UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - After years of difficult negotiations, the U.N. General Assembly voted on Friday to set up a body that will seek to improve the situation of women and girls around the world.
The new body will be known officially as the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, although officials say it will be referred to as U.N. Women (www.unwomen.org). It will consolidate four separate U.N. divisions now dealing with women's and gender issues.
"U.N. Women will significantly boost U.N. efforts to promote gender equality, expand opportunity, and tackle discrimination around the globe," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.
U.N. diplomats said four years of negotiations between Western developed nations and developing countries, many of them states where women are often discriminated against, had been tough because of varying views on women's rights and gender equality.
A new post of under-secretary-general will created to head U.N. Women, with diplomats saying privately that former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is one of the top candidates.
The Supreme Court voted to lift temporary blocks on President Donald Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship...
When the Trump Organization announced its cellular brand earlier this month, it touted that the devices...
The EU may take action to increase pressure on Israel unless there are “concrete” improvements for...
