Worldwide, women and girls are less likely to go to school, receive adequate health care, own property or participate in decision-making structures. The United Nations has a key role in working for women’s rights at global level. However, the UN bodies dealing with gender equality are under-resourced and fragmented.

A global campaign has been created to press governments to improve the situation. The Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Campaign calls for the creation of a strong new women’s entity at the UN.

In 2006 women from all over the world pressured the United Nations to add the reform of its gender equality bodies on the agenda of its current reform process. The GEAR Campaign, a network of more than 300 civil society organisations, was formally launched in 2008 to follow up this process.

Specifically, the GEAR Campaign is demanding:

• The consolidation of the existing UN agencies addressing gender equality into a single improved and independent entity.
  The new entity to be headed by an Under Secretary-General in order to secure a higher level of authority for the new entity within the UN.
• An annual budget starting at $1 billion, increasing over time.
  Universal field presence and strong policy and programmatic mandate.
• The involvement of women’s organisations and global civil society in its processes.

The strategies and the positions of the campaign are determined by the GEAR Campaign Working Group, which is co-facilitated by Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) and Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). The working group brings together the New York based organisations who are the global focal points of the campaign, the regional focal points of the campaign around the world, and the members of the New York based UN Lobbying Strategy Group.

Take action!

ORGANISATIONS

• Sign the upcoming advocacy letters of the European Working Group and contact your government. In the coming months the European GEAR Working Group will engage in new lobbying activities. Your organization can co-sign our advocacy letters, but also contact governments directly. We will be alarming you on any upcoming activities.
• Disseminate information about the GEAR Campaign. Let your members know about the GEAR Campaign and the European Campaign website www.un-gear.eu. The website has information and tools which will help individuals and organizations to get involved in the campaign. You can also advertise the Campaign in your newsletters.
• Work more closely with the European GEAR Campaign Working Group. Contact the European GEAR Campaign coordinator (campaign@un-gear.eu) and ask how your organization could get more engaged in the Campaign at the European level.
• Join the Global GEAR Campaign. Add you organization as a supporter of the Global GEAR Campaign by contacting (gearcampaign@gmail.com)

INDIVIDUALS

• Contact your Government. The European GEAR Campaign website offers you a possibility to send a letter on the UN gender equality architecture reform to the Foreign Minister of your country.
• Disseminate information about the GEAR Campaign. Let your friends and colleagues know about the GEAR Campaign and the European Campaign website www.un-gear.eu.