In September 2009, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution expressing strong support for the consolidation of four U.N. bodies addressing women's issues into one composite entity. Current U.N. efforts to address the well-being of women are spread across various U.N. system programs, funds, and offices with no single leadership or coordination mechanism. As a result, U.N. bodies addressing women's issues have been criticized for being ineffective, incoherent, and underfunded. U.N. member states, including the United States, are engaged in ongoing consultations to consider the new entity's mission, functions, governance, and funding. At this time, it is unclear how a new U.N. entity will be structured and whether it will prove effective in addressing global women's issues. Recent efforts toward the establishment of a new U.N. entity for women reflect a gradual shift in the international community's approach to prioritizing and addressing the needs of women. Many governments, including the United States, have recognized that the well-being of women is linked with national and international security, development, and economic stability. More broadly, the possibility of a new entity raises the question of how the international community, and the United Nations in particular, can best address the needs of women globally. This fundamental issue underlies all aspects of the intergovernmental consultations regarding the creation of a U.N. women's entity. Many Members of Congress have demonstrated support for global women's issues, as well as for U.N. efforts to address the needs of women and girls. Congressional interest in the new U.N. entity for women centers around several key issues, including possible U.S. funding and participation, support for global women's issues in U.S. foreign policy, and oversight of the new entity's efficiency and effectiveness. This report discusses perceived weaknesses in the current U.N. system gender structure and recent steps taken by governments to address the issue. It examines U.S. policy toward the new entity, including to what extent, if any, the United States will fund the new entity, and the role the United States may play once the entity is established. It analyzes possible policy issues related to a new entity, including its role in U.N. field operations, proposals for its leadership and governance structures, and the nature of its funding mechanisms. It also discusses the entity in the context of broader U.N. system-wide reform efforts, its potential impact on the activities of other U.N. agencies, funds, and programs, and the involvement of other actors such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in its activities and governance. During the past decade, the international community has increasingly recognized the need for a new U.N. entity to address issues related to women. This recognition was brought about in part by an organized grassroots campaign led by women's groups, NGOs, and other members of civil society to frame women's issues as a global priority and raise awareness of weaknesses in existing U.N. system efforts to address women's well-being. Advocates of a new U.N. women's entity argue that the existing U.N. system gender structures lack leadership and coordination, sufficient funding, visibility, and operational capacity—particularly when compared to other U.N. bodies that address specific segments of the world population, such as the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the U.N. Development Program (UNDP). Supporters argue that this dearth of leadership and coherence has made women's issues a low priority in the U.N. system. The following sections briefly summarize the structure and objectives of the four U.N. gender entities that will be consolidated into one composite entity—the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI), and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW). See the Appendix for examples of other U.N. bodies, initiatives, and agreements that either directly or indirectly address the well-being of women. UNIFEM is a U.N. fund that was established as a separate and identifiable entity in "autonomous association" with UNDP. Its goal is to support the implementation of existing international commitments to advance gender equality at the national level by focusing on (1) women's economic security and rights, (2) violence against women, (3) reducing levels of HIV and AIDS in women, and (4) advancing gender justice in democratic governance. To achieve its goals, UNIFEM provides funding and technical assistance to activities that promote gender equality and women's empowerment in developing countries. It is funded through voluntary contributions by U.N. member states, NGOs, and others. Total UNIFEM contributions in 2008, the last year for which data are available, were $121.4 million. In addition, UNIFEM administers the U.N. Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence Against Women, which provides grants to government, United Nations, and NGO efforts to combat violence against women on the local, regional, and national level. The Trust Fund relies on voluntary contributions from national governments, NGOs, and the private sector. DAW, which is part of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs in the U.N. Secretariat, advocates the advancement of women through formulating policy, researching global standards and norms, promoting the implementation of international agreements, and mainstreaming gender perspectives in the U.N. system. DAW's key responsibility is servicing the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), the main U.N. intergovernmental policymaking body on women's issues. DAW is funded through the U.N. regular budget. OSAGI, which is part of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs in the U.N. Secretariat, is headed by the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women. It works to "promote and strengthen" the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action agreed to at the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995. OSAGI also provides oversight and policy guidance to DAW in its work supporting the General Assembly, ECOSOC, and CSW. Moreover, it develops new strategies and programs to enhance gender equality and women's empowerment. Like DAW, OSAGI is funded through the U.N. regular budget. INSTRAW is a U.N. system research and training institute mandated with developing research and training programs on women's empowerment and gender equality. It promotes applied research, information sharing, and capacity building among U.N. member states, civil society, academia, the private sector, and others. Governments, academia, and NGOs provide voluntary contributions to INSTRAW. Experts contend that weaknesses in the current U.N. system gender structure have contributed to significant gaps between U.N. member state commitments to women's equality and the implementation of these commitments. These apparent weaknesses center around several key organizational issues—coordination and cohesion, governance, and resources and capacity. Leadership and co ordination . Critics argue that lack of leadership and coordination is one of the primary deficiencies in the existing U.N. system gender structure. For example, UNIFEM, DAW, OSAGI, and INSTRAW share many similar objectives, and in some cases their work may run parallel to each other or even overlap. Yet for the most part they act independently with no single authority or coordinating mechanisms to unify their work. Critics hold that this lack of leadership and cohesion affects the status of women's issues in the U.N. system, as well as its effectiveness in addressing the needs of women. Governance. Some experts have criticized the governance of existing gender entities. Many, for instance, express concern with what they view as UNIFEM's secondary status in the U.N. system. Unlike specialized agencies with their own governance and in-country operations, UNIFEM is autonomously associated with UNDP. It is led by an executive director, while the UNDP administrator is accountable for UNIFEM's management and operation. UNIFEM requires involvement from UNDP, specialized agencies, and others when planning and implementing projects. Many argue that this places UNIFEM at a financial and operational disadvantage, hindering its ability to promote and implement programs that enhance women's equality and empowerment. Resources and c apacity . Many analysts contend that existing U.N. gender entities lack the financial and human resources necessary to achieve their goals, particularly at the country level. To support this view, critics point to the budgets of other U.N. entities focused on specific segments of the world's population. For example, total voluntary and regular budget contributions for UNIFEM, DAW, OSAGI, and INSTRAW in 2008 were approximately $247 million. By comparison, for the same period, the total income for UNICEF alone was over $3.3 billion. In 2006, efforts to establish a new entity gained momentum when then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed a High-level Panel on System-wide Coherence (the Panel) to examine how the U.N. system can work more effectively. The Panel's recommendations regarding the U.N. system gender structure reflected many of the aforementioned concerns voiced by women's groups and governments. The Panel found that "there is a strong sense that the United Nations system's contribution [to achieving gender equality and women's empowerment] has been incoherent, under-resourced and fragmented." It recommended that the United Nations establish one entity focused on women's equality and empowerment.