Women from over 50 countries accuse UN Secretary General Kofi Annan of paying lip service to gender equality.

(March 07, 2006) More than 240 women from over 50 countries accused Secretary-General Kofi Annan of paying lip service to gender equality but failing to take action to promote women and women's rights. In an open letter to Annan, the women said on Monday they were disappointed and frankly outraged that strengthening the U.N. machinery focusing on women is not a central part of the U.N.'s reform agenda. They also expressed deep concern that the position of women in high-level U.N. posts has stagnated. At a news conference to highlight the letter, Charlotte Bunch, executive director of the Center for Women's Global Leadership, said: “We are really disappointed that once more we have to be here asking, 'Where are the women? Where's the money? Where's the commitment in concrete terms? Although we've had a lot of rhetorical commitment to women's rights, it still hasn't made it on to the big agenda of U.N. reform,” she lamented. The women who signed the letter are attending the 50^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women and come from over 70 organizations. They urged Annan in his address to the commission on Wednesday, which is International Women's Day, to announce concrete proposals for advancing gender equality and strengthening the U.N. bodies that work for women's rights.