IMPROVING LIVES: RESULTS FROM THE PARTNERSHIP OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN 2006

By the United Nations Office in Brussels (www.un.org)

"Improving Lives: Results from the partnership of the United Nations and the European Commission in 2006" is a new report detailing the achievements of the extensive cooperation between the European Commission and UN agencies, funds, and programs in many different parts of the world.

The partnership between the United Nations and the European Commission deserves to be more visible to citizens and policy makers, especially those of the European Union, who may not be fully informed of the joint work on the ground, aiming at improving the lives of millions of human beings in over 100 countries.

This report attempts to go some way in that direction, exposing the results of that partnership in 2006, in the domains of humanitarian and development assistance, conflict prevention and post-conflict recovery, on the basis of evidence collected in each of the countries where the joint work has been applied.

Frequently, the results were achieved in collaboration with other partners and with civil society organizations. In all cases, the achievements were made possible first and foremost through the efforts of the governments and citizens of the countries concerned. What was achieved rightly belongs to those governments and their societies.

The European Commission’s support of the multilateral agenda and of the work of the United Nations has become increasingly vibrant and essential. Both institutions strive to deepen and improve their cooperation even further. The significant findings of this report constitute, in my opinion, a clear encouragement to do so.

UNITED NATIONS FOR KIDS

By Andreas Sandre von Warburg (YouTube)

Created and directed by Andreas S. von Warburg, "United Nations for kids" is a short cartoon documentary about the UN and its mission. The first episode is a general introduction and includes a little historical background and details on the principal bodies of the UN (subtitles in English and other languages are available at dotSub). The second episode is an introduction to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and efforts to achieve them by 2015.

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WHY IS KOFI ANNAN NOT A WOMAN? GENDER AND LEADERSHP AT THE UN

By Erika Suban and Andreas Sandre von Warburg (www.undocumentary.com)

Since its foundation in 1945, the United Nations has been struggling to achieve gender balance at the Secretariat and improve the status of women in the UN system. The United Nation is still not the most hospitable place for women and does not seem fully committed to repair the imbalance. In the past decade, a few women have been appointed at the helm of Agencies, Funds, and Programs worldwide, but no woman has ever had the opportunity to lead the Organization as Secretary-General.

Now that Ban Ki-moon has taken over from Kofi Annan as the eight Secretary-General, it seems clear that the UN has a long way to go in order to achieve the goals set in 1995 at the Beijing's 4th World Conference on Women, chiefly among those a 50/50 gender distribution within the Secretariat by the year 2000.

"Why is Kofi Annan not a woman?" aims at exploring gender and leadership issues within the United Nations, as well as the recent developments towards a more gender-balanced management.

In March 2006, in his address for the celebrations of International Women's Day, Annan said, "the world is ready for a woman Secretary-General." Is the statement an important step forward for the United Nations and its leadership? Is it a considerable achievement for all women around the world? Mechanisms established by the General Assembly to improve gender balance at all professional levels have not yet been put in place and women, especially those in high ranking positions, still feel discriminated against. Many still see the United Nations and the world of international relations as a "boys club" domain, still closed to women.

The documentary was premiered in New York, at Scandinavia House, in October 2006 and has been screened around the United States in schools and college campuses, including Columbia University. It premiered in Europe in February 2008, at the United Nations Regional Information Center in Brussels (UNRIC), during the celebrations of International Women's Day.