United Nations Development Fund for Women

The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is the women's fund of the United Nations that was implemented in 1976. This fund was started in conjunction with the United Nation's Decade for Women (1976-1985) to further the advancement of women's human rights around the world. UNIFEM provides financial and technical assistance to implement various programs that encourage women's empowerment and support gender equality.

UNIFEM concentrates its financial and technical assistance in four areas: reducing feminized poverty, ending violence against women, reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS among women and girls, and achieving gender equality in democratic governance in times of war and peace. Reducing poverty among women and girls is a pertinent issue around the world. Women are more likely to be the caretakers of children and older relatives, to make lower wages on average than men, and to be financially worse off if divorced and raising children as single mothers; programs and activities can be implemented to help alleviate this feminiza-tion of poverty. Violence against women includes physical and mental abuse, rape, and murder. HIV/AIDS has emerged as a woman's health issue because the number of HIV-positive women has increased dramatically in the last decade. Health programs need to be implemented, particularly in developing countries where this disease is rampant. UNIFEM goals are to achieve gender equity throughout the world to ensure women can live in a safe world where they have full rights as citizens of their countries.

An example of one such UNIFEM project in regard to violence against women took place in Somaliland, Africa. UNIFEM provided advocacy materials and an intensive 3-month judiciary training program to influence government leaders regarding the condemnation [Page 868]of forced marriages of rape victims. Further, the Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women provided funding to the police department in Uganda to set up special units for investigating cases of violence.

UNIFEM reaches out to women worldwide via 15 regional offices, 2 country program offices, and through National Committees in 16 countries, including Australia, Iceland, Japan, the Philippines, and the United States.

UNIFEM also provides a variety of publications including an annual report that documents the programs and activities implemented to encourage women's empowerment and gender equality, and a report providing data on programs implemented to reduce the amount of violence against women. The programs and data UNIFEM provides also aid in the implementation and fulfillment of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs were adopted after the 2000 Millennium Summit that form a common set of goals put forth by the international community. Some of the goals include eradicating extreme hunger and poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, improving maternal health, and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases by a target date of 2015.