July-September 2003
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asdfnetwork The UN Women’s Newsletter, Vol. 7 • No. 3 • July, August and September 2003 From the desk of the Acting Focal Point for Women Dear Colleagues, tion stage of this period of my life. I urge you I completed my brief assignment as Acting all to think about those talents and interests Focal Point for Women in the Office of the that you have not had the chance to fully Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI) at explore and enjoy while you were moving along the end of September, and have learned much the career ladder, and to see how you might during this period from a different perspective engage them in the future. than when I was in the Department of Political My best wishes to you all, and it was a pleas- Affairs. I have taken away from this assignment ure to work with the OSAGI team. a greater appreciation of the difficulties and obstacles faced by women as they try to advance Joan Seymour along the career path in our Organization. The statistics in the Secretary-General’s report on the improvement of the status of women in the United Nations system confirm the feelings Contents of many women that their advancement is Synopsis of the Secretary-General’s proceeding at too slow a pace, and that gender report on the improvement of the status balance in the Organization will require poli- of women in the UN system (A/58/374) . 2 cies that are much more effective. While the Resolution on the improvement of the status of women in the United Nations Secretary-General’s report provides the statis- system (A/C.3/58/L.19) . 3 tics, these cannot portray the individual frustra- The survey for network readers says . 4 tions behind the figures. New proposals/studies Women in the news . 4 by the Department of Management and OSAGI Around the UN . 5 in the coming year will, we hope, open further Election of women to the Main Committees possibilities for women at all levels to advance. of the General Assembly . 5 Interview with the Staff Counsellor, We were very pleased to receive feedback Ms. Ruth Sembajwe, UN Secretariat, NY . 6 from readers of network giving their views on New strides for gender equity in the recent issues and hope that you will continue to European Union—a summary . 7 bring to our attention issues of concern, whether In your interest . policy matters . 7 they are about appointments, promotions, career UNDP Gender Balance in Management development opportunities or work/life issues, to Policy 2003-2006 . 8 enable us to deliver a better product to you. Our Work/life issues . 9 Annual meeting of ORIGIN . 10 team appreciates and thanks our readers for tak- Congratulations to . 10 ing the time to complete the survey.Your com- Farewell to . 10 ments are very helpful. Gender news . 11 In this issue, we have an interview with the In your interest ...reports . 12 Staff Counsellor, and I want to reiterate her Did you know that . 12 remarks on the importance of planning for News flash . 12 retirement. Just as we undertake financial plan- Web sites . 13 ning, we need to consider how we will occupy Recommended books . 13 Departmental Focal Points for Women our days—or rather years—as most women are at Headquarters and Away from Head- expected to live for another 26 years after quarters, and Focal Points for Women in retirement! For my part, I realize that I did not Peacekeeping Missions . 14, 15, 16 do so early enough. I am now in the prepara- network • The UN Women’s Newsletter Synopsis of the Secretary-General’s graphical distribution, 41.8 per cent of Professional and report on the improvement of the status higher-level staff are women. For both categories of posts, this rate indicates a slowing of the progress made during the of women in the UN system (A/58/374) last 10 years. Of particular concern is the stagnation of progress at the P-4 and P-5 levels. Within the United The report provides statistics on the representation of Nations system, women represented 35 per cent of Pro- women in the Secretariat and in the United Nations system fessional and higher categories as of 31 December 2002. as of 30 June 2003. Women account for 35.6 per cent of The following table illustrates the changes made since Professional and higher-level staff with appointments of June 2002 for both categories of appointments in the United one year or more in the Secretariat. In posts subject to geo- Nations Secretariat: Comparison of gender distribution of staff in the Professional and higher categories with appointments of one year or more on posts subject to geographical distribution as of 30 June 2002 and 30 June 2003 Level Appointments of Posts subject to one year or more