Gender equality is crucial to the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and this key was once again emphasized on the eve of the International Women's Day.

"There will be no progress on MDGs unless there is progress on gender equality," said Garen Nazarian, chair of the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

To achieve gender equality and women's empowerment is listed as the third MDG, alongside seven globally-agreed targets to halve poverty, hunger, illiteracy and other social problems by 2015.

"It's not just about talking gender equality itself, but it's much wider related to the fulfillment of the MDGs," added Nazarian who is the permanent representative of the Armenian mission to the United Nations.

"We should take the issue (of gender equality) very seriously," he said.

As this year marks the 15th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women, the Commission on the Status of Women is meeting at the UN Headquarters to assess progress made since the adoption of the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995.

Nazarian said the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action remain the most comprehensive global policy framework documents for achieving the goals of gender equality, development and peace.

The Beijing documents have called for action on 12 key issues: poverty, education and training, health, violence against women, armed conflict, economy, power and decision-making, institutional mechanisms, human rights, media, environment, and girls.

Progress has been made in those areas, said Nazarian, highlighting areas of women poverty, education and issues related to sexual and reproductive health.

"I am happy to notice that stakeholders in all countries and all societies, including governments, NGOs, are very actively engaged with the prevention initiatives as it was set by Beijing Platform of Action. All these initiatives have led to the improvements of women's status," Nazarian said.

He also mentioned data collection as regards violence against women, which is important to the protection of women's rights.

Last September, it was announced that four UN agencies and offices -- including the UN Development Fund for Women -- would be amalgamated to create a new single entity within the world body to promote the rights and well-being of women worldwide and to work toward gender equality.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the UN General Assembly to adopt a resolution "without delay" to set up this new entity.

The proposal of setting up such a super agency for women in the UN would help with better coordination and efficiency in the future as far as the gender equality and empowerment of women are concerned, said Nazarian.

"This would be a very positive step toward fulfillment of the programs already stipulated in the MDGs as far as gender equality is concerned," he said.

Yet the battle for gender equality is far from won. According to UN statistics, three-fifths of the 1 billion poorest people are girls and women. Girls still account for more than half the world's out-of-school children; two-thirds of the 759 million adult illiterates are women.

Women are under-represented in political decision-making. They are often trapped in insecure low-paid positions; are more vulnerable in times of economic and financial crisis, and are more exposed to violence in situations of armed conflicts.

Other setbacks like the continuous epidemic of violence against women in some parts of the world and the increasing impact of HIV/AIDS on women are still principal obstacles in this area.

"I think the Commission (on the Status of Women) provides the opportunity to address these matters," said Nazarian.

"Very soon, we will have panel discussions, an interactive event where the experts and the governments can meet each other in a more depth manner and a more precise manner to address these issues," he added.

Talking about the prospects of the commission, a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council established in 1946 to advocate equality between men and women, Nazarian said he saw its established role growing in the future.

"The commission provides an ample opportunity for dialogue among stakeholders and also to share experiences and exchange views on good practices we have in all countries. I am confident that it will be more instrumental, and to play an instrumental role on gender equality and empowerment of women," said Nazarian.

(Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2010)