UN Practicum Blog - Jun Chen

The limitation of UN process

I went to UN HEADS OF AGENCIES FORUM ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS on Tuesday and got to know more about how different UN agencies are engaged in addressing violence against women. When Head of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, asked the Executive director of United Nation Development Program (UNDP), how violence against women impacts human development. The latter mainly argued that violence against women caused loss of productivity and hindered GDP  growth. I was shocked that, she simplified human development as productivity and GDP, without mentioning how violence against women speaks to other aspects of sustainable development, such as crisis management, democratic governance and environmental protection.

Further, I learned from UNDP website that its primary focus is fighting poverty, and that its initiatives to decrease poverty includes give small funding to start a business for poor women, giving training for people to find their jobs and providing government policy advice and expertise resources. However, it failed to address the root of poverty in global south which trace back to the history of colonialization and post-colonial unequal economic framework, such as Structural Adjustment Programs.

My questions are

1 What does it mean by the absence of that language in both UN official meetings and civil society?

2 Is there a possibility for UN to facilitate more radical change?

Jun Chen