Gender
- Wed Apr 09 2008
Source:
DAWN
Statement from Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) on the United Nations appointment of a new Executive Director for UNIFEM.
Statement from Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era
We are dismayed by the way in which the UN has made the appointment of a new Executive Director for UNIFEM. We feel that the selection process has been deeply flawed and its integrity violated.
For a professional UN appointment the most important part is the panel interview – a rigorous process to ensure that the selected candidate is the best possible in terms of competence and experience. For a post like this, strong background and knowledge of development issues as well as management experience are critical. In addition, the panel looks for the person’s leadership qualities including strategic vision and the ability to enthuse and mobilize multiple partners including governments, civil society and other UN agencies.
We understand that the interview panel, which carefully looked at the qualifications of the six short listed candidates, identified one person, Dr. Gita Sen, as outstanding and recommended her for the position. None of the others were ranked as appropriate for this post.
However, because of the UN’s concerns over funding, and significant and open political pressure from the Government of Spain, other names from the shortlist were brought back into consideration. A decision that should have been completed last November was delayed and increasingly politicized in the worst possible way. This is a tragedy for the UN in terms of its ability to draw competent candidates, transparency and fairness, and its credibility with women’s movements and development organizations.
The UNIFEM appointment has attracted great concern among civil society and governments about the seriousness of the Secretary General’s commitment to advance the UN’s work on gender equality and women’s rights. This decision could do serious damage at a time when there is a lot of talk of strengthening the gender architecture of the UN and making sure it delivers for women.
DAWN Steering Committee:
Bene Madunagu (General Coordinator), Girls Power Initiative – Nigeria
Sonia Correa (Focus: Sexual and Reproductive Rights), Brazilian Interdisciplinary AIDS Association, Sexuality Policy Watch – Brazil
Celita Eccher (Latin America), International Council for Adult Education – Uruguay
Gigi Francisco (South East Asia), International Gender and Trade Network-Asia, Women and Gender Institute – Philippines
Afua Hesse (Africa), African Public Health Rights Alliance; Multidisciplinary African Women's Health Network; NETRIGHT – Ghana
Anita Nayar (Focus: Political Ecology and Sustainability), University of Sussex – India/USA
Kumudini Samuel (South Asia), Women and Media Collective – Sri Lanka
Maggie Schmeitz (Caribbean), Stitching Ultimate Purpose – Suriname
Claire Slatter (Past General Coordinator), Pacific Network on Globalisation – Fiji
Viviene Taylor (Focus: Political Restructuring & Social Transformation), Southern African Development Education Programme, University of Cape Town – South Africa
Yvonne Underhill-Sem (Pacific), University of Auckland – Cook Islands/New Zealand
Mariama Williams (Focus: Political Economy of Globalisation-Trade), International Gender and Trade Network, Institute of Law and Economics – Jamaica/USA
Related information
Women, commitments and impotence
At the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women`s annual meeting all the world's governments endorsed an agreement that says they have failed their previous commitments to enforce women's rights, These commitments were agreed in 1995 in a high-level international conference in Beijing, and reaffirmed at every summit since then. And worse, UNIFEM, the U.N. agency specializing in women, has been without a head for months despite the existence of a strong candidate -Indian Economist and activist Dr. Gita Sen- backed by women's organizations and with the recommendation of the selection committee. March 2008, by Roberto Bissio.
Versión en español
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