Prevention and Advocacy

UNHCR marked the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence with activities at Headquarters, and a workshop on the involvement of men and boys in addressing sexual and gender-based violence; and the collection and display of handprints of UNHCR staff members as part of the “Hands United against Harm” project. Events in field operations included: roundtable discussions, traditional dances, songs, theatre plays, children’s drawing competitions, film screenings and training sessions to raise awareness on sexual and gender-based violence.

In 2008, UNDP supported multi-media national and local campaigns, including during the “16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence”, in Kuwait, Iraq, Syria, Zimbabwe, Niger and Myanmar.

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported or co-organized a number of meetings, workshops and conferences in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, including: on Security Council resolution 1820 and Peacekeeping (September 2008); on Security Council resolutions 1325 and 1820 with respect to the EU’s Security and Defense Policy missions (October 2008); on cross-border female genital mutilation, with West African First Ladies (October 2008); on trafficking in South Asia for media, lawyers and police; and provided technical support for an Economic Community of West African States summit on

Throughout 2008, UNDP-supported community conversation sessions were organized by village facilitators in Cambodia, in order to promote the communities’ understanding of social and legal issues related to domestic violence.

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, established funds for community-based organizations working to prevent and respond to violence against women in Afghanistan, the Pacific and Haiti.UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, established formal partnerships in preventing violence against women, including MenEngage and Religions for Peace and continued to provide technical and other support in the context of joint United Nations efforts in the Asia-Pacific region, engaging men and boys to prevent violence against women.

ESCWA participated in a meeting entitled “The effect of violence on women and family“, organized by the Doha International Institute on Family Studies and Development, in November 2008.

The initiative by UNFPA Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office (LACRO) on sexual violence in select Central American countries included communication and advocacy strategies at country and sub regional level, in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders.

As a member of the “Gender is my agenda campaign” (GIMAC), ECA participated in the 13th Pre-Summit African Union Heads of State Consultative Meeting on gender mainstreaming where participants recognized the need to intensify measures in response to the Secretary-General’s campaign “UNiTE to end violence against women”.

A number of stories related to violence against women were posted on the How We Make a Difference section of OHCHR’s home page throughout 2008 and 2009. On International Women’s Day 2008, OHCHR’s home page featured a story on the launch of the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign. The Office also proposed and contributed a story on violence against women to DPI’s 2008 “Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About” web page.

On 17 November 2008, the Secretary-General appointed Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron as United Nations Messenger of Peace, tasked with promoting efforts to end violence against women. DPI facilitated a press conference in New York to announce the appointment, in which Ms. Theron participated. The event had extensive media coverage. DPI also undertook activities to promote the campaign on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.