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U.N. Women's Development Fund

The United Nations Development Fund for Women, or UNIFEM, the voice for women at the United Nations, supports women's struggle for equal rights worldwide including economic potential and human rights. UNIFEM provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programs and strategies that promote women's human rights, political participation and security.

In 2003, UNIFEM retained Ruder Finn's Global Issues Communications Group with the goal of expanding the organization's visibility among target audiences to gain political and financial support for the agency's programs and partnerships. The challenge facing RF GlobeComm was how to ensure UNIFEM's mission received prominent coverage in the U.S. press and reached national and international policymakers with its messages. It was particularly important to reach the Bush Administration and Congress, which decide on specific budgetary allocations to UNIFEM.

 

 

OBJECTIVES

• Enhance UNIFEM's reputation in order to build increased resources for its programs and regional initiatives.
• Draw attention to the needs and inequality of women worldwide, and leverage support for women from a wide range of stakeholders.
• Influence U.S. and international policymakers.

PROGRAM

• Linking UNIFEM's core issues with current political and economic events to increase the organization's visibility in association with other high profile agendas through a strategic op-ed campaign.
• Development and distribution of press releases regarding UNIFEM's initiatives and programs to generate interest in the worldwide advocacy campaigns of UNIFEM Executive Director Dr. Noeleen Heyzer.
• Initiated new collaborative programs, such as the “Business Council for Peace,” that work to strengthen the capacity and leadership of women's organizations and networks.
• Development of new materials that clearly detailed the impact of UNIFEM's work.

RESULTS

• The timing of the first op-ed article was to coincide with the end of the formal military action in Iraq. Its goal was to elevate the importance of women's roles in the reconstruction of the country and direct national and multinational resources to that effort. The first published op-ed by UNIFEM Executive Director Dr. Noeleen Heyzer appeared in The International Herald Tribune and subsequently appeared in Milwaukee Sentinel Journal, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Chicago Sun-Times, Boston Globe, Daily Times of Pakistan and Aftenposten.
• A range of Web sites, including Harvard's Women Waging Peace and the Feminist Majority Foundation, also carried the first bylined piece and helped galvanize attention and support from the network of women's NGOs nationally and internationally.
• To draw national attention to the central role that women play in the rapid transmission of HIV/AIDS and the need to generate resources to women, a second op-ed was drafted and successfully placed in The Washington Post. It also appeared afterwards appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, Oakland Tribune, Alameda Times Star, St. Paul Pioneer Press and The Record (Albany, NY).
• The Washington Post article subsequently provided additional credibility and support for a series of UNIFEM briefings on Capitol Hill and helped reinforce the central role of UNIFEM in addressing the gender dimensions of the pandemic and reinforced its pitch for greater U.S. funding.
• A third op-ed piece was developed to help galvanize public attention to women's equality during the development of a new national infrastructure in Afghanistan. The article, detailing why it is imperative that equal rights for women be included in the constitution, appeared in The New York Times on December 3, 2003. According to UNIFEM directors, the article brought significant attention to the issue, both within the U.N. system and among donor governments to Afghanistan (including the United States).
• The third article catalyzed a dialogue among national and international policymakers that eventually led to the inclusion of stipulations ensuring equal rights for women within the new constitution.
• On the subject of women's role in the reconstruction of Iraq, other print media coverage included Associated Press, Agence France-Press, Inter Press News Service, Dow Jones International News, Australian Associated Press, Canadian Press, Chicago Tribune, South China Morning Post, All Africa and other international publications.