UN Women

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for the empowerment of women.

UN Women became operational in January 2011. Former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet was the inaugural Executive Director, and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is the current Executive Director. As with UNIFEM previously, UN Women is a member of the United Nations Development Group.
UN Women is empowered to:

• support intergovernmental bodies, such as the Commission on the Status of Women, in their formulation of policies, global standards, and norms
• help UN member states implement the above standards, standing ready to provide suitable technical and financial support to those countries that request it and to forge effective partnerships with civil society
• enable member states to hold the UN system accountable for its own commitments on gender equality, including regular monitoring of system-wide progress