Julia Greenberg, Associate Director of AIDS-Free World, addressed women’s rights activists and delegates to the 52nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women on Feb 27, 2008, as part of a panel called, “Whose Agenda Counts?  Grassroots Women Set Financing and Policy Priorities to Realize Pro-Poor Equality and Empowerment,” co-sponsored by the Huairou Commission and UNDP.

I would like to take advantage of the kind invitation to participate on this panel to amplify AIDS-Free World’s call for support for a UN agency for women, headed by an Under Secretary- General, with adequate staff, operational capacity at country level, and initial funding of $1 billion.
Many of my fellow panelists today know me from my previous job as a donor at American Jewish World Service, where I constantly lamented the abysmal lack of funds for the kinds of cutting edge work that we heard described by the previous speakers.

You may be thinking, how can she, who knows the value of a $5,000 grant for a nascent women-led home-based care group, be calling for another mega-agency? My only hope is that your potential shock and bemusement at seeing me in this new role will provoke lively discussion during the Q and A.

I still firmly believe that the world cannot and will not change unless the contributions of grassroots women are acknowledged, honored and funded. I think there is plenty of room in this world for the type of responsive, flexible funding undertaken by the African Women’s Development Fund, the Global Fund for Women, American Jewish World Service, Mama Cash and Kvinna Till Kvinna —all organizations that are not afraid to get cash into the hands of local activists who know, better than anyone else, what their communities need.

I am aware that my comments may elicit significant skepticism among the activists in the room who are making change at the community level, who have long fought to be heard by the UN and other donor organizations operating at country level.  And yet, AIDS-Free World is calling for a UN Agency for Women without equivocation, or apology—with full recognition of the fact that, in many ways, the UN up until now has failed grassroots women. 

With the full participation of women at the community level, a strong agency for women could be our last chance to hold the UN accountable to its commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment.  There is some momentum now—as you all probably know, a high level panel appointed by the former Secretary General has recommended a stronger “women’s entity” as part of a broader package for UN reform.  The panel’s recommendations seemed to acknowledge the incontrovertible truth: that not one single global goal will be met if gender inequality is not addressed.

Here are just a couple of reasons why these goals won’t be met, in case anyone in this room needs reminders. Women make up 70 percent of the world’s poor and 67 percent of the world’s illiterate. They own only one percent of the world’s assets. Girls and young women now comprise 78% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s 15-24 year-olds infected with HIV.

Believe me, I have no illusions that a Women’s Agency will be a panacea for the challenges facing poor women, and I am absolutely convinced that without the meaningful participation of the Ana Lucy’s and Esther’s [fellow panelists] of the world—this agency will fail.

In my experience as a donor, too many times I saw the visionary work of local women’s organizations falter because of lack of funding,  and their creative and dynamic initiatives stagnate because barriers erected by donor and multilateral institutions made it impossible for innovative programming to influence and drive regional, national and international policy.
And perhaps most insidious—I saw the “implementer” syndrome:  creative and cutting-edge work diluted when UN agencies, bilateral institutions and private donors enlisted women’s groups to implement half-baked gender-equality programs conceived of in an office in New York, pulling talented staff away from their core work that truly responded to the needs and demands of women on the ground.

You have already heard from the panelists about the kinds of operational activities a UN Women’s Agency could support if grassroots women were true stakeholders: home-based care, including remittances for female caregivers; livelihoods support; programs addressing widow inheritance and property rights; counseling and legal aid; prevention programs and legislative reform on domestic abuse, sexual assault and rape. The list is endless.

And since this CSW is about “Financing for Gender Equality,” let’s talk about funding.   According to our friends in the G8, the world is now well on its way to meeting the goal of spending $130 billion per year on global foreign aid by 2010.

I hardly think that one billion dollars, or less than one percent of foreign aid, is too much to ask for a Women’s Agency that will address the needs of half of the global population.

