When feminist activist and scholar Gita Sen was named as prime candidate for the now vacant UNIFEM Executive Director post, women and women’s organisations from the South started shoring up support. Some have responded to Isis International-Manila's call for expressions of solidarity and their statements are featured below.

Feminist activist and scholar Gita Sen of the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) has been considered for the now vacant and controversial position of Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). DAWN and many other women’s organisations believe her most qualified for the position. She has extensive policy expertise in political economy, globalisation, women’s health, and human rights, among others that the post requires.

Isis International-Manila has solicited expression of support for Gita Sen's candidacy from among its networks and partners. The following are some of their responses to the question: "Why Gita Sen for UNIFEM?"

(1) Anita Gurumurthy, IT for Change, India

“Gita Sen is an outstanding leader.  In everything she does, she manages to steer the idealism of her vision with the pragmatism of a doer that is rare. Few scholar-activists can boast of the grasp Gita Sen has over socio-political analysis on development, gender, and social change. Her depth and sharpness of analysis is much needed in reinvigorating feminist discourse within UN spaces. Her experience and range of skills are particularly relevant to gender equality given the changing context of global negotiations.”     

(2) Khawar Mumtaz, Shirkat Gah-Women’s Resource Centre, Pakistan

“Gita Sen is well-suited for the job because of her excellent credentials as an academic, activist and thinker. She understands the UN system having worked closely with it and the UN processes. She has a deep understanding of globalisation, how it affects women, and the related complex inter-linkages. Above all, she is not afraid of questioning and criticising what goes under the term 'development.' She also has leadership qualities that are necessary for leading an organisation like UNIFEM.” 

(3) Leticia Ramos Shahani, former Secretary-General of the World Conference on the United Nations Decade of Women and former Senator, Philippine Senate
          
“Gita Sen is respected in feminist and international circles. She is a veteran advocate for women's and walks her talk. UNIFEM will need someone like her after Noeleen’s departure.”     

(4) Saira Shameem and RD Marte, Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Malaysia

“Because of her wisdom and sharpness of mind, great activist spirit, and big feminist heart, we want Gita Sen for UNIFEM!”

(5) Luz Maria Martinez, Isis International-Manila, Philippines

“Her clout as an economist, her perspective as a feminist, and her analysis coming from a woman in a developing country that is on the so-called cusp of economic boom gives her the standing to be listened to and the ability to make global impacts. Gita Sen has been for a while a woman to watch in the global arena. She is one of the few women who, at the international level, are to be reckoned with. This in itself is no easy feat and it will be interesting to see how she uses this clout to manoeuvre issues and advocacies in an international arena with many players and competing forces.”

The UNIFEM Executive Directorship has recently become vacant after the appointment of former Executive Director Noeleen Heyzer as Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok, Thailand. Women’s organisations, particularly those from the South, rejoiced, as they believe that Sen’s appointment will be strategically advantageous to the advancement of feminist thinking, feminist analysis, and feminist movements.

FYI: United Nations Development Fund for Women

UNIFEM provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies to foster women's empowerment and gender equality. UNIFEM also helps make the voices of women heard at the United Nations, to highlight critical issues and advocate for the implementation of existing commitments made to women. 

UNIFEM is active in all regions and at different levels. It works with countries to formulate and implement laws and policies to eliminate gender discrimination and promote gender equality in such areas as land and inheritance rights, decent work for women and ending violence against women. UNIFEM also aims to transform institutions to make them more accountable to gender equality and women's rights, to strengthen the capacity and voice of women's rights advocates, and to change harmful and discriminatory practices in society.

Source: <http://www.unifem.org./>

FYI: Gita Sen

Gita Sen holds a PhD in Economics from Stanford University. She is a professor of public policy at the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India, and also adjunct professor of population and international health at Harvard University. She is on the Governing Body of the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex.

Her knowledge of and experience with intergovernmental processes and UN agencies has both depth and range. She has also worked extensively with many UN agencies including United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), and most recently as Special Advisor on Economic Security and Rights to UNIFEM's Executive Director.

She is a founding member of the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), a network of women scholars and activists from the economic South, and is their research coordinator on the Political Economy of Globalisation. She also provides advice and support to many civil society organisations and networks in both the South and the North.

Source: <http://privaterra.org/node/106>

Related article:
“Noeleen Heyzer is ESCAP's new executive secretary” in we! July 2007, No. 2