Denmark appoints first ambassador for gender equality

The former president of Chile and new head of United Nations Women, Michelle Bachelet, will "produce all the agreements and all the synergies" within the UN system and with Member States to run the new entity. Annual budget of  $500 million - double the current combined resources of the four agencies it comprises. Details of budget spending has not been published yet.

Ms. Anne-Marie Esper Larsen, 50, former Danish Ambassador to Morocco, to brand Denmark´s commitment to the promotion of gender equality and the MDG3 towards 2015.

Denmark has appointed Ms. Anne-Marie Esper Larsen,50, former Danish Ambassador to Morocco, as Danish Ambassador for Gender Equality. This could be seen as a further step to brand Denmark as a progressive country regarding this issue.

"The appointment of a Danish Ambassador for Gender Equality underlines Denmark’s continued commitment to the promotion of gender equality and the MDG3 towards 2015. The Ambassador will provide a great opportunity for more prominent Danish participation in many international gender fora," the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs states on it´s home page..

"Ambassador Esper Larsen will be participating in the MDG High-level meeting in New York, September 2010 and in relevant meetings and events, including the MDG3 side event, co-hosted by Denmark, Senegal and UNIFEM.

Some of the main tasks of the Ambassador will be to attract attention to and initiate debate on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women internationally, and to raise awareness among the general public in Denmark about these important issues."  

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were developed out of the eight chapters of the United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000. There are eight goals with 21 targets, and a series of measurable indicators for each target: 

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women:

Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015

  • Ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education

  • Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector

  • Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

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Read more:
www.um.dk
www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/