Mercy Global Concern - 2002

"With an End in Sight"

November 25 International Day to mark an End to Violence Against Women Worldwide

November 25th is International Day to mark an end to violence against women. A journalist asked Noeleen Heyzer, chief executive officer of UNIFEM, and a member of the Mercy Global Concern Advisory Board recently & " Do you really believe that a problem as common and as widespread as violence against women can be brought to an end?"
Her response to this was a definite YES. "Women everywhere have come together and committed themselves to creating a safer, more humane future for generations to come. I have witnessed heroism at work, the extraordinary efforts being made to halt the epidemic of violence against women.

'With an End in Sight' is a project of UNIFEM, which the Sisters of Mercy are glad to support. The imitative recounts some of the inspiring efforts and innovative strategies being taken all over the globe to stop all forms of violence against women.

Background:

Over the past 25 years UNIFEM has sought to facilitate the inclusion of women's voices and concerns into the halls of the United Nations.
UNIFEM identified the elimination of violence against women as a priority as early as 1992. But it was following the Fourth World Conference on Women, in 1995, that this issue became a worldwide commitment.

In 1996 at the request of the UN general Assembly, UNIFEM established a trust fund in support of actions to eliminate Violence against Women, the first global resource devoted exclusively to providing visibility on this issue. The launch of the Trust Fund coincided with a major UNIFEM advocacy effort to set in motion a series of UN Regional Campaigns on ending violence against women. Launched in Latin America and the Caribbean, the campaign was replicated in Africa and the Asia and Pacific regions. They worked to create a favorable environment for breaking the silence on gender-based violence, for initiating changes in policies and legislation, and for providing protection, services and justice where violence had occurred.

The entire UN system has rallied to recognize gender-based violence as a crosscutting issue, one that must be reflected in the design and implementation of all policies and programmes that make up an agenda for peace, development and equality in the 21st century. UNIFEM's advocacy strategy was further boasted through a number of multi-media and communication efforts to showcase strategies for change.

To mark the 50th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights (1998) UNIFEM organized a photo exhibition with a "wall of shame", focusing on women's plight and suffering, with a "wall of hope" showing initiatives to end violence against women.

In 1999, they spearheaded a Global Videoconference in five sites around the world where woman survivors of violence told their story. The Global Videoconference was unique in that it stimulated a vibrant global conversation using new communication technologies. The < End Violence > electronic working group brought together more than, 2000 people from over 90 countries to engage in dialogue and exchange ideas and experiences on how to end gender-based violence.

Today there is a global consensus on the need to end violence against women. The UN Declaration on Violence Against Women (1993) cites violence as "one of the crucial mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men."

In 1999, the UN General Assembly declared 25 November as the International Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women.

Gender-Based Violence knows no color and nationality. It devastates lives and fractures communities, impeding development in every nation. In every country in the world, the well being, promise and gifts of millions of women and girls are destroyed by violence.

Mercy Involvement: Seeds of Change.

Catherine Mc Auley was as advocate in her day for Women's Rights.