About Us
UN Women
The Women’s Empowerment Principles are the product of collaboration between UN Women and the UN Global Compact.
Created by the UN General Assembly in July 2010, UN Women - the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women - merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system, which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:
- Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
- International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
- Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
- United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
Over many decades, the UN has made significant progress in advancing gender equality, including through landmark agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Yet gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society. Women lack access to decent work and face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps. They are too often denied access to basic education and health care. Women in all parts of the world suffer violence and discrimination. They are under-represented in political and economic decision-making processes.
For many years, the UN has faced serious challenges in its efforts to promote gender equality globally, including inadequate funding and no single recognized driver to direct UN activities on gender equality issues. UN Women was created to address such challenges.
Grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the UN Charter, UN Women, among other issues, works for the:
- elimination of discrimination against women and girls;
- empowerment of women; and
- achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.
Gender equality is not only a basic human right, but its achievement has enormous socio-economic ramifications. Empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurring productivity and growth.
UN Women is committed to advancing women’s economic empowerment, inter alia, through engaging with business, recognizing the significant potential of the private sector for providing women with social and economic opportunities for their empowerment and advancement as well as the benefits resulting from women’s contributions to sustainable business at all levels and along the value chain. For UN Women, the WEPs provide an important and targeted tool for building strong partnerships with the private sector to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.
For more information on UN Women, please visit www.unwomen.org.