[6] In response to UN General Assembly resolution 63/311, in January 2010 the Secretary-General presented report A/64/588, entitled Comprehensive Proposal for the Composite Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

Additionally, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon estimated that approximately $125 million per annum were needed for operating costs and "start-up" capacity at the country, regional, and headquarters levels.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced at the founding of the movement that he was "grateful to Member States for having taken this major step forward for the world's women and girls.

[11] On 11 March 2011, John Hendra of Canada and Lakshmi Puri of India were appointed as first deputy executive directors at the level of UN Assistant Secretary-General.

The General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) constitute the governance structure that sets forth the normative policy guiding principles of the Entity.

The intergovernmental governance structure in charge of providing operational policy guidance to UN Women includes the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the organization's executive board.

[citation needed] The latter consist of 41 members, elected by the Economic and Social Council for a term of three years and distributed as follows: The resources required to fund all normative processes are obtained from the Entity's regular budget and approved by the General Assembly, whereas the budget for service operational processes and activities at all levels are funded from voluntary contributions and approved by the executive board of UN Women.

In addition, the entity must lead, coordinate, and promote the accountability of the United Nations system in its work on gender equality and women's empowerment.

"[3] In accordance with the provisions of resolution 64/289, UN Women is to work within the framework of the UN Charter and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, including its 12 critical areas of concern and the outcome of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly, as well as other applicable UN instruments, standards, and resolutions that address gender equality and the empowerment and advancement of women.

Users can search though the database by keyword, and legal provisions are grouped into 16 categories that were carefully defined by reviewing the constitutions from a human rights perspective.

[45][46] In regards to a deleted post condemning the Hamas attacks, a representative for UN Women gave a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency saying, “In any social media team managing multiple campaigns and during a very busy time like the one we are now in with 16 Days of Activism, mistakes can occur.”[40] Israel's ambassador to the UN criticized UN Women and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for the delay in calling an investigation into the sexual violence committed by Hamas on 7 October 2023.