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

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

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

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

DAW, now part of UN Women, produced an updated brochure on the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women in all official United Nations languages. Hide

FAO has prepared a module to be included in the Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS) and Farmers Field Schools (FFS) Curriculum in order to include gender based violence prevention. This module is being tested in several FFS in Kenya and Uganda, and focuses on legal empowerment. This approach has been scaled up and is being used in the DRC, Burundi and Rwanda. Women farmers’ field schools have also been put in place with additional modules on GBV, reproductive health, rights and other issues.FAO supported the creation of community listeners clubs in Katanga (DRC), involving women and men of the community, including violence against women as a topic. The local community radios have aired several round tables and sketches on gender based violence.FAO’s Dimitra Project partner works on a programme entitled “Synergies of the women and men communicators against HIV-AIDS and sexual violence against women and girls in rural areas”, collaborating closely with rural community radios to raise awareness of women’s role and help women’s voices be heard in South Kivu. The first ever women’s radio, “Radio Bubusa”, has been created. Hide

UNAIDS is an active member of the Secretary General’s Africa-wide Campaign to End Violence Against Women. 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

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, participated in UNCT programmes and other inter-agency initiatives in many countries, including: the South Asia Anti-Trafficking Think Tank (formed in partnership with UNODC) and the Amal Coalition in Gaza. UNIFEM supported advocacy and survivor support networks in Algeria, Argentina, Morocco and Uruguay, as well as men’s networks in Cameroon and Mozambique. UNIFEM awareness-raising support included: a workshop on CEDAW and gender-based violence in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (with the Open Society Institute); a South African sexual harassment campaign; and various events for the 16 Days of activism against gender violence campaign. Hide