UN official to tackle discrimination against women

New York- US (PANA) -- The newly-appointed head of UN Women, Ms.
Michelle Bachelet, on Thursday said she would bring all her experience and good relations with global leaders to fight discrimination and boost opportunities for women and girls worldwide.
Bachelet, the former president of Chile, made this known in a UN Radio interview, monitored by the Pan African News Agency (PANA) in New York.
She promised to deploy her skills and experience "to produce all the agreements and all the synergies within the UN system and with member states to run the new entity," which is tasked with accelerating the progress of women and girls.
"Even though there are some countries where women's rights are in excellent condition, in many other parts women have a very difficult situation", she said.
According to her, "they (women) don't have the same opportunities as men, regarding the most essential human rights.
" Bachelet said: "Women are discriminated against.
Their rights are violated.
There are still some places where women are mutilated and there are places where women can receive terrible punishments.
" She also noted that, "of all the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), those relating to women had shown the worst performance to date.
" She, however, said she saw cause for optimism about the new entity's prospects for success.
"In establishing UN Women by a unanimous vote earlier this year, member states were affirming the necessity of meeting the needs of the world's women.
"When they voted, they were making a commitment," Bachelet said, adding that they were supporting the idea that womenâ?s issues were relevant and belonged on the political agenda.
" UN Women is the merger of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW).
It was established 2 July, 2010, by a unanimous vote of the UN General Assembly, to oversee all of the world body's programmes aimed at promoting women's rights and their full participation in global affairs.
One of its goals will be to support the commission on the Status of Women and other inter-governmental bodies in devising policies.
It will also aim to help member states implement standards, provide technical and financial support to countries which request it and forge partnerships with civil society.
Within the UN, it will hold the world body accountable for its own commitments on gender equality.
In carrying out its functions, UN Women will be working with an annual budget of at least US$ 500 million, double the current combined resources of the four former women agencies Announcing her appointment Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: "As Chile's first female president, Bachelet gave priority to women's issues throughout her tenure.
"Since leaving office, she has been working with UNIFEM to advocate for the needs of Haitian women, following January's devastating earthquake.
"