Head of UN Women Michelle Bachelet discusses social justice.
At the conclusion of a listening exercise that lasted months, the newly created UN Women released their strategic plan in June. Last week came the release of their flagship report, Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice, which lends even more validity as to why the formation of UN Women is a vital step forward, even if the organization remains underfunded.
Creating Macro Level Change
Months ago, on Columbia University’s campus where, former Chilean President Michele Bachelet was first being introduced to the world as the head of UN Women during the UN’s high plenary sessions, I marveled at how small the audience was compared to an event that previous Sunday where Bachelet spoke at a conference focused on women’s rights at the New School. The students of Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) were brimming over with desire to hear Bachelet speak, but they had to prove their credentials before being allowed entry (as if every up-and-coming humanitarian already knew her or his role in women’s rights).
Bachelet’s point that evening was the best way to manage expectation is to share the truth. Recently, the Guardian reported that Bachelet said the UN Women flagship report, “reminds us of the remarkable advances that have been made over the past century in the quest for gender equality and women's empowerment. However it also underscores the fact that despite widespread guarantees of equality, the reality for many millions of women is that justice remains out of reach…. For millions of women in both rich and poor countries, the search for justice is fraught with difficulty and is often expensive; laws and legal systems frequently discriminate against them."
The report confirms the high-level agency is on task and confronting statistics through a worldwide lens on how to forge the most effective legal outcomes and make them inherent for all women. However, Women’s eNews reported when queried how UN Women is pushing for country accountability, Bachelet did not offer any specifics. "It's not only about meeting with countries," she responded. It's about "encouraging decision-making authority for women. . . We have to work with the judicial system."
This does not create a second of rest for any of us, no matter our place in the world. Not only does the report break down the number of poverty stricken, health challenged, or abused female populations by country, it also reminds how important it is to highlight massive achievements within our most prestigious human rights-focused organizations, but also the every day actions that pave the way for women to forge better, more equitable lives.
