Photo: Michele Bachelet

   

After  4 years of wrangling, negotiations, and arm-twisting, the UN General Assembly voted today to establish an UN  agency for women. Still no agreement was made about the final name and on who will lead the UN Agency. The UN General Assembly only agreed that the branch, to be led by a Director with the rank of UN Under Secretary General, will have the full name of: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, or UNGEEW.  A rather unappealing acronym.

    Even the name “UN WOMEN”, which some have started to call “UNWOMEN”, may not fit a woman agency. So the UN delegates decided to leave the choice of the name for the future, but no later than September 2010, when the UN agency will have a leader and formally start its operations. Meanwhile, it will be labelled “Gender Entity”; the French delegation prefers the use of “ONU Femmes”, which in English is “UNO Women”, hardly an improvement.

    Several countries have submitted candidates. But the United States prefers a candidate from the South, not the West. Hence, the chances of  a leading candidate from Norway were reduced to almost nil.   At least eight countries from the South, including Tunisia, Chile, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Malaysia. Chile former President Michele Bachelet, supported by both France and the United States is the leading candidate after the elimination of candidates from the West, especially that the UNICEF position she wanted was given to the former  US White House Special EnvoyWilliam Anthony Kirsopp Lake, aka Tony Lake in March 2010.

    Meanwhile a surprise may be in the fold, if the current UN Gender Advisory Rachel Mayanja from Uganda, proposed by Gabon or the Deputy UN Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro, from Tanzania,  wants the post, or in the case the Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister, Louise Mushikiwabo, proposed by Rwanda,  remains the only candidate.

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