day
International Women's Day >>>
Statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, at the Preparatory Meeting of Commonwealth Heads of National Women’s Machineries to plan the 8th Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Meeting “Financing Gender Equality for Development and Democracy” - New York, 25 February 2007
Closing remarks by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Chairperson, Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, at the sixth session of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) - New York, 22 February 2007
Opening remarks by Ms Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women and Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, at the sixth session of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) - New York, 20-22 February 2007
Statement by Ms Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, at The DPKO Strategy Workshop with Women’s Constituencies from Troop and Police Contributing Countries - Pretoria, South Africa, 7-9 February 2007
Gender, Water And Sanitation: Case Studies On Best Practices
The 15 case studies presented in this handbook depict best practices in securing sustainable safe drinking water and sanitation for communities by engaging both men and women as critical stakeholders. The case
studies are drawn from 14 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
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Statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at the launching of the Secretary-General’s study on all forms of violence against women- 9 October 2006, New York
Introductory statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja Assistant Secretary-General, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at the sixty-first session of the General Assembly - 9 October 2006, New York
Statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at the ECOSOC Substantive Session of 2006 on Agenda Item 7(e): Mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes in the United Nations system and Agenda Item 14 (a): Advancement of Women - 25 July 2006, Geneva
Statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja Assistant Secretary-General Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, at the Policy Dialogue with Troop and Police Contributing Countries to Review Strategies for Enhancing Gender Balance among Uniformed Personnel in Peacekeeping Missions New York, 28 March 2006
Remarks by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at The joint panel meeting organized by Femmes Africa Solidarite and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority On "Equal Participation of women and men in decision making processes at all levels" 3 March 2006
Feature Address by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at the Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers meeting "Opportunities and threats to the international gender equality agenda presented by current UN Reforms and UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security" New York, 26 February 2006
Opening remarks by Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, Chairperson, Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality at the fifth session of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) New York, 22-24 February 2006
Closing comments by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issue and Advancement of Women, at the Meeting of the Advisory Committee for the Secretary-General’s in-depth study on violence against women Conference room 8, UN Headquarters, 16-17 February 2006

Statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, at the High-level consultation "Promoting the Gender Equality MDG: The Implementation Challenge" World Bank, Washington, D.C., 16 February 2006


Statement by Ms. Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women at NGO CSW Interactive Roundtable Discussion On "Equal Participation of Women and Men in Decision-Making Process at all Levels" New York, 14 February 2006


Recent appointments / elections of women to senior positions

Radhika Coomaraswamy of Sri Lanka was appointed the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict on 7 February 2006.
Ms. Coomaraswamy is also a former Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
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Rosalyn Higgins of the United Kingdom was elected President of the International Court of Justice on 6 February 2006. Judge Higgins is the first ever woman President and has been a member of the Court since 1995. She has also served as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
more >>>

The Status of Women in the UN Secretariat (as of 30 June 2005) >> read more
Cover  Women & Elections Guide to promoting the participation of women in elections.
» read more...


Letter by the Women Ministers for Foreign Affairs (19-9-2005)

..Last week, our Heads of States or Governments agreed on how to strengthen the United Nations to the benefit of all people – women and men, girls and boys.
» read more ...


12-8-2004: Secretary-General appoints Rachel N. Mayanja of Uganda as Special Adviser on Gender Issues, Advancement of Women
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Press Release: "Africa cannot develop unless women exercise real power", says Secretary-General in message to Addis Ababa session
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Women as peacemakers: from victims to re-builders of society
» read more ...
To shine a spotlight on some of the important international issues and developments that often do not get sufficient media attention, the United Nations Department of Public Information presents a new initiative - "Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About."
Former Secretary-General of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, China) elected President of PanAfrican Parliament
On 18 March 2004, Ms. Gertrude Mongella was elected president of Africa's first pan-continental parliament.
ECE/OSAGI Regional Symposium
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI) organized a regional symposium on gender mainstreaming in economic policies from 28 to 30 January 2004 in Geneva, Switzerland.


What's New
"The Situation Of Afghan Women"
"Enhancing Women's Full Participation in Electoral Processes in Post-Conflict Countries"

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