Commonwealth welcomes proposed creation of new UN agency for women

The new body will serve as a multilateral agency to support women's rights, the UN's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, told Mr McKinnon during his visit to the Commonwealth Secretariat's headquarters in Marlborough House, London, on 29 November 2006.

For years, Mr Lewis has been pushing for a new high-level international women's agency within the United Nations. He envisaged the new body having a fine-tuned mandate and more resources than the UN Development Fund for Women and the UN Populations Fund, which currently overlook women's issues.

During talks with Mr McKinnon, Mr Lewis said that women around the world were "profoundly and disproportionately vulnerable" to HIV/AIDS.

"People are not wising up to the gender aspect of HIV/AIDS. It is the unresolved critical centrepiece of the problem and, of course, linked to wider issues of women's place in society in developing countries," stated Mr Lewis.

Mr McKinnon saw the low social status of women as a major obstacle to tackling HIV/AIDS in Africa.

"The proposed creation of a new, independent UN agency for women will give the Commonwealth a major partner to work with to advance the rights of women and address HIV/AIDS," he said.

Key Links:

• HIV/AIDS
• Overcoming HIV/AIDS requires leadership from all parts of society – McKinnon

Related News:

• UNAIDS
• Stephen Lewis Foundation