In September 2009, the General Assembly agreed to establish a composite body consolidating the mandates of the four existing UN women’s agencies – the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI), the Division for the Advancement Women (DAW), the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

"On September 14th, the UN’s 192 member states unanimously passed a resolution establishing a new UN agency for women, giving Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon authority to immediately appoint an Under Secretary-General to lead it. This is a truly memorable moment."

"AIDS-Free World’s Co-Director Stephen Lewis said, 'We see this not as an end but a beginning – the UN’s first attempt to form a serious gender entity, and the Secretary-General’s opportunity to make a monumental change both in the way the UN operates, and in the lives of women everywhere.' "

Women living with HIV/AIDS have unwanted pregnancies for the same reasons as women with unknown or HIV-negative status, but may also have HIV-specific reasons for wanting to terminate an unintended pregnancy: fears about their own or the baby’s health, fears of leaving behind orphaned children, or a wish to postpone childbearing until they have undetectable viral loads.

Despite this, safe abortion as a means for women living with HIV to deal with unwanted pregnancies has remained the most neglected area of reproductive health within HIV/AIDS-related policies and programming.

The Board of Chairs of the Global Partners in Action is pleased to share the Strategic Options for NGOs (SONGS) produced at the Global Partners in Action: NGO Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Development.

"The SONGS were developed with inputs from 400 NGO leaders from around the world through a highly participatory process. It invigorates NGOs’ commitment to the principles of ICPD, reaffirming the importance of sexual and reproductive health to development and calls upon all of us to build on our capacities and do more to invest in health, rights and the future."

- Source: Global Partners in Action Board of Chairs

As World AIDS Day approaches, AIDS Accountability International is releasing the first ever global scorecard analyzing country responses to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of women in the context of the AIDS epidemic; The AIDS Accountability Scorecard on Women - Are governments keeping their promises?

"AIDS Accountability International (AAI) is an independent non-profit organization established to increase accountability and inspire bolder leadership in the response to the AIDS epidemic. AAI does this by rating and comparing the degree to which public and private actors are fulfilling the commitments they have made to respond to the epidemic. Its assessments are
presented in the form of Scorecards that identify gaps between stated commitments by governments and key actors, and their actual performance."

-Source: AAI Scorecard on Women 2009

Women Deliver scholarship applications are available online and will close on December 15, 2009.

Before the ICAAP Conference in Bali, women and lesbian organisations gathered together to make recommendations for the conference.