Prevention, Including Awareness Raising and Advocacy

UNRWA participated in the 16 days of activism campaign against gender violence. In Gaza City, 700 women were invited to an informative talk about gender-based violence. A series of activities were held in UNRWA’s schools and women’s centres throughout the West Bank, including creative workshops, documentary screenings and sessions on the adverse consequences of gender-based violence. UNRWA, along with other UN agencies in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, held a joint event. In Syria, public events were organized in Damascus, Hama and Homs, including testimonies from victims, paintings, lectures and marches. Targeted audiences included youth, women, men, community leaders and religious leaders. Hide

UNHCR hosted a White Ribbon Campaign to mobilize men to end violence against women, and a photo exhibition to raise awareness about trafficking. Hide

UNESCO worked on a campaign to fight human trafficking in Africa.The seventh session of the UNESCO Forum on Gender Equality, organized in collaboration with the Permanent Delegation of the United States of America to UNESCO, was held in October 2009. The Round Table, on the theme “Beijing: 15 Years After”, explored the progress which has been made in the twelve critical areas of action of the Beijing Platform for Action. Hide

In November 2009, UNESCO’s Office in Beijing sponsored the Institute of Anthropology in the Renmin University of China to initiate an advocacy forum and campaign to mark the “End Violence against Women Day”. The project provided a platform for experts from the government and civil society organizations to discuss domestic violence and raised awareness among university students on the issue through a variety of campaigns, such as debate and drama. Hide

UNDP launched a public campaign with a message “A Real Man Never Hits a Woman” in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; supported the organisation of men leaders who are artists, athletes, politicians and writers to send a strong message against VAW in Ukraine; fielded a campaign to change the behavior and attitudes of actual and potential perpetrators of GBV in Venezuela. Hide

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 Sierra Leone, the UNDP-supported project “Strengthening Access to Justice” promotes awareness of gender equality laws and GBV among traditional chiefs in Bo and Makeni. The priority is to ensure that the components of the Gender Acts to address GBV issues are contextualized within traditional law and culture. The project has produced legal education material on the prevention of GBV in communities, such as radios spots and drama. Hide

To mark the “16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence” a number of initiatives were conducted and supported by UNDP, such as a joint UNDP/UNFPA initiative targeting secondary school pupils and school communities in Albania; a joint UNDP/UNFPA/UNHCR initiative including press conferences, public hearings, public service announcements broadcasting, film screenings and roundtable discussions in Armenia;, a documentary on SGBV, screened on two of three national TV stations in Kosovo; a special session of the Committee for Gender Equality on SGBV to raise awareness of MPs in Serbia; the presentation of the global survey findings on domestic violence in Turkmenistan. 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

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