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CAUCASUS 16 DAYS 2002: BULLETIN #1 MARKING
THE UN INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST
WOMEN - 25
NOVEMBER 2002
Dear
Colleagues It
is a very negative reflection of global society that at the dawn
of the 21st Century violence against women is
increasing throughout the world.
It is a scourge that preys on women and girls of ALL
nations, of ALL cultures Gender-based violence is the social,
psychological and economic subordination of women and occurs in
all societies. The
problem is of such a worrying scale that a few years ago the
United Nations selected the twenty-fifth of November as the
special UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence
Against Women. The UN
General Assembly invited Governments, the relevant agencies,
bodies, funds and programs of the United Nations system, and other
international organizations and non-governmental organizations, to
organize on that day, activities designed to raise public
awareness of the problem of violence against women. This
Bulletin includes a Briefing Note on the history of this special
day. The
25th November also marks the beginning of the 2002 CAUCASUS 16
DAYS of Activism Against Gender Violence.
Many colleagues from the CAUCASUS 16 DAYS NGO members and
media throughout the region have very generously been volunteering
a great deal of energy and time planning events for the 2002 16
Days Campaign. Events include free legal, medical and
psychological consultations, seminars, exhibitions and conferences
in Baku, Tbilisi and Yerevan. The Calendar
of Events is
being circulated and is available upon request and from the
CAUCASUS 16 DAYS official website (English and Russian): http://www.womenaid.org/16days/english/calendar2002.html THANK
YOU! A
rousing vote of thanks is sent to members of all three National
Coordination Committees and Media Advocacy Groups as well our
National Focal Point partners in Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The volunteers who agree to be the National Focal Point in
each country bear a huge responsibility as they undertake the task
of co-ordinating the national arrangements in each country. They cannot
be thanked enough for their dedication and commitment to
achieve change. BUT…we
can try! So a BIG
thank you to ALL Focal Point colleagues and especially Anahit Tevosyan
of Tatev-98 in Armenia, Rena Tahirova, Pervana Mamedova of YUVA
and Taman Japharova,
Women with University Education in Azerbaijan and Diana Tsirunova
& Nana Kakabadze working in the WomenAid International
Caucasus Regional Focal Point office in Tbilisi. We
also greatly appreciate the dedication of all Local Coordination
Partners (LCPs) who are organising events in the regions of each
country. Special
thanks also to Alla
Gamakharia and colleagues of Humanitarian Fund
Sukhumi, Kutaisi
and colleagues of Azerbaijan Young Lawyers Association,(AYLU),
Baku – both organisations are participating members of the
Georgian and Azeri National Coordination Committees and
successfully attracted funding for activities supporting this
years CAUCASUS 16 DAYS campaign.
We hope that as the CAUCASUS 16 DAYS campaign grows each
year even more participating members will be successful in
attracting funds for a range of activities.
Of
course nothing could be achieved without the support of donors and
all three Coordination Committees are grateful to Open Society Institute
for providing some financial support to the campaign in all three
countries this year. WomenAid
International is pleased to be supporting this regional programme
and to see it grow year on year.
CAUCASUS 16 DAYS is a very positive example of civil
society cooperation and leadership and is now inspiring similar
action in other regions of the world.
Never forget that it is three countries in the Caucasus
that are leading the way! Pida Ripley, Founder WomenAid International For further information contact the Caucasus
16 Days Focal Point: WomenAid International-Caucasus: 17 Khvichia
St. Tbilisi 380060 Georgia Tel/Fax: (995 32) 37 92 70 Email: waigeo@access.sanet.ge |
