Jul 2007 | UN-Habitat

UN-Habitat emphasizes programmes and strategies aimed at preventing violence against women and, to that end, promotes partnerships between all concerned stakeholders. It encourages the consultation and participation of women at each phase of a project or activity.Through the Safer Cities Programme, women safety audits and exploratory walks aim at an urban environment safer for all its inhabitants. Participants, mainly women, identify areas where the potential for crime is high or where women or other persons may feel unsafe. Based on the Canadian experience, safety audits were adapted to the reality of many cities in Africa, Latin America and Asia and the Pacific. At the national level, UN-Habitat has developed tools for, and implemented, women’s safety audits in several cities, as well as partnerships to enhance women’s safety. The Safer Cities Programme promotes the documentation and exchange of practices and lessons learnt; and the Women City networks at the regional and international level and between regions. Examples include: seminars and international conferences organized in Frankfurt, Naples, Nairobi, Antananarivo, Johannesburg, Montreal and Kampala; and the replication of tools and training sessions carried out in Johannesburg, Frankfurt, Montreal, Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam.UN-Habitat co-organized the first international conference on “Women’s Safety: Making the links” (Montreal, 2002). Direct outcomes of this conference were the development of networks on women and cities and the Women's Safety Awards.In the Eastern Africa Region, Safer Cities collaborated with the non-governmental organization Raising Voices to co-organize a regional dialogue in 2003, which brought together representatives of non-governmental organizations and local authorities to discuss several aspects of prevention of violence against women.