Say No to Violence Against Women

Dear Friends,

The Say NO Team would like to wish you a Happy New Year with our new Say NO desktop calendar that we will issue every month from now. We hope you like it and find it useful. Download it here: http://www.saynotoviolence.org/desktop_calendars.

Thank you once more for adding your voices to make ending violence a top priority for decision makers worldwide. We welcomed 2010 with more than 29,000 actions recorded on Say NO; actions that range from petitions for new laws to protect women and girls, to raising awareness through music and arts, engaging men, women and youth in community mobilization, Parliaments and International Trade Unions committing to take actions, and more. Check out the news and actions coming in on www.saynotoviolence.org.

Today we need your voices more than ever. We still have a challenge to meet — the watchmaker Omega has pledged US$50,000 for the first 50,000 actions raised on Say NO. The money will go towards women’s organizations working on the ground to address the issue. We are asking for your help — spread the word, share the Say NO desktop calendar with people you know and ask them to join our global Say NO network. They can add their names to the global call for action or start an action page to showcase their activism on the issue.

Best wishes from the Say NO Team,

Nanette Braun
Head of Communications,
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

PS: You can also follow us on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook and watch our videos on YouTube!

16 Days of Action on Gender Violence

In 1991, international participants in the United States (US)-based Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL)’s first annual Women’s Global Leadership Institute conceived of and created an annual international campaign to communicate this message: violence against women (VAW) violates human rights. Each year from November 25 to December 10, participants use the “16 Days of Action against Gender Violence” campaign as an organising strategy to call for elimination of all forms of VAW (whether in the public or private sphere).

The dates that organisers chose for the campaign are meant to indicate a symbolic link between VAW and violation of human rights: November 25 marks the International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10 is International Human Rights Day. The 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including December 1 (World AIDS Day) and December 6 (the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, 1989, in which 14 women students at the École Polytechnique were systematically killed).

In coordinating the campaign, CWGL helps individuals and organisations plan activities that focus on developing and calling for the implementation of local, national, and global policies aimed at eliminating VAW. Resources available for campaigners include:

• an International Calendar of Campaign Activities – developed annually to highlight organising efforts as part of a broader movement for women’s human rights; to provide others with examples of activities and strategies used during the Campaign; and to give activists an opportunity to join and support plans already in existence.
• an interactive website that includes resources and opportunities for global campaign organising and collaboration.

With these tools in hand, activists have engaged in the following approaches as part of campaign work:

• raising awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional, and international levels;
• strengthening local work around VAW;
• establishing a link between local and international work to end VAW;
• providing a forum in which organisers can develop and share new and effective strategies;
• demonstrating the solidarity of women around the world organising against VAW; and
• creating tools to pressure governments to implement promises made to eliminate VAW.

Each year, a particular theme is chosen; materials (e.g., the “take action kit”) and activities are shaped around the theme. (To read about past campaign themes, please visit the 16 Days website). To cite one example, the 2009 theme is “Commit • Act • Demand: We CAN End Violence Against Women!”

Women Central to Efforts to deal with Climate Change

New York, Nov 18 – Women bear the disproportionate burden of climate change but have so far been largely overlooked in the debate about how to address problems of rising seas, droughts, melting glaciers, and extreme weather, concludes The State of World Population 2009, released today by the United Nations Population Fund. The report was launched in Ottawa by Neil Ford, UNFPA’s Chief of Media and Communications (a former CBC broadcaster) and Katherine McDonald, Executive Director of Action Canada for Population and Development. The report notes that the poor are especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and the majority of the 1.5 billion people living on $1 a day or less are women…For additional information, see www.unfpa.org and www.acpd.ca

Say No to Violence against Women

Thank you for saying NO to Violence against Women!

Last year 5,066,549 people from around the world, civil society organizations and governments signed on to Say NO, sending the urgent message to governments everywhere that ending violence against women and girls must be a top priority.

This November, UNIFEM will take the initiative one step further and launch a new platform for action, Say NO–UNiTE to End Violence against Women. It is UNIFEM’s contribution to the UN Secretary-General’s campaign to end violence against women involving governments, civil society and the entire UN system.
Say NO–UNiTE will count and showcase actions taken by individuals, organizations and governments worldwide to end violence against women. Whether you volunteer at a shelter, reach out to students, advocate for better laws and policies — every action counts.

Let us count you in!

Add your name to become part of a global community rising to say NO to violence against women and girls. See www.unifem.org to add your name.