[New York, 1 December 2009] On November 12, 2009 GEAR representatives met with the United Nations Deputy Secretary General (DSG), Asha-Rose Migiro, and delegates from the principle women’s agencies. Civil society and the DSG scheduled this meeting to discuss how the process will move forward and to share intelligence about UN reform.

The first issue that the GEAR Campaign team raised was that civil society participation in the new gender entity must be meaningful throughout the transitional process and once the entity is arranged. Secondly, GEAR representatives spoke about how this is a transformational moment where we are not just creating an organization that is the sum of its parts but rather a significant leap forward in women’s human rights. Finally, GEAR noted the importance of a robust national country presence for the new gender entity’s operational side. The GEAR Campaign's criteria for the Under Secretary-General (USG) who will lead the new women's rights entity was also presented to the DSG for further discussion and insight about a possible timeline for the appointment.

The Deputy Secretary-General stressed the importance of GEAR Campaign’s political support during this process where there are many distractions in the path to gender equality at UN. She expressed that the UN is at a “critical juncture” as they are currently preparing the proposal for the new gender equality entity. The process is moving forward very quickly and the proposal will be a clear starting point and base for the establishment of the new gender entity. The DSG stated that, “we are building an entity with normative and operational strength, diversifying the research, increasing the UN’s leadership on gender, reducing not only duplications but also gaps. We want the entity to take a fresh, dynamic, empowering, coherent approach.”

She also told that the UN has been holding meetings with states from the five regional groups and will continue this type of engagement throughout the process. The Secretary-General will submit the proposal to Member States in December so they will have it for the start of the intergovernmental negotiations in 2010.

In what comes to the appointment of the head of the new gender equality entity, the DSG shared that the groundwork for the USG appointment is in progress and that Member States and civil society will be consulted in the coming weeks. Finally, she concluded her presentation by expressing that, “reform of gender architecture needs our collective wisdom and cooperation. Please always seek to raise the bar and apply pressure where it is needed. We need your energy – and your ideas, most of all.”

The consultant working on the proposal, Sally Fegan-Wiles, spoke about the UN’s desire for strong engagement with civil society and that currently the focus is on country presence and headquarters. She also highlighted the crucial need for civil society to put pressure on governments throughout this process and that she will continue to communicate with GEAR Campaign as they progress.