Stephen Lewis, a co-director of AIDS-Free World and one of the strongest advocates of the gender proposal, told IPS: “I have been following this story with much intensity over the last 48 hours, and I myself have spoken to several ambassadors (both from the South and the North), to impress upon them the fact that under no circumstances can this resolution be postponed”.
He said that it would be “a terrible slap in the face to the women of the world, a dreadful rejection of the views of the secretary-general, and a deep blow to the credibility of the United Nations.”
As things now stand, the consensus that had emerged is being sabotaged by a consortium of countries, belligerently disruptive and destructive, led by Cuba, Sudan, Iran and Egypt, he said.
The nation states of the U.N. overwhelmingly want to approve the creation of the women’s agency by resolution on Sep. 14, and begin the process of a global search for an under-secretary-general, “but this little group of malcontents is holding the world to ransom”.
“They’re using women as a bargaining chip in the effort to exact concessions on governance and finance, the other prongs of the System-Wide Coherence process. They care not one whit for the rights and needs of the women of the world,” Lewis charged.
April R. – While I use Stephen Lewis' name (or his father's) in a reverential manner I would have to investigate some more into this matter before agreeing with him. The first suspicious indication is the mention of: Cuba, Sudan, Iran and Egypt all together, WOW – a right wing nightmare.
Cuba seems out of place in that grouping too. Sudan and Egypt are dictatorships, Iran a theocracy/partial democracy (if that is possible) while Cuba is the only democracy in the bunch.
This System-Wide Coherence process is something that Lewis has supported for years .. it is an organizational shuffle designed to make the UN more efficient and up to date.
(quote from the UN document)
"The Outcome Document adopted by global leaders at the 2005 World Summit in New York calls for much stronger system-wide coherence across the various development-related agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations. In addition to supporting current, ongoing reforms at building a more effective, coherent and better-performing UN country presence, it specifically invites the Secretary-General to "launch work to further strengthen the management and coordination of United Nations operational activities."
http://www.un.org/events/panel/html/page2.html
If supporting that is being "belligerently disruptive and destructive" i shall have to revisit my dictionary to renew my familiarity with the definition of these words.
Isn´t the reverence afforded the UN only one side of a two headed menagerie? After all the frilly often disingenuous talk of equality, the UN on the other hand can carry on with appointing some of the worlds worst despots to head their various major agencies. In recent years we´ve seen Saddam heading the Disarmament Agencies, and Gaddafi heading the Human Rights Agency. The dream of a true UN dies a little bit when learn of such things.
We also support human and women’s rights in
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