UN Women

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women – UN Women – was established by the UN General Assembly in July 2010. It is a merger of the Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).

UN Women has three main tasks: to support inter-governmental bodies in their formulation of policies, standards and norms in the area of gender equality; to help member states to implement these standards, standing ready to provide technical and financial support when requested; and to hold the UN system accountable for its commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress. Norway is one of the most important supporters of UN Women and has a seat on its Executive Board for the period 2010–2015.