Background

UN-Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, seeks nominations of new members to serve on UN-Habitat’s Advisory Group on Gender Issues (AGGI). The AGGI was established in 2012 to advise the UN-Habitat Executive Director on all issues related to gender mainstreaming in the work of UN-Habitat.  The Group also provides strategic guidance and policy advice on the development, implementation and assessment of the Agency’s strategic plans, including its gender equality action plans.

The establishment of the AGGI was in response to the request by the UN-Habitat Governing Council at its twenty-third session in April 2011 (Governing Council Resolution 23/1) to the UN-Habitat Executive Director to strengthen UN-Habitat’s gender focus through, among other mechanisms, the establishment of an Advisory Group on Gender Issues.

The AGGI was officially launched during the sixth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF6) in Naples in September 2012 to serve for an initial period of two years until September 2014, but the term of the inaugural members was later extended by a year to September 2015.

This request for nomination is to fill the existing gaps in the representation of AGGI. It seeks to replace members from key constituencies that are underrepresented with a specific target on membership from the following groups:

a)     Committee of Permanent Representative (CPR) and government

b)     Private sector

c)      Foundation/civil society

d)     Local Authority

The selected members will serve for two years to September 2016.

 Composition

 The initial appointments to the AGGI consisted of 18 members appointed by the UN-Habitat Executive Director, taking into account the broadest possible representation, including age, regional and gender balances and professional backgrounds. This included representatives of women’s organizations (grassroots and professional organizations), civil society, academic institutions, the private sector, local authorities, policy makers and decisions makers in governments, and reflecting the Habitat Agenda Partners. Also included was a representative from our sister Agency UN Women, representatives from the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) to UN-Habitat and the donor country.

The members of the AGGI serve in their own capacity and are nominated and appointed on the basis of their experience and expertise on gender equality and empowerment of women in sustainable urban development; and their knowledge or experience in at least one of the UN-Habitat thematic priority areas. The AGGI is led by a Chair – Aminata Traore from Mali, who was elected by the membership in the inaugural meeting, held on September 2012 in Naples, Italy. Currently, the position of Vice Chair for the AGGI is vacant following the member’s reassignment to another duty station.

 AGGI Internal Matters Working Group (AIMWG)

As a measure to strengthen their operations and to enable members focus and give advice in their areas of expertise, the AGGI formed two main working groups – Internal and external matters working groups to deal with internal and external matters of the group. The AGGI Internal working group will be responsible for the selection of the AGGI replacements.

Nomination and Selection Process[1]

A pre-selection committee composed of 4 members (2 from UN-Habitat and 2 from AGGI) will oversee the intake of nominations and consolidate names of all nominees in a database considering the criteria indicated in the Terms of Reference (ToR) and the specific targeted groups indicated above. The committee will then submit a short-list of 10 nominees to the AGGI Internal Matters Working Group (AIMWG). The AIMWG will review the short-listed nominees, contact them to re-confirm their continued interest and make recommendations to the UN-Habitat Executive Director for approval.

Appointment 

The UN-Habitat Executive Director will take the final decision on the recommended nominees and officially appoint them to the AGGI.

How to be nominated or to send a nomination 

Please find enclosed copies of the terms of reference (with related annexes) and nomination form.

Whether you are self-nominating or nominating someone else, please complete and submit the enclosed nomination form via email to: pamela.murage@unhabitat.org

Nomination Period

 Opening Date: 24 September 2014

Closing Date: 11 October 2014

Download AGGI Membership Nomination Form

This process does not apply for CPR nominations.