PeaceWomen Participates in the 16 Days of Violence against Women Campaign

This year, WILPF members and staff around the world engaged in the 16 Days of Action to End Violence Against Women (VAW) Campaign through continuing our efforts to stop war and ensure women's full and equal participation and rights. One highlight was PeaceWomen's launch on International Human Rights Day of our new and revised Women, Peace and Security Mobile App, which has been designed to reach a wider audience and strengthen our advocacy work relating to the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Another highlight was the Google+ Hangout including WILPF Reaching Critical Will Director Ray Acheson and WILPF-Nigeria President Joy Ada Onyesoh addressing the impact of small arms on gender based violence and calling for grassroots capacity-building and efforts to bridge implementation gaps.

PeaceWomen also engaged in a dedicated social media campaign and participated in a variety of events on the 16 Days theme. In her statement at the Official Commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25th, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka urged all UN Member States to make ending violence against women and girls a priority in the post-2015 development framework. She labeled the absence of a separate Millennium Development Goal on ending violence against women as a ‘glaring omission' while calling for the adoption of a stand-alone goal on gender equality post-2015. The official part of the event was followed by a powerful performance of a series of monologues by women victims of domestic violence called ‘wounded to Death' from an Italian playwright Serena Dandini. In an #orangeurworld Google+Hangout hosted by UN Women on November 25 2013, panelists emphasized undertaking systematic changes, engaging men as allies and investing in women's leadership in order to involve them in decision making processes as some of the ways we can move towards ending VAW. Overall, however, events on violence against women did not consistently connect to issues of Women, Peace and Security, and therefore highlighted the ongoing need to overcome silos and adopt an integrated approach to security within and outside of the UN system.