The UN press office told me today that "no specific budget has been approved yet" for the new campaign to end violence against women launched on Monday with such fanfare by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. I was told that "the idea is that there will be additional money, but that it's not known how much this will be or when it will be determined."  In the meantime "the agencies already working to end violence are to continue their work". The whole focus of this year's CSW is ‘Financing for gender equality and women's empowerment.'

It is every human being's right not to be raped or beaten. The United Nations has condemned the pandemic of violence against women, on Monday it made a very public commitment to the thousands of women gathered here - and to those whose rights they are working to defend - that more would be done to end the violence against them, so why is there no specific budget for the campaign?  Why?