Oct 2009 - Feb 2010

ESCAP convened a High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to Review Regional Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and Its Regional and Global Outcomes (November 2009), during which, a panel discussion entitled “Regional campaign to end violence against women” was held. The experiences of various countries in measuring and addressing violence against women, including through engaging with men and boys and with faith-based organizations, were shared. A regional consultation for the Secretary-General’s campaign to end violence against women in the Asia-Pacific region was also organized.

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.

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 presenta

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.

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

UNFPA carried out advocacy activities that link up with the Secretary-General’s campaign, such as hosting an exhibition on “Congo Women” and “Women in the Frontline” in October 2009, at the UN Secretariat in New York, in which the Secretary-General’s Campaign featured; supported the launch of the Secretary-General’s network of men leaders to combat violence against women and a photo-exhibition on the theme of men and boys in this event; it was a key partner in the launch of the Secretary-General’s campaign in Latin America and Africa; and initiated country-level efforts on the campaign in Afri

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, coordinated and supported the launch of the first regional campaign with UN sister agencies in Guatemala City (November 2009), in which ECLAC participated; advanced inter-agency consultations with multiple stakeholders in Africa and Asia; secured a Clinton Global Initiative Commitment for the Campaign related to the UN Trust Fund resource mobilization benchmark; and launched Phase II of the Say No - UNiTE campaign aiming for 100,000 actions by March 2010.

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.

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.

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.