I. UNIFEM National Committee Meetings in New York and London

UNIFEM/USA hosted a meeting of the Global Coalition in New York City at UNIFEM’s headquarters in late February during the first week of the meetings on the Commission on the Status of Women where they shared the considerable work each Committee has accomplished regarding UN Reform. The Coalition members also listened to a briefing by Barbara Adams, Chief of Strategic Partnerships for UNIFEM, updating them on the current status of reform efforts as they related to UNIFEM.

In May, the US National Committee had representation at a full meeting of the Global Coalition in London hosted by the National Committee of the United Kingdom. The 12 National Committees met in London to 1) discuss the future of the Global Coalition and 2) continue actions in support of a high-level women’s fund at the United Nations in the context of UN Reform. Based on the understanding that global cooperation and public-private partnerships are essential to achieving gender equality, women’s empowerment and the UN Millennium Development Goals, the meeting participants created the London Action Plan 2007 that documents the goals of the Coalition. The Action Plan is available on the UNIFEM intranet site and on UNIFEM/USA’s website www.unifemusa.org. At this meeting, Sheryl Swed agreed to co-chair the coordination of the Coalition with Juliet Coleman, former president of the UK Committee. The next meeting of the Coalition will be hosted by the Iceland Committee in September 2008.