INTERNATIONAL: UN INSTRAW (Now part of UN Women) Launches Project

Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. November 2010. - With the financial support of the Office of Development Planning and Policy Evaluation (DGPOLDE) of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MAEC), the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN INSTRAW – Now part of UN Women) is currently developing and implementing in six countries the Project “Supporting the monitoring of aid effectiveness with a gender perspective”.

This project has been chosen for implementation in six countries, namely, in Cambodia, Guatemala, Morocco, Mozambique, Vietnam and Peru, with the objective of achieving a wide range of inclusive measures to empower women and include gender equality in financing for development processes.

Other important partners will be the academia, research institutes, nonprofit organizations and other civil society organizations, which will help in achieving a participative methodology to evaluate and systematize knowledge on good practices for aid effectiveness from a gender perspective.

The official presentation of this important project was held first in Peru, on November 30th, at the Miraflores Entrepreneur Center; in Guatemala, on December 3rd, at the Princess Convention Center, and will be held lastly in Hanoi, Vietnam, on December 9th.

These events aim to explain to the national stakeholders the objectives and expected results from this initiative, motivate them to actively participate in it and attain their interest on the subject.

Financing for Development has always been present in international negotiations, debates and research. However, it has gained particular importance in recent years, especially since the issue was discussed at the International Conference on Financing for Development that was held in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2002. During this event the international community agreed to increase the funding for development and acknowledged the need to ensure that aid should be used as effectively as possible.

The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, endorsed by countries from around the world in 2005, represents a more comprehensive attempt to modify the relationship between donor and developing countries, based on principles of partnership. In 2008, the Third High Level Forum in Accra, Ghana took stock of progress and built on the Paris Declaration to accelerate change.

However, these international agreements on development include very limited commitments on gender equality. As a result of the Accra Agenda for Action, it is necessary to continue strengthening key areas to advance towards gender equality, women's rights and empowerment of women. It is thus important to strive for greater insertion of measures to strengthen gender equality in conceptual, financial and operational terms, while also assuring the implementation of measures that have been already accepted.

This project calls upon national and international organizations, as well as civil society organizations devoted to women's empowerment and gender equality, to be closely involved in the research, negotiations and follow-up on the implementation of development and gender-related international agreements. As a result of these actions, the monitoring of aid flow and its impact on gender equality becomes a key activity and demands effective tools and capacity development processes with key stakeholders. The principles and actions stipulated in international instruments focusing on gender (Cairo, Beijing, MDG) should be incorporated into the financing for development-related processes, thus assuring that follow-up will be made on the advances that have been achieved through their implementation.