[women-rights] Investment in proven strategies needed to end violence against women

***Learn more about the International Day for the Elimination of Violence
against Women, 25 November 2006:
http://www.hrea.org/feature-events/vaw-day.php


Statement by UNIFEM Executive Director Noeleen Heyzer

UNIFEM Press release, United Nations, New York -- Every year on 25
November, advocates around the world jointly raise their voices to
denounce violence against women as what it is: the most pervasive and
shameful human rights violation. But the International Day for the
Elimination of Violence against Women also provides an opportunity to
reflect on progress made. And there is encouraging news: by now, 89 states
have adopted legislative provisions that address domestic violence,
including 60 states with specific domestic violence laws. This is a clear
increase in comparison to 2003, when only 45 countries had specific laws
on domestic violence. The other ray of hope is that funding for
initiatives to end violence against women is on the increase. The UN Trust
Fund to End Violence against Women, which is managed by UNIFEM, could
disburse $3.5 million this year -- almost twice the amount that we had at
our disposal last year and close to four times more than in 2004.

These two positive trends are not unrelated. In the ten years of its
existence, the Trust Fund has proven to be an effective mechanism to
tackle the pandemic of violence as it affects women in each and every
country around the world. Trust Fund grantees have spearheaded campaigns
that led to an outpouring of public debate and a call for gender-based
violence to be punished as a crime; many grants have gone to initiatives
that have directly supported advocacy efforts for legislation on violence
against women. With far-reaching success secured in this regard, the main
challenge lies now in supporting states to implement these laws. This is
why for the second year the Trust Fund mainly supports organizations
working to ensure that normative legal provisions become operational
praxis. In 2006, grants go to initiatives that review court proceedings to
remove obstacles for the implementation of existing laws, train police and
the judiciary on the application of new legal provisions, or build the
capacity of community groups to raise awareness on mechanisms to seek
redress. Existing resources are still far from being sufficient and demand
is still much higher than supply. Conflict-affected countries in
particular need assistance in addressing sexual violence. Yet we are
convinced that the positive funding trend will continue as a response to
the proven success of the approaches pursued by Trust Fund grantees.

We welcome the increase in funding as an expression of political will to
step up efforts to end violence against women. Everyone knows that if you
want things to change, you have to put your money where your mouth is.
Without resources, even the greatest resolve remains just a good
intention. It is for this reason that recent reform endeavours at the
United Nations have come with built-in funding mechanisms. Today, we have
an emergency fund to respond to humanitarian disasters, a peace-building
fund to strengthen post-conflict recovery, and a democracy fund to support
good governance.

The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women was established 10 years
ago by the UN General Assembly to help ensure that every woman can enjoy
her right to a life free from violence. It is also a mechanism to invest
in the well-being and development of countries. Violence against women
does not only devastate the life of every woman who is being abused, it
also hurts societies as a whole. This is why at the 2005 World Summit,
Heads of State and Government identified violence against women as one key
factor that has to be addressed in order to achieve gender equality and
achieve the Millennium Development Goals. What is needed now is to scale
up the tested and proven strategies that advocates and practitioners have
applied to make a difference and turn them into mainstream instruments.
Only when measures to address violence against women are an integral part
of national strategies for development will we see lasting change. It is
then that we will be able to reflect not just on progress made, but on
real success to end violence against women.



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UNIFEM is the women's fund at the United Nations, providing financial
support and technical assistance to innovative programmes promoting
women's human rights, their economic and political empowerment, and
gender equality in more than 100 countries. In 2006, UNIFEM is
commemorating its 30th anniversary. For more information, visit
www.unifem.org. UNIFEM, 304 East 45th Street, 15th Floor, New York,
NY 10017. Tel: +1 212-906-6400. Fax: +1 212-906-6705.