Measures

Within the framework of the campaign Stop Raping our Greatest Resources: Power to the Women and Girls of DRC, awareness-raising activities, funds and political commitment to end violence against women and girls in the DRC were implemented from July to December 2008. Awareness raising campaigns in Edo State in Nigeria, have been designed with the support of UNICRI. Hide

UN-HABITAT has commissioned the preparation of a publication “Using Planning to Combat Violence Against Women”, geared towards stakeholders dealing with women’s rights, urban planning and human settlements. Hide

UN-HABITAT and UNIFEM Latin America and Caribbean jointly held a workshop on “Women’s Safety”, in Mexico, in November 2008, to present the training and capacity building programme. UN-Habitat and the NGO “Women in Cities International” launched the evaluation report “Women’s Safety Audits – What Works and Where?. UNIFEM, UN-HABITAT, “Women in Cities International” and “Red Mujer” also organized a session entitled “Women and Safety in Urban Spaces”. Hide

On 17 November 2008, the Secretary-General appointed Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron as United Nations Messenger of Peace, tasked with promoting efforts to end violence against women. DPI facilitated a press conference in New York to announce the appointment, in which Ms. Theron participated. The event had extensive media coverage. DPI also undertook activities to promote the campaign on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Hide

As a member of the “Gender is my agenda campaign” (GIMAC), ECA participated in the 13th Pre-Summit African Union Heads of State Consultative Meeting on gender mainstreaming where participants recognized the need to intensify measures in response to the Secretary-General’s campaign “UNiTE to end violence against women”. Hide

ECA’s African Centre for Gender and Social Development supported the Sixth African Development Forum (ADF) on Gender Equality, Women’s Empowerment and Ending Violence Against Women in Africa, held in October 2008. Participants from Member States, research institutions, academia, civil society, donor communities and other stakeholders discussed, among other topics, ways for tackling violence against women. The ADF adopted a Consensus Statement with and Plan of Action with 3 pillars, one of which is on violence against women. (see: http://www.uneca.org/adfvi/ConsensusStatement.asp). In follow-up to the ADF Consensus Statement and Plan of Action, ECA is designing a methodology to collect data on violence against women. Hide

UNECE launched its website on violence against women (www.unece.org/stats/gender/vaw/). The site includes copies of national surveys and publications, an overview of terms and definitions, general resources and reports, statistical data and useful links. Hide

UNECE, together with the World Bank Institute, published a 15 minute video on gender-based violence and issues in its measurement (www.unece.org/stats/video/violence.htm). Hide

In order to define the basic set of indicators necessary for the functioning of the ECLAC Gender Observatory, two technical meetings were organized, with representatives from National Machineries for the Advancement of Women/Gender Affairs and National Statistical Offices of Latin America (Aguascalientes (Mexico), in October 2008) and the Caribbean (Port-of-Spain, in December 2008). Reports of both meetings were approved at the Forty-second meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean (Santiago, December 2008). Hide

Following the Fifteenth Meeting of Specialized Agencies and Other Bodies of the United Nations System on the Advancement of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean (Bogotá, 23 April 2008), a regional interagency working group has been established to define the strategy and ways to implement the Secretary-General’s campaign. ECLAC is acting as the link between the regional and global levels for the Secretary- General’s campaign to eliminate all forms of violence against women. Hide