According to the excellent statement submitted by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom for this CSW, the combined budgets of all of the U.N. women’s entities totaled only about 65 million dollars in 2006. This is .005 percent of the world’s military expenditure of 1.2 trillion dollars in the same year.

I would like to talk a bit about a proposed structure for this agency. If we don’t start talking about this now, we won’t be in a position to influence it once it is mandated by the member states—she says optimistically.

At AIDS-Free World we have a few ideas about the structure, but it has to be informed by the expertise of the women’s groups, so that we are not fated to repeat the mistakes of the past and find ourselves saddled with an empty shell of non-functioning organization.

So let me end my presentation with a few concrete ideas that I hope will begin a discussion both in the context of this panel, and beyond.

An innovative design for the agency could help guarantee not only that the Women’s Agency stands out among international bodies, but that its existence has a positive influence on the entire UN system, demonstrating by example the strength of active listening, cooperation and networking. It must be built on the foundation of the worldwide women’s movement, and tap the expertise that already exists at the community level.

The Agency will need to have pro-women governance structures. There are examples, flawed though they may be, of multilateral organizations that give governing power to civil society organizations. The Women’s Agency must give this power to women, from all sectors of society, including the grassroots.

I would point to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, though not a part of the UN, it provides an interesting prototype. Its Board is made up of 19 voting and 4 non-voting members representing donor and developing country governments, NGOs, communities affected by the diseases, the private sector and private foundations. Also included in the Global Fund’s formal governance structure is a Biennial Partnership Forum of some 450 stakeholder constituencies that convene regularly to review the Fund’s progress. I put the Global Fund forward as an example, completely cognizant of the fact that women’s groups are still finding it almost impossible to access the Community-Coordinating Mechanisms. But it is up to women’s groups working at the country and local levels, and their allies around the world, to demand the structures that will reach them, and to play an active role in making sure they work.

The Agency will also need an innovative and dynamic mechanism to ensure meaningful affiliations with civil society organizations. We have heard very legitimate concerns that a powerful UN women’s entity might draw funding away from women’s NGOS and CBOs that not only run effective programs on the ground, but play an active role in the process of norm setting that will and must continue if we are to have a UN that reflects the dynamic reality of poor women’s lives.

AIDS-Free World has put forth several possible solutions that could prevent such negative outcomes. As I just mentioned, we can demand a governance structure that gives civil society a formal voice in policy and budget. We can demand that a fixed percentage of the Agency’s resources are allocated to support the ongoing work of women’s civil society organizations in all sectors and geographic regions. We can strongly suggest that during a pre-determined start-up period, women’s organizations are compensated financially for loaning or seconding, expert, experienced staff to fill management and other positions in the Women’s Agency.

And most importantly, the search for the Under-Secretary General that would lead this agency must be open to all qualified leaders, and most definitely should not be restricted to senior UN officials – who have already demonstrated that they have not been able to change the organization from the inside. 

I hope you have all heard about the GEAR (Gender Equality Architecture Reform) Campaign during this CSW. I am thrilled that the voices of women inside and outside of the UN are re-energized to demand a UN that will finally deliver for women.  AIDS-Free World supports the demands of the GEAR campaign. Over the next several months, leading up to the next general assembly in September, we will be enlisting your help, and the active participation of women affected by HIV/AIDS around the world, to talk the ears off of every member state, every funder, every UN agency to call for full funding of the Women’s Agency now.

The organizers of this panel asked that my presentation conclude with a concrete proposal for partnership. Thank goodness for that, as there’s a lot of work to do by September, and we’ll need to take that on together, urgently. 

AIDS-Free World would like to work with others to set up an advisory group, comprised of both grassroots women and prominent members of the women’s movement, to guide our advocacy efforts in support of the Women’s Agency. It is my intention to draw upon the expertise of members of the Huairou Commission and the GROOTS network around the world. Follow-up on the discussions that take place during this panel will be a first step. 

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