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PRESS
RELEASE
Azerbaijan National Coordination Committee Meetingorganised
by YUVA
and Women with University Education Thursday,
10 October 2002, at 15.00 Salatin
Askerova 85, Baku, Azerbaijan Participants include members of the Azerbaijan National Coordination Committee. The goal of the meeting is to discuss plans for wide ranging Azeri participation in the CAUCASUS 16 DAYS 2002 regional campaign and to develop media involvement. TV and radio social clips will be produced and broadcast during the CAUCASUS 16 DAYS 2002 period (November 25 to December 10) targeting a wide range of the Azeri population, attracting their attention and increasing public awareness of the issue of violence against women. CAUCASUS
16 DAYS
is the first regional coordination of the global ’16
Days of Activism Against Gender Violence’ and the ‘White
Ribbon’ campaigns in the world and it has proved to be
extremely successful. In 2001 over 500 organisations
collaborated to create a large regional calendar of events and
activities promoting the elimination of violence against women.
This outstanding regional collaboration was made possible through
the great enthusiasm and hard work of volunteers
representing the NGO members of the National Coordination
Committees in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The campaign
actively encourages the development of the voluntary ethic in all
sectors of civil society. WomenAid
International, main donor and initiator of this regional
programme, greatly appreciates their great contribution and the
coordination work undertaken by the CAUCASUS 16 DAYS Focal Point,
WomenAid International-Caucasus based in Tbilisi, Georgia. A
special notice of thanks is extended to our National Focal Point
partner in Azerbaijan, Rena Tahirova, Pervana Mammadova and all
colleagues at YUVA for the incredible voluntary work they
undertook last year – and which had such successful results.
We are all delighted members of YUVA have once again agreed
to undertake this enormous voluntary task this year in partnership
with Taman Jafarova and colleagues at Women with University
Education.
Both organisations, on behalf of the Azeri National
Coordination Committee, submitted a joint proposal to OSI
Women’s Network Programme for some of the CAUCASUS 16 DAYS 2002
campaign activities in Azerbaijan. The resulting OSI financial
contribution of $4.950
is much appreciated.
This year the OSI Network Women’s Programme awarded funding
of $20,390 to the THREE National Coordination Committees in
the Caucasus to implement the CAUCASUS 16 DAYS 2002.
WomenAid International, the initiator of the regional programme
funds core costs and special events. All participating NGOs in
this regional campaign are encouraged to submit applications to
multiple potential donors for the funding of their activities
during the Caucasus 16 Days. The CAUCASUS 16 DAYS programme is a multi-media awareness-raising regional campaign that creates a ‘platform’ for NGOs, INGOs, UN Agencies and other organisations or institutions to draw attention to a critical social issue and promote their on-going activities to eliminate violence in all its forms. In recent years violence against women has escalated dramatically in all its aspects. The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has called domestic violence against women a global epidemic and trafficking of human beings, mainly women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation, has become the fastest growing criminal activity in the world. It is also the world’s biggest human rights abuse. Elimination of gender violence is the common cause that unites all participants in this unique regional campaign and engages the commitment of so many volunteers in three countries. Apart
from the voluntary efforts of hundreds of NGOs, the press and
media have an extremely important role to play in efforts to
increase awareness of the problem of violence against women.
Therefore Media training workshops on the Caucasus 16 Days
twin-track campaign approach and end violence strategies will be
held in Baku, Tbilisi and Yerevan. These workshops will be
organised by the National Coordination Committees in collaboration
with the CAUCASUS 16 DAYS Media Advocacy Group representatives in
each country. By
actively participating in the CAUCASUS 16 DAYS 2002 the media and
press can develop its valuable advocacy role and promote national
awareness of the critical issue of violence against women.
National and local government ministries and representatives
increase knowledge and awareness of all forms of gender violence
and the need to adopt all measures, legislative, institutional and
administrative, that will eliminate violence against women.
The corporate sector is also encouraged to support the
initiatives of so many under-funded NGOs who work so hard to
assist the development of civil society based on the principles of
justice, equality and peace. WomenAid
International-Caucasus, CAUCASUS 16 DAYS Focal Point, together
with members of the Azerbaijan National Coordination Committee,
invite all NGOs, INGOs, government agencies and media in
Azerbaijan to participate in this regional multi-media
awareness-raising campaign. The more organisations involved in the CAUCASUS 16 DAYS - the more impact our efforts to eliminate violence against women will make.
CAUCASUS
16 DAYS
Regional Focal Point:
AZERBAIJAN: YUVA Ata-turk
47, apt.91, Baku
370069 Email: Azerbaijan16Days@womenaid.org WOMEN
with UNIVERSITY EDUCATION
Sh.
Azizbekova 172/3 Baku, 370000 Email: Azerbaijan16Days@womenaid.org PRESS:
ALL
ENQUIRIES to CAUCASUS 16 DAYS PRESS CENTRE Telephone: (995 32) 37 92 70 |
