UN Women, Sweden embassy celebrate end to violence against women

ISLAMABAD    –         UN Women and the Embassy of Sweden organised an award ceremony titled, “2021 in Retrospective Celebrating Actions to End Violence Against Women” during 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence Campaign. The aim of the award ceremony was to acknowledge the actions taken on pledges made during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign of 2021. Last year, UN Women Pakistan encouraged stakeholders to make commitments on ending violence against women, and several pledges were received to bridge funding gaps, show political will for calling for an end to violence and ensure essential services for survivors of violence. During the ceremony, UN Women Country Representative Sharmeela Rassool narrated the story of a teenage girl who was sexually abused and murdered by employee and said, “Too many victims of femicide still go uncounted. There is a need of concrete action to strengthen data collection on femicides. That will assist in informing policies and programmes aimed to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls.” Speaking on the occasion, Henrik Persson, Ambassador of Sweden said, “We will never be able to prevent violence against women and girls without engaging men. We need to engage more men who are willing to publicly speak and act to oppose violence against women and girls; and create a ripple effect. Let’s push forward together.” Every year in Pakistan, civil society and women’s rights organisations, the UN system, government partners, development partners, universities, private sector, and individuals show solidarity, commitments, and actions during the 16 Days to call for preventing and ending violence against women. Khalid Khurshid Khan, Chief Minister from Gilgit Baltistan was chief guest of the event. As a part of the event, a panel discussion was also conducted with corporate sector representatives from Ericsson, Atlas Copco, Jazz and Foodpanda on the theme of creating harassment-free workplaces for all. The global 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign started on November 25th until December 10th, 2022, under the theme, “UNiTE! ACTIVISM TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN GIRLS!” Embassy of Sweden also featured the “HER Rights! Money, power, autonomy” exhibition at the event, highlighting key areas of the journey so far and steps ahead to make the world a truly equitable place for all.

Article source: https://www.nation.com.pk/30-Nov-2022/un-women-sweden-embassy-celebrate-end-to-violence-against-women