A/HRC/16/34
E/CN.6/2011/9
55. Another example of public and media outreach, seizing the opportunity of the
2010 World Cup Soccer in South Africa, UNIFEM joined the Red Light 2010
campaign, a regional civil society effort to counteract the trafficking of women and
girls ahead of and during the games; and also organized a soccer tournament in
Johannesburg in April, with the message, “Say no to trafficking in women, say yes
to women’s rights”. This formed part of UNIFEM collaboration as a member of the
United Nations Task Force that works in support of the Government of South Africa
to prevent human trafficking.
56. Also in line with the focus on raising awareness and advancing prevention
strategies, the launch, in November 2010, of the UNIFEM innovative Global
Programme on Safe Cities Free of Violence against Women and Girls provided
additional opportunities for media coverage and dialogue on the neglected but
universal phenomenon of sexual harassment and violence in public spaces. With a
focus on the poorest areas and slums in five cities from different regions of the
world — Quito, Cairo, New Delhi, Port Moresby and Kigali — the Programme is
being developed in collaboration with UN-Habitat, other United Nations system
agencies (including UNFPA, UNDP and UNICEF) and leading women’s networks,
among other partners. This is the first cross-regional initiative dedicated to
developing a proven model for making cities safer for women and girls, by reducing
sexual harassment and violence in public spaces, while improving the quality of life
for all city dwellers. The model will be offered for adaptation by local authorities
and stakeholders in cities around the world.
57. Engaging non-traditional and influential partners, including the private sector,
in the struggle to end gender-based violence and advance women’s empowerment is
key. In that regard, and in order to offer practical guidance to businesses on how to
empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community, UNIFEM
developed the Women’s Empowerment Principles through a partnership with the
United Nations Global Compact. The Principles are designed to support companies
in reviewing existing policies and practices — or establishing new ones — to realize
women’s empowerment. With the subtitle “Equality means business”, the Principles
emphasize the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and
women’s empowerment and are informed by real-life business practices, the
interests of Governments and civil society. The Principles acknowledge the
importance of addressing violence in women’s lives through, inter alia, workplace
protection from sexual harassment and exploitation and access to services related to
domestic violence.
58. Working with religious leaders is also strategic if social norms that accept
gender-based violence and discrimination are to be transformed. In the Sudan,
UNIFEM is partnering with a local non-governmental organization to mentor
Islamic and traditional leaders to become advocates and champions of women’s
human rights protections within the legal framework in Darfur, and to facilitate
radio discussions on women’s rights under Islam. Similarly, collaboration with faithbased organizations, from global to local levels, permeates various UNIFEMsupported efforts.
59. UNIFEM membership since 2009 in the Clinton Global Initiative network
continued, including as a partner announced at two related launches during the
annual event in September 2010 (Together for Girls (see para. 62 below); and the
“going global” of the cutting-edge Ring the Bell Campaign led by the
10-67259
17
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents