The promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women is the responsibility of the whole United Nations system.

1. UN entities specifically focused on gender equality

A number of entities of the United Nations are specifically focused on gender equality and empowerment of women. They play an important catalytic role to ensure that Member States, all parts of the United Nations system, civil society and all other stakeholders, actively promote gender equality and empowerment of women and give attention to gender perspectives in their work.

Office of the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/

The Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women advises the Secretary-General on gender equality issues. She monitors, supports and reports on gender mainstreaming throughout the work of the United Nations system as well as gender equality (including gender balance and gender-sensitive work environments) within the United Nations itself. The Special Adviser also provides leadership and coordinates the work of the United Nations on gender equality and empowerment of women through the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality .

United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/

The Division for the Advancement of Women in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, supports and monitors the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the Platform for Action. The Division services the Commission on the Status of Women, the global policy-making body in the United Nations, as well as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) – the expert body which monitors implementation of the Convention. The Division works to ensure the active involvement of non-governmental organizations in these processes. It also services the work of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on gender mainstreaming, as well as the work of the General Assembly on women and development, including rural women, and on the human rights of women, including violence against women. The Division has a very small programme of advisory services and technical cooperation programmes to developing countries, usually carried out at regional or sub-regional level, and focused on capacity-building for implementation of global commitments and treaty body obligations. In addition, the Division has a small publication programme.

United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
http://www.un-instraw.org/en/

INSTRAW is mandated to promote and undertake research and training programmes to contribute to the advancement of women and gender equality worldwide. INSTRAW promotes applied research on gender equality, facilitates information sharing, and supports capacity building through networking mechanisms and multi-stakeholder partnerships with United Nations agencies, governments, academia and civil society. INSTRAW is funded through voluntary contributions from United Nations Member States and donor agencies. INSTRAW conducts research in four key areas: Gender, migration and remittances; Gender, governance and women's political participation; Gender, peace and security; and Gender and financing for development. It has developed an online guide for gender mainstreaming, with links to an extensive collection of resources. INSTRAW operates a Gender Training Wiki , which provides a comprehensive database of gender training and training materials offered by international, governmental and non-governmental organizations. http://www.un-instraw.org/wiki/training/index.php/Main_Page

United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
http://www.unifem.org/

UNIFEM provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies to foster women's empowerment and gender equality in four strategic areas: (1) reducing feminized poverty, (2) ending violence against women, (3) reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS among women and girls, and (4) achieving gender equality in democratic governance in times of peace as well as war.

UNIFEM operates four thematic web portals:

Women, Peace and Security ( http://www.womenwarpeace.org/ )
Gender and HIV/AIDS ( http://www.genderandaids.org/ )
Gender Responsive Budget Initiatives ( http://www.idrc.ca/gender-budgets/ )
Gender Equality and the MDGs ( http://www.mdgender.net/ )

2. Promotion of gender equality in the work of the whole United Nations system

All entities in the United Nations are required to give attention to gender equality and the empowerment of women in all areas of their work, whether in the areas of health, education, employment, trafficking, peace and security, HIV/AIDS, etc.

Direct Links are given below to a number of entities with field operations in Africa .

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
http://www.unfpa.org/

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
http://www.undp.org/women/

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
http://www.unesco.org/women

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/

International Labour Organization (ILO)
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/gender/gender.home

World Health Organization (WHO)
http://www.who.int/gender/en/

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
http://www.fao.org/gender/

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
http://www.ifad.org/gender/index.htm

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP)

United National Human Settlement Programme (UNHSP-UN-Habitat)

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

United Nations Volunteers (UNV)

WorldBank
http://www.worldbank.org/gender

World Health Organization (WHO)

Access can also be gained to the gender equality work of all entities of the United Nations system through the inter-agency portal, Women Watch.

WomenWatch
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/

WomenWatch is a central gateway to information and resources on the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women throughout the United Nations system, including the United Nations Secretariat, regional commissions, funds, programmes and specialized agencies. The portal includes a directory of resources providing access to specific information on selected topics - such as the Critical Areas of Concern from the Platform for Action or other cross-cutting or topical issues, including gender mainstreaming. The directory provides links to web pages of United Nations entities and/or to individual documents prepared by entities. Documents on the portal are available in the language in which they were produced.

Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE)
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/ianwge/

The Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) is a network of Gender Focal Points in United Nations offices, specialized agencies, funds and programmes. The Network has played a central role in promoting gender equality throughout the United Nations system and in follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 and the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly in 2000. The Network also coordinates and monitors the mainstreaming of gender perspectives in the normative and operational work of the UN system.

3. Regional level

African Center for Gender and Social Development, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
http://www.uneca.org/eca_programmes/acgd/

The regional commissions in other regions are a further source of information on gender equality and the empowerment of women:

Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
http://www.unescap.org/esid/GAD/

Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
http://www.escwa.org.lb/ecw/

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)
http://www.eclac.org/mujer/

Economic Commission for Europe (ECE)
http://www.unece.org/oes/gender/