Prevention, Including Awareness Raising and Advocacy

UNRWA, supporting the gender-based violence campaign in Palestine and connecting it to the International Year of Volunteers +10 (IYV+10), highlighted the importance of volunteerism in achieving results in fighting gender-based violence. One initiative was UNRWA’s use of a questionnaire to collect data on gender based violence in the Palestinian refugee camps. UNV mobilized around 300 local volunteers particularly university students. The added value of this partnership was that the volunteers considered themselves as recipients of this campaign. Hide

As part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence Campaign, UN entities supported and/or organized several initiatives, in partnership with multiple stakeholders. In Gaza, Jordan, Syria and the West Bank, UNRWA organized interactive theatrical performances, puppet shows, athletic activities, awareness sessions and lectures, as well as speeches by Imams at mosques – all highlighting the need to end gender based violence. Hide

UNRWA organized several awareness-raising initiatives, such as in Lebanon in partnership with the General Union of Palestinian Women, in a UNRWA health clinic. Hide

UNHCR offices organized numerous activities to raise awareness on SGBV as part of the annual 16 Days of Activism campaign. UNHCR also developed multimedia training and awareness raising materials, including a series of video clips on the Five Commitments to Refugee Women, which include SGBV. Hide

In the context of the 60th anniversary of the Refugee Convention and the 50th anniversary of the Statelessness Convention, UNHCR organized a series of in-depth Dialogues with over 1,000 refugees and displaced women and girls in seven different countries. From those Dialogues, a number of recommendations, including on ending violence against women, emerged that are currently being implemented by the respective UNHCR offices and partner organizations. Hide

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

UNESCO’s International Bureau of Education and UNESCO Hanoi are carrying out a project to promote gender equality in and through textbooks and in teacher training courses. The initiative includes teacher-training programmes in line with the national laws on gender equality and on domestic violence prevention and control. 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

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