Finland supports the activities of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues at the UN Regional Office in Beirut

Press release 97/2010
30 March 2010

Finland has granted 400,000 euros to the Beirut Regional Office of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to support the work of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues in North Africa and the Middle East in 2010–2011. The work of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues strives to promote and secure the implementation of women’s human rights and basic freedoms by providing expert assistance for the region’s governments, international organisations and civil society actors and by ensuring that realisation of women’s rights is a cross-cutting theme in all OHCHR projects.

The OHCHR has worked consistently to strengthen its expertise in issues pertaining to gender equality. The first step taken was the establishment in 2006 of the Women’s Rights and Gender Unit (WRGU) at the OHCHR headquarters. As the second step, the OHCHR has striven to strengthen its expertise by hiring special advisers on gender issues for its field offices; it is expected that these advisers will bring about considerable capacity reinforcement in the local offices.

The Regional Office of the OHCHR for North Africa and the Middle East, located in Beirut, Lebanon, was set up in 2002. In 2008–2009 the Regional Office’s priorities included acting on behalf of freedom of expression, refugee rights, and women’s rights. In addition, attention has been paid to freedom of activities for civil society, trade unions and human rights advocates.

Additional information: Administrator Elina Dakash, [email protected], tel. +358 9 1605 6161, Counsellor Ari Mäki, [email protected], tel. +358 9 1605 6396, Head of Unit Helena Tuuri, [email protected], tel. +358 9 1605 6538, Unit for the Middle East and North Africa