Bishkek, 20 February 2008 – The European Commission (EC), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITC/ILO) are promoting a consultation meeting with key national stakeholders involved in development processes in Un House to discuss gender equality and the shift of the aid architecture toward new, more effective, modalities of development assistance.

The consultation is part of a broader programme “EC/UN Partnership for Gender Equality in Development and Peace”, which is being implemented in twelve pilot countries to explore how the commitment by developing and donor countries to the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness – including its strong focus on national ownership and mutual accountability – is influencing support for gender equality and women’s empowerment. The Paris Declaration also calls for better coordination of donor activities to support the achievement of the eight globally-agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Gender equality is a goal in its own right, and central to the achievement of all the eight MDGs.

The “National Consultation on Gender and Aid Effectiveness” will be held in UN House 18 -20 February 2008 and will be attended by the Economic and Social Policies Department Administration of President and other governmental bodies involved in promoting women rights and gender equality, the ministries involved in financing and planning development and other government partners in the line Ministries, members of the Parliament, civil society organizations, women’s groups and networks, academic institutions involved in research on gender and aid effectiveness and on development planning, the European Commission, other bilateral and multilateral organizations and representatives of the UN Country Team.

The main themes in the Agenda are the presentation and discussion of the findings of the Mapping Study on Gender Equality and Aid Effectiveness in Kyrgyzstan, conducted in the past 5 months under the EC/UN Partnership, and the future of gender equality in the national planning and budgeting processes. The outcomes of the consultation will be brought to the upcoming Ghana High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in September 2008.

For further information, contact:
Anastasia Divinskaya, UNIFEM Gender Adviser to UN Resident Coordinator
Tel.: 61 12 13
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