National machineries are diverse in form and uneven in their effectiveness, and in some cases have declined. Often marginalized in national government structures, these mechanisms are frequently hampered by unclear mandates, lack of adequate staff, training, data and sufficient resources, and insufficient support from national political leadership.

The Beijing Platform for Action urges governments to give their national institutions for the advancement of women the serious consideration they deserve and recommends:

• Creating or strengthening national machineries and other governmental bodies;
• Integrating gender perspectives in legislation, public policies, programmes and projects;
• Generating and disseminating data and information--broken down by gender--for planning and evaluation.

Since the ICPD and the Beijing Conference, many countries have invested in the establishment or strengthening of their national machineries for the advancement of women. In most countries, special women's bureaux or ministries for women's affairs now exist. However, in many instances these are still marginalized, under-staffed and under-funded, which severely hampers their effectiveness.

Supporting National Machineries
for the Advancement of Women

UNFPA provides funding for programmes and projects to NGOs working for the advancement of women, and the Fund’s country programmes reinforce government efforts to develop institutional mechanisms for this purpose as well.

For example, UNFPA supports a project in Papua New Guinea: the organization Papua New Guinea Women in Politics is trying to draw attention to women's issues while advocating women's empowerment. The goal is to enhance women's political participation and their representation in government at all levels. The group's activities include sharing lessons learned and best practices with the government and its institutions. The project has helped educate political candidates and voters about the government systems, and inform the public service and legislative systems about women's issues.

In the Philippines, UNFPA provides funding to local NGOs working in 18 provinces and complements services provided by the government. The NGOs provide services to hard-to-reach groups like sex workers, unmarried women and adolescents. They also provide services for underserved poor and marginalized populations. By offering gender-sensitive services and information, education and communication activities, these NGOs promote women's empowerment, increase male participation, and address adolescent reproductive health concerns.

During the formal review of the implementation of ICPD agreements ("ICPD + 5"), many UNFPA country offices reported revisions of population policies and related institutional changes; legal and constitutional reforms to better protect women's rights and promote gender equality; and efforts to strengthen and reorganize health services to reduce maternal mortality and comprehensively address reproductive health concerns.

In Iran, for instance, UNFPA is supporting a programme that strengthens the Bureau of Women's Affairs. The Fund's assistance is used to make sure gender concerns are included in the development process by providing nation-wide gender sensitization training, which is undertaken to increase the involvement of women in policy-making at both the national and the provincial levels.