‘No excuses’ The theme of the event was to call for an end to gender-based violence. Progress is needed in this direction and steps must be taken quickly.
In his message today, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed outrage at the current alarming statistics.
“Every day 140 women and girls are killed by their family members. “We must face the harsh truth: our fight is not over.”
In his address, UN General Assembly President Philemon Young noted that this international day should be used to exchange best practices, identify serious shortcomings and strengthen our resolve to eliminate violence against women and girls.
Progress despite challenges
In the past few years, solid progress has been made in combating gender-based violence. The ‘UN-Spotlight’ initiative in partnership with the European Union has shown that progress is possible.
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammad shared the achievements of this program. “This initiative has shown concrete progress with the passage or implementation of nearly 550 laws and policies.”
These initiatives have provided much-needed services to 3 million women and implemented gender equality programs for 8 million youth.
Despite these achievements, more investment is needed to prevent gender-based violence, according to Seema Bachaus, UN Women’s chief for women’s empowerment.
“We must avoid underestimating real progress in any way, but we must be honest with ourselves that it is extremely slow, and that it is threatened by emerging challenges from the political to the technological.”
call to action
During the program it was reiterated that boys and men must actively participate in eliminating gender-based violence.
General Assembly President Philemon Young said they are our allies in this fight and must consider whether they can do better.
At the same time, active steps should be taken to change the discriminatory attitude towards women and prevent violence.
The coming days will mark the 30th anniversary of the ‘Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action’. The event, held earlier, emphasized the need for global solidarity and accountability and a renewed determination to fulfill commitments made three decades ago.