Merger between the United Nations Population Fund and UN Women
On 23 July, GWI participated in a virtual consultation with civil society on the “UN80” process and the proposed merger between UNFPA and UN Women. The session provided an update on the Strategic Merger Assessment and the Joint Alternative Options Paper. Civil society organizations were invited to provide their views on whether integrating UNFPA and UN Women into a single institutional framework could strengthen the coherence, political weight and comprehensive implementation of actions on gender equality, women’s empowerment, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. The consultation also examined whether other alignment options could achieve these goals, while safeguarding existing mandates under CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for Action and the ICPD Programme of Action. It explores several possible avenues for merging as part of the UN80 reform process. The evaluation identifies the creation of a new “combined” entity as the main option for continuing technical work. This entity would bring together the key mandates and functions of both organizations into a single framework. In parallel, an additional document outlines alternative options to a full merger, including more integrated implementation at the country level, a joint strategic framework to end violence against women and girls, greater collaboration on data and analytics related to Sustainable Development Goal 5, and enhanced operational interoperability.