INDIAN GOVERNMENT AND UNIFEM SIGN MoU
A Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) was signed between the Government of India and the UN Development
Fund for Women (UNIFEM), here today. Signed in the presence of
Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Union Minister for Human Resource Development
and Smt. Jaskaur Meena, Minister of State for HRD, the signatories
to the MoU were Dr. R.V.V Ayyar, Secretary, Department of Women
& Child Development (DWCD), Ministry of Human Resource Development
and Ms. Chandni Joshi, Regional Programme Director, UNIFEM.
An important
aspect of the MoU would be intensification of efforts to address
the general dimensions of HIV/AIDS by using a multi-sectoral approach
as well as by building individual, institutional and network capacity.
The partnership would also accelerate steps to deal with the main
causes of persistent gender inequalities, such as illiteracy,
deprivation and stereotypical socialisation patterns.
The partnership
also aims to encourage gender sensitive governance by applying
tools such as gender analysis of Budgets, gender audit, engendered
planning and monitoring at the national and local levels. Attempts
would also be made to increase women's participation in decision
making and leadership. Another important area of work that has
been identified is the setting up of a network for facilitating
documentation of best practices and sharing of knowledge, especially
for the development of monitoring indicators, gender analysis
of budgets, violence against women, women's political participation
and gender dimensions of HIV/AIDS, among others.
Thus, basically,
UNIFEM and DWCD are joining hands to achieve, through mutual cooperation,
the goals set out in the Indian National Policy for the Empowerment
of Women as well as Five Year Plan goals which would be relevant
in this context, consistent with the mandate of UNIFEM. This would
also involve monitoring the progress of the implementation of
the Convention on the 'Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
against Women' (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA)
and Beijing + 5 Outcome Document.
