UNIFEM/USNC. Chicago Chapter.

Women's rights advocacy group. The Greater Chicago Chapter of the U.S. Committee for UNIFEM- The United Nations Development Fund for Women (called here the Chicago Chapter) began in 1989 as a volunteer organization that worked to support projects in developing nations of the world through affiliation with UNIFEM. The chapter was formed to build awareness in the Chicago community of the key role women play in reaching development goals, to raise funds to support UNIFEM activities, to provide speakers to Chicago area organizations and schools, and to work with other local, national, and international organizations that share their goals for women. The basic concern of the organization was to support and strive for the civil and political rights of women and recognition of women as equal partners in society. UNIFEM was created in 1976 by the UN General Assembly as the Volunteer Fund for the UN Decade for Women. Renamed in 1985, it works in autonomous association with the UN Development Program. UNIFEM's program areas focus on women's economic and political empowerment.