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UN Women – Structure, Mandate, Roles & Programs 

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UN Women

  • UN Women is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, established in 2010 by the UN General Assembly. It works globally to eliminate discrimination against women and girls, achieve gender equality, and empower women across political, economic, and social spheres.
  • UN Women exists to advance women’s rights, gender equality, and the empowerment of all women and girls.
  • It is the  lead UN entity on gender equality and secretariat of the UN Commission on the Status of Women

Origin

  • Created by UN General Assembly Resolution (2010).
  • Merged and strengthened four previous UN bodies dealing with gender issues:
    • Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
    • International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
    • Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
    • UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
  • Officially operational from 1 January 2011.

Headquarters and Field Presence

  • Headquarters: New York, USA.
  • Strong field presence with offices in over 90 countries.
  • Country offices work with national governments, NGOs, and civil society for gender equality programs.

Role

  • To support inter-governmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards and norms.
  • To help Member States implement these standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it, and to forge effective partnerships with civil society.
  • To lead and coordinate the UN system’s work on gender equality, as well as promote accountability, including through regular monitoring of system-wide progress.

Focus Areas

  • Ending violence against women.
  • Enhancing women’s leadership and political participation.
  • Promoting women’s economic empowerment.
  • Engaging women in peace and security processes.
  • Governance and National Planning – Promotes gender-responsive laws, policies, and budgets.
  • Youth and Gender Equality – Engages young people as drivers of gender equality.
  • Women and Girls with Disabilities – Strengthens inclusion and amplifies voices of disabled women.
  • HIV and AIDS – Addresses gender dimensions of HIV prevention and response.
  • Humanitarian Action – Ensures gender-responsive crisis response by supporting women and girls in conflict and disaster-affected areas with relief, education, and livelihood assistance.

Governance

UN-Women Executive Board

  • It was established by the UNGA.
  • It is the governing Body of the Entity to provide intergovernmental support to and supervision of its operational activities
  • It is composed of 41 Member States, elected by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
    • Members are distributed regionally to ensure balanced representation:
      • 10 from Africa
      • 10 from Asia-Pacific
      • 4 from Eastern Europe
      • 6 from Latin America and Caribbean
      • 5 from Western Europe and other States
      • 6 from contributing countries (providing voluntary financial contributions).

Executive Director

  • Appointed by the UN Secretary-General in consultation with Member States.
  • Holds the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the UN.
  • Acts as the chief administrative officer of UN Women.
  • Leads overall strategy, program direction, advocacy, and partnerships.
  • ED is appointed for a term of four years, with the possibility of renewal for one term

Structure

  • The organization is governed by a multi-tiered intergovernmental governance structure in charge of providing normative and operational policy guidance. 
  • The General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) constitute the governance structure that sets forth the normative policy guiding principles of the Entity. 
  • The intergovernmental governance structure in charge of providing operational policy guidance to UN Women includes the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the organization’s executive board

Funding

  • UN Women is primarily funded by voluntary contributions(98%) from states, along with private sector companies, foundations, and individuals. 
  • A small portion (about 2%) of its budget comes from the United Nations regular budget, which supports policy-setting and normative work. 

Do You Know?

Trust funds

  • UN Women provides grants to fuel innovative, high-impact programmes by government agencies and civil society groups through two funds—the Fund for Gender Equality and the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women. 
  • A multi-donor initiative, the Fund for Gender Equality is dedicated to programmes that increase women’s economic opportunities and/or political participation at local and national levels. 
  • Managed by UN Women on behalf of the UN system, the UN Trust Fund works to stop all of the diverse forms of gender-based violence that undercut women’s rights around the world.

UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women

  • Established in 1996 by UN General Assembly resolution 50/166.
  • Administered by UN Women on behalf of the UN system.
  • Provides grants to initiatives addressing and preventing violence against women and girls (VAW/G).
  • The Fund supports civil society organizations (CSOs) and women’s rights organizations (WROs) to:
    • Prevent violence – empower girls at risk, engage men and boys, and involve traditional/faith leaders.
    • Improve access to services – legal aid, psychosocial support, health care, and responsive mechanisms for survivors.
    • Strengthen implementation of laws and policies – through data collection, accountability, and institutional reforms.

Fund for Gender Equality (FGE)

  • Established in 2009, administered by UN Women.
  • Purpose: To support national, women-led civil society organizations in achieving women’s economic and political empowerment and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  • Features
    • A global grant-making model promoting feminist philanthropy, trust, and women’s ownership.
    • Transforms donor financing into high-impact initiatives led by women’s organizations.
    • Focuses on women and girls most marginalized (“left furthest behind”).

The Global Database on Violence against Women 

  • It is maintained by UN Women, in line with mandates given by the UN General Assembly.
  • Evolution
    • It was established following GA Resolution 61/143 (2006) and subsequent resolutions, which requested the UN Secretary-General to set up a coordinated database on measures undertaken by Member States to eliminate violence against women.
    • The database was developed and launched in 2009, and was called the “UN Secretary-General’s database on violence against women”. 
    • In 2016, in accordance with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Women relaunched the databases as the “Global Database on Violence against Women”. 
    • In 2024, the database was again redesigned and relaunched to allow users to more easily navigate through its extensive content. 
    • UN Women serves as the secretariat for the database.
  • The Database is designed to:
    • Provide easy access to comprehensive and up-to-date information on measures undertaken by Governments to address different forms of violence against women and girls.
    • Increase opportunities for exchange of experiences in addressing violence against women and girls.
    • Strengthen the knowledge-base for effective policy responses to prevent and address violence against women and girls.
    • Encourage the further collection, availability, use and dissemination of data on violence against women and girls, as well as analysis of such data.
  • The primary sources of information for the database are official reports submitted by United Nations Member and Observer States in their efforts to monitor the implementation of global instruments on violence against women.




FAQs 

Q1. What is UN Women?

UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment, formed in 2010 by the UN General Assembly.

Q2. Why was UN Women created?

To merge and strengthen four gender-focused UN entities and create a single, powerful body to promote women’s rights, support implementation of global gender norms, and coordinate UN efforts on gender equality.

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