UN Entity For Gender Equality And Empowerment For Women Formed In Sudan

16 July 2010 - (Khartoum) – Sudanese Women General Union says they are happy with the establishment of the newly formed United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment for Women.

Early this month, The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to establish U-N Women, which consolidates four existing UN bodies on women, making it a more effective vehicle to advance women’s rights.

The Secretary-General of Sudanese Women General Union, Madam Sarah Elijah Tor spoke to SRS during the celebration and explained why her organization is celebrating the establishment of UN Women.

[Sarah Elijah]: “Of course, usually when we find any achievement for women we celebrate it because women concerns all over the world is the same, and especially after having established this entity especially for women which was not there before This will achieve for us a lot of things because women are suffering especially in developing countries. And I hope that women will achieve more benefits hopefully over the coming period.”

The Chief of Conduct and Discipline Unit of the United Nations Mission in Sudan, Doctor Aster Zaoude who addressed the women during the celebration, described the establishment of UN Women entity as a “historic move”.

[Dr. Aster Zaoude]: “The creation of UN Women is a historic move; it will accelerate progress towards the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. U-N Women will be the lead driver within the U-N and the lead voice advocating for gender equality and women’s empowerment globally. Here in Sudan, U-N Women will partner with the relevant government ministries, civil society organizations such as Sudanese Women General Union at the national, regional and state levels to ensure that critical issues affecting women and girls are given the priority they deserve and are fully addressed within the existing frameworks such as the National Women’s Empowerment Policy, the National Action Plan on Violence Against Women and others.”

Doctor Zaoude disclosed that the new UN Women entity will be operational by January 2011, as the process of identifying a suitable leader for this entity is still on-going.