Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Time for Action: Ending Violence against Women


This monday, has been opened the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

This year, the Commission’s focus is on one of the biggest global challenges, prevent and end violence against women and girls, which affects up to seven in 10 women worldwide. Occurring in multiple forms in all countries and settings, it impacts millions of women, and their communities, hampering development, and also costing countries billions of dollars annually in healthcare costs and lost productivity.

In her opening statement, Michelle Bachelet, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, has highlight five key areas for action:
  • First, to strengthen implementation of laws, policies and programmes for preventing and responding to violence against women and girls. 
  • Second, to place more focus on preventing violence against women and girls. 
  • Third, to address prevention and response together as part of a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to be effective. 
  • Fourth, to establish comprehensive and accessible multi-sectoral services and responses is essential. 
  • Fifth, to have reliable data, analysis and research are essential to inform the development of laws, policies and programmes on violence against women and girls.  
Commitments range from efforts for prevention, protection and justice, such as more effective laws and national strategies, stronger prosecution of violence cases, advocacy campaigns targeted to young people and men, training of civil servants to detect violence cases, and expanded public services, such as shelters.

At the Commission, UN Women urges Member States to strengthen global norms and standards; and increase political commitment and action to end the pandemic, believing strongly that violence against women is not inevitable. It is possible to end this pandemic through determined leadership for prevention, protection and provision of services for survivors.

Governments who have committed so far are: Albania, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Jamaica, Japan, Liberia, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, United States of America, and Viet Nam.

UN CSW Opening Session

Michelle Bachelet


  

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for highlighting this event, my friend. We cannot react enough against the present injustices committed against women socially, politically and economically.

    For the good of both women and men and for our society as a whole to grow we need to put an end to the unsavory tradition of female oppression. With equal rights for all I firmly believe we will have a better and happier world.

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