UNIFEM is the women’s development fund at the United Nations. Since 1976 it has provided financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes which foster women’s empowerment and gender equality.
Today the organisation’s work touches the lives of women and girls in more than 100 countries around the world. UNIFEM also helps to make sure that the voices of women are heard at the United Nations.
UNIFEM NZ is one of 16 national committees based in developed countries which offer a global network of support.
National Committee for UNIFEM NZ 2008-2009
President -Â Jean Corbin Thomas
Vice President - Liz Brown
Secretary - Beryl Anderson
Treasurer - Gwyn Narraway
National Committee - Alana Bowman, Kimberly Cullen, Joy Dunsheath, Rae Julian, Helen Markham, Susan Miller-Thevenard, Liz Phillips, Judith Ray, Helen Scott, Beverley Turner, Alison Wall, Rachel Boyack, Aryana Khadem (Auckland Committee Representative), Wendy Carryer (Canterbury Committee Representative).
UNIFEM International has its headquarters in New York and works worldwide out of 15 regional and 2 country programme offices.
Two international agreements frame UNIFEM’s work:
- the Beijing Platform for Action resulting from the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995
- the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), known as the women’s bill of rights