Measures

On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, UNESCO HQ organized a workshop on policies to prevent VAW. The workshop brought together different stakeholders who engaged in a dialogue on new ways to combat and prevent VAW and enabled them to make recommendations on concrete and realisable policies. Hide

Within the framework of UNESCO's International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), which is the only multilateral forum in the UN system designed to mobilize the international community to discuss and promote media development in developing countries, and especially through radio broadcasting, the following projects have been developed:- “Capacity Building of Radio Journalists Working on Gender Violence” in Mexico: a series of workshops will be organized for 40 female and male community radio journalists in human rights, non-sexist language and gender based violence, with a view to enabling them to communicate and interact with other communities and with each other on issues pertaining to violence against women. The aim is to create gender-sensitive community radio programmes and increase the media coverage of issues related to gender based violence and discrimination against women. - “Radio Nari Aawaj” in Nepal. UNESCO and the NGO Hamro Aawaj, Hamro Sarokar (Our Voice, Our Concern) has established the radio station “Radio Nari Aawaj” (Radio Women’s Voice), a community radio station managed and operated by women living in the remote Jumla district. The aim of the radio station is to create and broadcast programmes on women’s rights and the elimination of violence against women. The target audience is rural women residents in 30 villages, as well as women living in four villages in the neighboring districts of Kalikot (West) and Dolpa (East). - “Enhancing Women's Roles and Voices in Media” in the Palestinian occupied Territory: the project seeks to provide training to rural women and girls on radio broadcasting, reporting skills and radio programme production to raise awareness of domestic violence and violence in schools, and inform the women of their rights. - “Rural Radio for the Youth and Women of Bukavu” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project strives to give a voice to girls and boys and women by setting up a radio station in 13 villages around the Bukavu area. A three-week course on ethics, code of conduct and training methods will be conducted, and a separate six-day training course will also be organized, focusing on broadcasting skills, targeting specifically women and young girls victims of abuse. Hide

DPI’s UN Radio produced a variety of programmes in the six UN official languages plus Kiswahili and Portuguese on the issue of violence against women (VAW), including features on gender selection of boys and a special programme on honour crimes in Jordan. UN Television covered the issue of violence against women in several of its features for the magazine programme 21st Century, including on a woman’s fight for justice in Bangladesh, and the fate of widows in India. DPI’s UNifeed disseminated 10 relevant news stories, while UN Webcast made meetings and 23 events on the issue at UN Headquarters available to audiences online.DPI’s UN News Centre produced 61 news stories highlighting the issue, with stories available online, through social media and by email to 40,000 subscribers. A special package was produced focusing on the UN's efforts to end violence against women in Haiti. The Department produced a total of 29 official press releases (in English and French) on the issue.DPI raised awareness on VAW throughout the UN Secretariat via several stories published on iSeek, the Organization’s intranet, and deleGATE, the site aimed at diplomatic missions. DPI’s Group Programmes unit organized nine in-house briefings at UN Headquarters on the issue for 274 students. Hide

The Department of Public Information (DPI) was heavily involved in promotion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November 2011. DPI updated and developed new press and campaign materials, and the key message emphasized in media materials – the call for resources for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women – was picked up prominently in the media coverage. A short video, “Youth Voices on Ending Violence against Women”, was produced and launched ahead of the Day. Hide

Both in the lead-up to the International Day and throughout the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, DPI highlighted ending violence against women and girls on its UN social media platforms – including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Sina Weibo – with related content posted on a daily basis.In all regions, DPI’s network of UN Information Centres organized numerous activities and events to mark the International Day, often in cooperation with government and civil society partners. The UN Regional Information Centre in Brussels organized and held Create4the UN, a Europe-wide ad campaign on the theme “Say No to Violence against Women”, which attracted over 2,700 entries from 42 countries with over 120,000 people casting votes. The competition generated widespread media coverage and was picked up extensively on social media. Hide

In Haiti, the eight regional offices of the Human Rights Section of MINUSTAH conducted several sensitizations activities on international human rights instruments for the protection and promotion of the rights of women, the Haitian legal procedures for the prosecution of sexual crimes and the protection of women’s rights in the event of natural disasters. Hide

In October 2011, the ECA organized jointly with Mentoring and Empowerment Programme for Young Women (MEMPROW) a sub-regional advocacy workshop in Zambia on violence against young women and girls in centers of learning. The workshop identified issues affecting girls’ performance and retention in the context of VAW and made recommendations to improve policy and practice. Hide

The ECA organized a sub-regional workshop in Morocco in March 2011 on the CEDAW Convention which focused on the removal of reservations and the ratification of the CEDAW Optional Protocol in North Africa. Violence against women was one of the key issues deliberated upon. Hide

In commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, ESACP reported that an awareness raising exhibit was displayed in the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, including winning T-shirts from the UNiTE campaign T-Shirt Design Competition. Hide

At the country level, UNAIDS has provided catalytic funding through its Joint UN Teams to twenty-three (23) countries for actions to reduce gender‐based violence through HIV responses, in particular highlighting the critical contribution of violence to HIV transmission, as well as its consequences in terms of non-utilization of services. UNAIDS also supported advocacy and capacity development on addressing violence against women in eight countries, through the civil society coalition Women Won’t Wait and resulting advocacy messages used for the High-Level Meeting on AIDS. Hide