On 14 February 2001, Ms. Danuta Hübner, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and Ms. Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) whereby they decided to establish a framework for collaboration and coordination based on the comparative advantages of their two agencies (See pictures).

The areas covered by the MoU include: developing new initiatives aimed at introducing a gender perspective into macroeconomic analyses, policies and practices; improving gender responsiveness of legal and regulatory frameworks in central and eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States building upon the United Nations norms and standards and using the Acquis Communautaire as one entry point; and providing support for the diversification of job and employment options for women in countries with economies in transition such as entrepreneurship, home-based work and other atypical forms of work.

The objectives of this MoU are: to strengthen regional cooperation in gender mainstreaming through the exchange of experiences and best practices and facilitating policy convergence, to develop a framework to analyze and monitor the impact of economic development on women in the ECE region, especially in countries with economies in transition, and promote the incorporation of the findings from such analysis into policy dialogue and decision-making, to raise awareness, encourage and strengthen the capacity of governments, intergovernmental organizations and the private sector to review and revise, as appropriate, their respective policies and practices to address both the challenges and opportunities of the transition and globalization processes on women.

The first project in which ECE and UNIFEM will cooperate is on women’s economic opportunities in central and eastern Europe and CIS. The project aims to improve women’s access to employment opportunities in three countries: Bulgaria, Kazakhstan and Poland within the context of privatization and globalization. Studies will be undertaken in these countries and the results will be discussed during a national policy workshop to be attended by representatives of governments, NGOs, development agencies and other donors as well as participants from neighbouring countries. It is expected that these country level initiatives will subsequently feed into a regional dialogue on women, globalization and sustainable livelihoods.

Cooperation with UNIFEM based on a signed memorandum of understanding is part of the ECE efforts to strengthen interagency cooperation on gender issues in central and eastern Europe and in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Such cooperation will allow to better use resources of agencies which have similar interests and complementarity of expertise. Further information of ECE cooperation with UNIFEM and other UN agencies could be found at the following address: http://www.unece.org/oes/gender/Welcome.html

 

For more information please contact:

Ewa Ruminska-Zimny
Regional Adviser on Gender and Economy
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Palais des Nations, office 344
Ch-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Phone: (+41 22) 917 16 98
Fax:  (+41 22) 917 00 36
E-mail: [email protected]