Hundreds of women gave Michelle Bachelet, the new head of UN Women,  a standing ovation after her keynote address at the NGO Consultation Day today.  Ms Bachelet spoke passionately about her job and her determination to engage with civil society.  She noted that she will be appointing an NGO advisory group and has instructed all regional and sub-regional offices to do the same.  Ms Bachelet noted that she plans to visit all regions and lend her voice to others in pursuing women’s empowerment.

We have invited her to Australia to attend the National Committees Meetings in September – watch this space!

The NGO consultation day disspointingly did not involve much interaction.  Michelle Bachelet took two questions:

Q:           Do you support the 5^th World Conference on Women
A:            Yes

Q:           How will UN Women be using technology to link in to grass roots women?
A:            In answering this question, Ms Bachelet demonstrated her skill and understanding of development in her complex and sympathetic reply – saying, essentially that when a woman has no water, nor electricity and is subject to violence, technology is not the answer.

A very well crafted endorsement of UN Women came from Eleanor Nwadinobi, Medical Women’s International Association – Nigeria.  She relayed an African proverb: “When you see a dog barking at a lion, do not be fooled – there will be a hunter with a gun hiding nearby”.  She encouraged more barking now we have UN Women – hiding in the bushes.

Charlotte Bunch, Centre for Women’s Global Leadership, who led the GEAR campaign asked “How can we access UN Women and what strategically needs to be done?”.  We need people to support their National Committees – first and foremost.  In doing that, we need to build a critical mass of people who are focused on the centrality of gender equality in achieving development outcomes – including the MDGs.

As the finishing touches are placed on the Australian Government statement which is expected to be delivered tomorrow morning, I remain confident that our Government will do more than most to ensure NGOs are included as a vital parft of the process.

Donelle Wheeler, Board Member