(UN-Women) Executive Board

 June 25, 2013

Conference Room 4, North Lawn Building

Speakers: H.E. Normans Penke, President of the Executive Board of UN-Women; Ms. Lakshima Puri, Acting Head of UN-Women; Jean-Luc Bories, Secretary of the Executive Board of UN-Women; Distinguished Minister of Sudan; Representatives from Ireland, Timore-Leste, Turkey, Brazil, Ethiopia, Maldives, Korea, China.

Attendees: Alyssa Strasser, Candice Tang, Greg Swistel, Janice H. W. Wong, Norah L. Crossnohere

Written by Norah L. Crossnohere

Ms. Lakshimi Puri, Acting Head of UN-Women

Since its official establishment in 2011, UN-Women has made strides to promote the connection between gender equality and sustainable development that was initially recognized at the Rio Conference over twenty years ago. Today, the female equality movement celebrates both successes and shortcomings.

In their attempts to combat violence aimed against women as well as increase female leadership and peace and security for women, UN-Women has learned that having agents on the ground is critical to changing environments. Through the placement of UN peacekeepers as well as though through collaborations with civil society and other UN agencies, UN-Women has built a large framework of partners equally interested in fostering a culture of female equality.

In their newly published 2014-2017 development plan, UN-Women stress the importance of turning political commitments into law. Additionally, UN-Women has updated their strategic plan to improve organizational efficiency and the organizations role as a “knowledge hub,” in the words of Acting Head of UN-Women Ms. Lakshimi Puri.

Every presenting state lauded UN-Women’s individualized approaches to tackling inequality across a variety of regions. Some countries, such as Ireland and the Maldives, noted the importance of implementing an innovative budget, such as placing a greater emphasis on the role of entrepreneurship or small loans, as the organization moves forward.