FES International Policy Analysis Unit

Links to International, Regional Insitutions dealing with Gender Issues

International level

Women Watch – The UN Internet Gateway on the Advancement and Empowerment of Women is a gateway to the information and resources on the promotion of gender equality throughout the United Nations system, including the United Nations Secretariat, regional commissions, funds, programmes, specialized agencies. It is a joint United Nations project which was created in March 1997 to provide internet space for global gender equality issues and to support implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.

United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) advocates the improvement of the status of women of the world and the achievement of their equality with men. Aiming to ensure the participation of women as equal partners with men in all aspects of human endeavor, the Division promotes women as equal participants and beneficiaries of sustainable development, peace and security, governance and human rights. As part of its mandate, it strives to stimulate the mainstreaming of gender perspectives both within and outside the United Nations system.

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is the women's fund at the United Nations. It provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies that promote women's human rights, political participation and economic security. Within the UN system, UNIFEM promotes gender equality and links women's issues and concerns to national, regional and global agendas by fostering collaboration and providing technical expertise on gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment strategies.

International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to nurture and support sustainable democracy world-wide. Global in membership and independent of specific national interests, IDEA works with both new and long-established democracies, helping to develop the institutions and culture of democracy. It operates at international, regional and national level, working in partnership with a range of institutions. International IDEA's objective is to promote and advance sustainable democracy and to improve and consolidate electoral processes worldwide. In this regard, IDEA is committed to contributing to the debate to advance gender and democracy issues in general, and to promote women's participation and representation in political life. For further information consult IDEA Gender and Political Participation

Women's Environment & Development Organization (WEDO) is an international advocacy network actively working to transform society to achieve social, political, economic and environmental justice for all through the empowerment of women, in all diversity, and their equal participation with men in decision-making from grassroots to global arenas. WEDO conducts surveys of governments and NGOs on the progress of BPFA implementation, and publishes reports on it. The latest of which is "Mapping Progress: Assessing Implementation of the Beijing Platform".

Regional level Asia-Pacific

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for East Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) is the regional arm of the United Nations Secretariat for the Asian and the Pacific.

UNESCAP Women in Development Section is devoted to a broad range of women's issues in the Asian and Pacific region and is intended to provide a valuable source of information for all who are interested in the advancement and empowerment of women.

UNDP Asia Pacific Gender Equality Network (APGEN) “Promoting Gender Equality in the Asia Pacific Region". Within the framework of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Asia Pacific Gender Equality Network (APGEN) strengthens regional coordination and cooperation towards addressing issues of feminization of poverty and gender inequality in decision-making.

UNIFEM East and Southeast Asia Regional Office works to promote gender equality between women and men and to advance the status of women. In particular, we focus on implementing the Beijing Platform for Action and other UN global commitments through political and economic empowerment of women, and through the full realization of women's human rights. We work with governments, NGOs, community and other organizations, as well as individuals.

Asian Womens Resource Exchange (AWORC) is an Internet-based women's information service and network in Asia. It is an initiative geared towards developing cooperative approaches and partnerships in increasing access and exploring applications of new information and communication technologies for women's empowerment. AWORC aims to help expand existing regional networks in the women's movement, promote electronic resource sharing and build a regional information service that will support various women's advocacies specifically those that are very critical for the women in our region.

International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW AP) is a non-profit international women's organization based in the South. IWRAW AP promotes the domestic implementation of international human rights standards by building the capacity of women and human rights advocates to claim and realize women's human rights. This is done through the development of new knowledge and the utilization of a rights-based approach. Apart from information about us, this website has been designed to provide official and practical information on the application of the UN CEDAW Convention (Women's Convention) and other international human rights treaties.

Asia Pacific Women’s Watch (APWW) is the regional network that monitors and coordinates NGO activities for the Review of the Beijing Platform for Action. APWW actively lobbies for Asia-Pacific women's perspectives to be included in United Nations documents and processes. Its 18-member Steering Committee works to ensure sustained monitoring and implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. During the 44th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women, APWW convened the Asia Pacific Caucus, and led the regional NGO intervention. (ISIS International Website)

Asia-Pacific Forum on Women, Law & Development (APWLD) is a regional NGO committed to enabling women to use law as an instrument of social change for equality, justice and development. One of its goals is the promotion of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and CEDAW.

Asian Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization based in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Its current program focus is on women and health, in particular reproductive health. It publishes the journal Arrows for Change, which has a regular section on BPFA and ICPD implementation in the region.

Center for Asia-Pacific Women in Politics (CAPWIP) is a non-partisan, non-profit and non-governmental regional organization (NGO) dedicated to promoting equal participation of women in politics and decision-making. CAPWIP was established in 1992 by a group of women from the Asia-Pacific region who share a vision of governance that affirms gender equality, integrity and accountability, excellence, sustainable development and peace.
CAPWIP advocates transformative politics which is the use of power to create change towards economic, social and political equity between sexes and among sectors within the context of shaping a society that is just, humane and promotes a sustainable way of life.

South East Asia Watch (SEAWatch) is a regional network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in partnership with governmental agencies, international bodies such as the United Nations and other organizational and individual actors to ensure the effective implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) in the Southeast Asian Region.

Asia Pacific Online Network of Women in Politics, Governance and Transformative Leadership onlinewomeninpolitics.org is envisioned to be the digital working space for Asian and Pacific women leaders wherein they can share and exchange knowledge and information eventually creating a virtual community of women as well as men from the region who believe in getting involved in shaping up their own future; it provides data, information and other resources about women in the region involved in politics, governance and decision-making; and provides people who believe in transformative leadership the space and organization to connect with one another and share with each other their successes, experiences, beliefs, frustrations, celebrations, calls for action, information, resources, data, issues, solutions, and problems.