Measures

In support of the regional component of the Secretary General campaign “UNiTE to end violence against women” in Latin America, UNDP organized a Knowledge Fair on Violence against women, consisted in systematization of experiences from governmental and nongovernmental actors in the region; organization of experiences exchange and dialogue roundtables in different issues and exhibition of the experiences; creation of a virtual space with all the information about the Knowledge Fair to get access to everyone. Hide

In Timor-Leste, the UNDP National Parliament Project is providing technical support to the National Parliament as it deliberates the draft Law on Domestic Violence. Through the UNDP-supported project “Equal Access to Justice” in Sri Lanka, a cabinet committee in the Ministry of Justice is supported to look into reforms of existing laws applicable to Muslims, especially those laws that do not provide equal status to women. Hide

In November, DPI launched a re-designed UNiTE website so as to engage visitors, in particular through creating and linking to social media platforms for the campaign. For the tenth anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, DPI publicized and contributed to the organization of the launch of the Secretary-General’s “Network of Men Leaders” at UN Headquarters, through the production of information materials, including a press kit, campaign banners and pins. The Secretary-General gave a press conference to mark the International Day, which generated considerable media coverage, with most news pieces leading with the launch of the “Network of Men Leaders”. DPI also held a briefing entitled “Healing Wounds, Reclaiming Lost Lives: The Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation” in November 2009.In all regions, DPI’s network of UN Information Centres organized numerous events to promote the UNiTE campaign around 25 November, including the launch of national groups of UNiTE campaign supporters (see http://endviolence.un.org and http://www.facebook.com/pages/UNiTE-To-End-Violence-Against-Women/314529270144). Hide

A briefing on gender, including violence against women, was organized by DPI in September 2009 for the participants of the Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalists Fellowship Programme. Hide

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. Hide

ECLAC prepared a study analyzing the sources of information available in Latin America and the Caribbean in relation to the set of interim indicators on violence against women, approved by the Statistical Commission at its 40th session (2009). Hide

ECLAC prepared an updated version of the regional interagency report on violence against women on the basis of the information available in recent demographic and health surveys. The report was presented as part of the launching of the regional chapter of the Secretary General’s Campaign to end violence against women in Guatemala City, in November 2009). Hide

In the framework of the interregional project, ECLAC collaborated with ECE in the development of a proposal for developing and testing a short module questionnaire on violence against women together with a proposal for the accompanying interviewer’s guide and training package. Testing of the module is being prepared by two or three pilot countries in each region. Hide

Within the framework of the Observatory on Gender Equality, ECLAC organized a meeting on good practices in public policies which included a panel on violence against women in Santiago, in September 2009. Hide

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between ECLAC and the General Attorney of the Public Ministry of Peru toward the transfer of statistical information on violence against women in Peru. Hide