New York, April 27 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been elected to the executive board of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women or UN Women for a three-year term.

The UAE's term begins Jan 1, 2012 and ends Dec 31, 2015.

The elections were held during a session of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in New York.

Elected from the Asian Group along with the UAE, to fill five vacant seats, were the Philippines, Solomon Islands, Thailand and the Maldives.

In July 2010, the UN General Assembly created UN Women in a historic step to accelerate the UN's goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Then, the board members were selected on the following basis -- 10 from Africa, 10 from Asia, four from eastern Europe, six from Latin America and the Caribbean, five from western Europe and six from contributing countries.

--IANS/WAM

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