Prevention and Advocacy

UNODC country projects include components of awareness-raising and advocacy on violence against women.

An awareness-raising pamphlet for women prisoners in Afghanistan using drawings and cartoons is being published in cooperation with UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, . The pamphlet aims to inform women in prison about their rights and takes into account newly approved regulations of penitentiary law.

UNTV produced several stories that were offered to broadcasters through their series “UN in Action” and “21st Century”, including features on honour killings in Turkey, domestic violence in Nepal and the prevalence of rape in Burundi. UN Radio produced various stories which included attention to violence against women, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq.

UNESCO is organizing awareness-raising activities on the elimination of all forms of violence against women, such as international conferences on the occasion of International Women’s Day (“Gender Equality – Make it your Business” in 2008) and other conferences on relevant topics.

In November 2007, to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, DPI’s Development Section worked in collaboration with UNIFEM to produce an e-mail campaign. The UN Information Centres mobilized civil society partners to focus on the issue, particularly around the International Day and the campaign ’16 days of activism against gender violence’. Several Information Centres, including those in Asunción, Bogotá, Baku, Cairo, Lima, and Lusaka, developed special campaigns and radio and television programmes, and held press conferences, seminars and educational forums.

UNDP advocates for the elimination of violence against women and raises awareness by promoting multi-media national and local campaigns, including the “16 days of activism against gender violence” and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

BONUCA, in cooperation with UNIFEM, carried out sensitization efforts as part of the campaign “16 days of activism against gender violence”, in November/December 2007, including a radio interview with BONUCA’s Gender Affairs Officer; reports and interviews with women and men participants at the sensitization meetings broadcasted on radio; sensitisation meetings to raise awareness among military personnel and civil society; a sketch and a discussion on ways to reduce and eliminate gender-based violence in the Central African Republic; and banners, posters and T-shirts with sensitization message

DAW, now part of UN Women, compiled information about recent activities of the entities of the United Nations system in follow-up to General Assembly resolutions 61/143 and 62/133, to complement the Inventory of United Nations system activities on violence against women, which was uploaded on the DAW website in July 2007.

The United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) liaised with other United Nations entities (OHCHR, UNFPA and UNIFEM) on issues relating to women’s rights, including violence against women. The Mission also participated in various forums such as the sexual and gender-based violence-Network, chaired by OHCHR, Security Council Resolution 1325 Peace Support Working Group, chaired by UNFPA and the Embassy of Norway, as well as in information sharing and strategy discussions on ways to support national mechanisms to address violence against women and girls.

On 25 November 2007, the Gender Team of the United Nations Peace-building Office in the Central African Republic (BONUCA) gave a presentation on sexual and gender-based violence to police officers during a workshop on women’s rights organized by the Mission’s Human Rights Section, in cooperation with UNHCR and UNICEF.