Prevention and Advocacy

In November 2008, UNESCO Addis Ababa organized a workshop for film-makers, development workers and media professionals during the 3rd Ethiopian International Film Festival in order to identify strategies for promoting greater awareness and positive behavioural change on HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence/discrimination and climate change through the medium of popular films. Several UNESCO Offices, including those in Montevideo, Brasilia and Almaty, included violence against women as a focus in their activities.

A meeting "Stopping the HIV epidemic – young women, girls and HIV in southern Africa. What must be done!" was convened in June 2008 by UNAIDS with the University of Witwatersrand Reproductive Health Research Unit. Three research papers relevant to violence against women were presented: intergenerational sex; sexual violence; and risk perception, knowledge and behaviour. The findings of the meeting were presented at ICASA in December 2008 along with communication material put together by Soul City to engage communities and decision makers.

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”.

The World Congress III against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents, which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November 2008, was organized jointly by UNICEF, the Government of Brazil, ECPAT and the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child., resulting in the “Rio de Janeiro Pact to Prevent and Stop Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents”.UNICEF continued to support social mobilization efforts at all levels to change attitudes and behaviour on violence against women and girls, including sexual violence and exploitation, trafficking and female genital muti

UNHCR organized a regional workshop on masculinities in South Africa, in cooperation with Sonke Gender Justice and the Refugee Women’s Commission, to promote the positive involvement of men and boys in addressing sexual and gender-based violence. Multifunctional teams from nine countries in the Great Lakes, Eastern and Southern Africa regions participated, and the event resulted in the development of country-level work plans. As a follow up, three trainings for men and boys were conducted in Kenya, also for the police.

In December 2008, a senior World Bank manager made a presentation at the “Cairo Declaration on FGM + 5 Meeting”. In November 2008, the World Bank contributed to the “Women and Security” conference in Abu Dhabi, organised by the Arab Women's Organizations.

Within the framework of the commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UNESCO Doha Office with the collaboration of the Qatar Foundation for Child & Woman Protection organized a workshop on “The International Conventions for the Eradication of Violence and Discrimination against Women & their Reflection on the Qatari Legislations”.

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.

From its Say NO to Violence against Women Campaign, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, delivered over 5 million signatures, including from Heads of State and Ministers from 60 governments and more than 600 Parliamentarians from over 70 countries to the UN Secretary-General, on 25 November 2008, in support of his Campaign UNiTE to End Violence Against Women.

In Zimbabwe, IOM supported two community-based events during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, including information materials.