Oct 2009 - Feb 2010 | DPI

DPI produced and disseminated in all its media outlets information on United Nations work to eliminate violence against women. These products were used by global broadcast and journalistic partners and were made available to the general public.Working in the six UN official languages as well as Kiswahili and Portuguese, UN Radio covered the issue of violence against women in news reports, interviews, and feature programmes. Features drew attention to different aspects of the issue, including domestic violence, the needs of women and girls in the aftermath of conflict, the Secretary-General's launch of a “Network of Men Leaders”, and celebrity advocacy to end the practice of rape as a weapon of war.UN Television produced programmes for broadcast partners around the world and in long-format magazine programmes attention was drawn to violence against women in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and domestic violence in Afghanistan. UNTV’s live pool and daily highlights packages provided news syndicators with coverage of relevant Secretary-General’s speeches and messages, meetings of the Security Council and press briefings. UNTV also made available on the Internet a number of materials, including coverage of the 30th anniversary commemoration of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the launch of the “Network of Men Leaders” and “UNiTE to end violence against women” campaign, and an event co-sponsored by the United States, the Netherlands, and Brazil on combating violence against girls.A wide range of UN activities to combat violence against women was covered on the UN News Centre portal in all official languages. The main site with searchable index can be viewed at www.un.org/news. Intergovernmental meetings, open press briefings and statements of UN senior leadership were covered by DPI, which issued press releases on violence against women, including press release statements of the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretary-General and press briefings.In September 2009, DPI assisted in coordinating the participation of Messenger of Peace Charlize Theron in recording a public service announcement for UN Action’s “Stop Rape Now!” campaign. DPI devoted the first issue of UN Chronicle on challenges women and girls face across the world, including essays and first-person accounts of war and sexual violence, safety of refugee women and girls and the UN system’s coordinated response to protecting the rights of women and girls everywhere.