UN Women, the Embassy of Sweden celebrates the end of violence against women
ISLAMABAD – UN Women and the Embassy of Sweden organized an award ceremony titled “2021 in Retrospective Celebrating Actions to End Violence Against Women” during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence Campaign. The purpose of the awards ceremony was to highlight the action taken on pledges made during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence 2021 campaign. Last year, UN Women Pakistan encouraged stakeholders to make commitments to end violence against women, and several pledges were received to bridging funding gaps, demonstrating political will to call for an end to violence and ensuring necessary services for survivors of violence. During the ceremony, UN Women’s Country Representative Sharmeela Rassool told the story of a teenage girl who was sexually abused and murdered by a staff member and said: “Too many victims of femicide are still uncounted. There is a need for concrete action to strengthen data collection on femicide. It will to help inform policies and programs aimed at preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls.” Henrik Persson, Sweden’s ambassador, said on the occasion: “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 organizations, the UN system, government partners, development partners, universities, the private sector and individuals show solidarity, commitment and action during the 16 days to call for the prevention and end of violence against women. Khalid Khurshid Khan, Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan was the chief guest at the event. As part of the event, a panel discussion was also held with corporate sector representatives from Ericsson, Atlas Copco, Jazz and Foodpanda on the theme of creating harassment-free workplaces for all. The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence global campaign started from November 25 to December 10, 2022, under the theme “FIND IT! ACTIVISM TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND WOMEN!” The Swedish Embassy also presented “HER Rights! Money, power, autonomy” exhibit at the event, highlighting key areas of the journey so far and steps forward to make the world a truly fair place for all.