International Governmental Organizations

International Organizations

European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research
The European Centre is an international centre for social research, policy, information and training. It is an intergovernmental organization focused on social welfare, affiliated to the United Nations.

International Monetary Fund
The IMF is an international organization of 183 member countries, established to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability, and orderly exchange arrangements; to foster economic growth and high levels of employment; and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries to help ease balance of payments adjustment.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
The OECD groups 30 member countries sharing a commitment to democratic government and the market economy. With active relationships with some 70 other countries, NGOs and civil society, it has a global reach. Best known for its publications and its statistics, its work covers economic and social issues from macroeconomics, to trade, education, development and science and innovation.

WHO - Department of Women's Health
Links to numerous resources on specialized international health topics for women. Information on Female Genial Mutilation, HIV/AIDS, Tobacco, Violence, plus the WHO Review of Activities for Bejiing +5 are all available. The Department of Women's Health also has listed various fact sheets on Women's Health.


United Nations

United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW)
Grounded in the vision of equality of the United Nations Charter, the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), as part of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) of the United Nations Secretariat, advocates the improvement of the status of the women. It aims to ensure the participation of women as equal partners with men in all aspects of human endeavour. It promotes women as equal participants and beneficiaries of sustainable development, peace and security, governance and human rights. Host of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as well as the Beijing Follow-Up. DESA also offers other links related to the advancement.

United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW)
INSTRAW is an autonomous body of the United Nations mandated to promote and undertake policy-oriented research and training programs for the advancement of women worldwide. It focuses on the gender impact of globalization on the advancement of women. INSTRAW has recently embarked on a new vision and working method based on the Gender Awareness Information and Networking System - GAINS. GAINS is a global knowledge-building, networking and information dissemination system to promote women's empowerment, consisting of a global database of gender-related resources; a Platform of Researchers and Trainers; a decentralized network of national focal points and regional nodes; and a network of ICT specialists.

United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) was established in 1946 as a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council to prepare recommendations and reports to the Council on promoting women's rights in political, economic, civil, social and educational fields. The Commission also makes recommendations to the Council on urgent problems requiring immediate attention in the field of women's rights. The object of the Commission is to promote implementation of the principle that men and women shall have equal rights.

UNIFEM
UNIFEM promotes women's empowerment and gender equality. It works to ensure the participation of women in all levels of development planning and practice, and acts as a catalyst within the UN system, supporting efforts that link the needs and concerns of women to all critical issues on the national, regional, and global agendas. Since its creation in 1976 as a innovative and catalytic fund, UNIFEM has supported numerous projects and initiatives throughout the developing world that promote the political, economic, and social empowerment of women.

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
UNRISD is an autonomous agency that carries out research on the social dimensions of contemporary problems affecting development. Through its research, UNRISD stimulates dialogue and contributes to policy debates on key issues of social development within and outside the United Nations system.

WomenWatch
WomenWatch is a joint UN project to create a core Internet space on global women's issues. It was created to monitor the results of the Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing in 1995. It was founded in March 1997 by the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).