geographical distribution 30 June 2002 30 June 2003 30 June 2002 30 June 2003 Percentage of women Percentage of women Percentage of women Percentage of women USG 10.5 13.5 16.6 20.8 ASG 10.2 14.6 23.5 23.5 D-2 22.3 24.8 29.4 31.2 D-1 28.9 28.8 37.7 36.3 Subtotal 24.7 25.6 33.7 33.3 P-5 29.5 30.2 32.5 34.7 P-4 31.4 31.5 38.3 37.2 P-3 38.0 39.8 47.0 49.0 P-2 48.8 50.0 54.1 55.3 P-1 63.1 66.7 — — Subtotal 36.0 36.7 42.2 43.1 Total 35.0 35.6 41.0 41.8 2 Vol. 7 • No. 3 • July, August and September 2003 Only five departments and/or offices have met or ex- system, so that the focal points can continue to play an ceeded the target of 50/50 representation: OPPBA (56.4 per important role in the periodic and systematic monitoring cent); OHRM (54.3 per cent); DPI (52.7 per cent); EOSG of the recruitment, retention and career advancement of (52.3 per cent); and DM/OUSG (51.4 per cent). While the women. overall representation of women with appointments of one In its conclusion, the report reiterates the need to make year or more in peacekeeping operations decreased to 23.2 more deliberate efforts to appoint women to 50 per cent or per cent, women now constitute 10 per cent of staff at the more of vacancies and to extend ongoing training and sensiti- D-1 level and above, which is a significant increase from 4.2 zation of managers on gender-balance issues. The impact of the per cent a year ago. new work/life policies will need to be more closely monitored. The report also highlights recent activities towards achiev- To improve the status of women in the General Service cate- ing gender parity and supporting a gender-sensitive work envi- gory, where women constitute the majority of staff, actions are ronment: necessary to review the entry level for General Service staff; •—In April 2003, the Secretary-General wrote to all heads provide greater opportunities and incentives for interdepart- of departments/offices in the Secretariat to express his mental mobility; and enhance career opportunities for women concern at the low of rate of progress and to point to the in this category, such as lifting the restrictions on the number responsibility of senior managers to achieve gender parity of General Service staff eligible for promotion to the Pro- targets. fessional category. •—The Human Resources Action Plans for each depart- A preliminary survey by the Group on Equal Rights for ment/office set concrete gender targets for the years 2003 Women at the United Nations seems to indicate that more and 2004. These include progress towards 50/50 gender information and training of staff and programme managers is distribution in the overall female representation in all cat- necessary to dispel misconceptions on the possible effects of egories and levels of posts, including the Professional and work/life policies on productivity and effectiveness. To provide higher categories, as well as the General Service, and at a pool of women staff suitable for higher-level posts, more out- least 50 per cent recruitment and selection of women staff reach and networking needs to be done with professional at the Professional and higher categories. The plans also organizations. identify future retirements that will provide additional The report calls on Member States to submit names of opportunities to increase the number of women staff qualified women; make efforts to disseminate available vacan- members. cies throughout the United Nations common system; and •—OSAGI is working on an analysis of the probable encourage women nationals to apply for specific posts. In addi- causes of the slow advancement in the improvement of tion, Member States should cooperate more closely with the the status of women in the United Nations with a view United Nations to facilitate spouse employment at all the major to elaborating new strategies for achieving gender parity. duty stations of the United Nations Secretariat and the United •—The “Directive on Sexual Harassment in the United Nations system. Nations Peacekeeping and other Field Missions: For The report is available online at Military Members of National Contingents, Military http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/fpdocumentation.htm Observers and Civilian Police Officers” was issued by DPKO in August 2003. It was prepared in close collabora- Resolution on the improvement of the tion with OSAGI and OHRM and illustrates what consti- status of women in the United Nations tutes sexual harassment; explains the various avenues for system (A/C.3/58/L.19) resolution of differences/grievances; outlines the steps The resolution was adopted in the Third Committee on 30 necessary to lodge a complaint; and offers an organiza- October 2003.