Commitments by the General Assembly to Gender Parity

Gender targets were set by the General Assembly initially in 1986. Subsequently they experienced a series of evolutions over a 20 year period till the Beijing Platform for Action established the goal of 50:50 for the Professional level and above. The evolution of these targets is shown below.

Date Adopted	Resolution	Goal for Representation of Women	Target Date
11 Dec. 1986	41/206	30% posts subject to geographic distribution	1990
21 Dec. 1990	45/239	35% posts subject to geographic distribution, particularly in senior policy-level and decision-making posts	1995
21 Dec. 1990	45/239	25% posts ranked D-1 and above	1995
1 Feb. 1996	50/164	50/50 in managerial and decision-making positions	2000
31 Jan. 1997	51/67	50/50 gender distribution at all levels	2000
6 Feb. 1998	52/96	50/50 reaffirmed for all posts	2000
8 Feb. 2001	55/69	50/50 in senior and policy-making levels	The very near future
19 Feb. 2004	58/144	50/50 for SG appointed special representatives and special envoys	2015
10 Feb. 2005	59/164	50/50 reaffirmed for all posts	The very near future
07 Feb. 2007	61/145	50/50 reaffirmed for all posts	NA
14 Feb. 2008	62/137	50/50 reaffirmed for all posts	NA
4 Feb. 2009	63/159	50/50 reaffirmed for all posts	NA
18 Feb. 2010	64/141	50/50 reaffirmed for all posts	NA

Source: UN Women 10/2010.

The goal of gender balance applies throughout the United Nations system, and in every department, office or regional commission, overall and at each level. It applies not only to posts subject to geographical distribution but to all categories of posts, without regard to the type or duration of the appointment, or the series of Staff Rules under which the appointment is made, or the source of funding.

The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women - UN Women

A/RES/64/289 [ A | C | E | F | R | S ] on System wide Coherence created a new UN entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women. It states:

Strengthening the institutional arrangements for support of gender equality and
the empowerment of women.

53. Further decides that the mandate and functions of the Entity ( UN Women) shall consist of the consolidated mandates and functions of the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, the Division for the Advancement of Women, the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, with the additional role of leading, coordinating and promoting the accountability of the United Nations system in its work on gender equality and the empowerment of women, and that any new mandates shall be subject to approval by intergovernmental process; (Page 9 of A/RES/289)

A/64/588 [ A | C | E | F | R | S ] Comprehensive proposal for the Composite Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

The functions of the entity with regard to the improvement of the status of women are described in the Secretary-General’s Report A/64/588, on which the Resolution A/RES/64/289 relied in creating the new entity. It states:

III. Functions and structure

6. The composite entity will have eight functions, as outlined in the Deputy
Secretary-General’s papers of August 2007 and July 2008. These are the following:

(h) Monitor and report on system-wide compliance with intergovernmental
mandates on gender balance, including at the senior and decision-making levels. (Page 6 of A/64/588)

C. Headquarters-level functions
11. At Headquarters, the composite entity will provide substantive support to
Inter-governmental processes. In addition to other global functions, it will support
regional and country-level activities. For its key Headquarters functions, the
composite entity will:

(e) Monitor and report on United Nations system compliance and efforts
to develop and apply internal United Nations gender equality policies, including
achieving gender balance, eliminating harassment and promoting work-life
balance; (Page 10 of A/64/588)

October 18, 2010