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SARAJEVO, November 3 (FENA) - The UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, with the UN delegation, visited the Safe House in Sarajevo today.
The director and managers of the Foundation for Local Democracy, Jasmina Mujezinović, Amra Musić and Selma Begić, informed the senior guests about the importance of the Safe House, its functioning, programs for the prevention of violence against women and the economic and social status of women and children victims of domestic violence.
Mujezinović said that the Foundation for Local Democracy has been active for more than 20 years, and its main mission is to prevent and combat gender-based violence, and, as she said, respecting and promoting human rights, other services have been set up for prevention and protection.
There are also two shelters operating within the Safe House, explained Musić. One is for women and children victims of domestic violence, as well as a shelter for girls and young women aged 12 to 18 who are victims of incest, sexual violence, rape, domestic violence and other forms of violence.
"To date, 1,954 persons have used the services of these shelters. The total capacity is up to 35 persons and currently, it accommodates 32 people," said Musić.
The third service is a 24-hour SOS Violence Reporting Line, where they are at disposal to citizens who want to report violence, seek advice, and, if necessary, provide accommodation for victims.
She stated that from the very beginning of the work of the Safe House, a protocol on cooperation was signed with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Sarajevo Canton.
There are nine safe houses in total in the territory of BiH with 173 available beds.
Members of the UN High Delegation, including UN Women Regional Director Alia El-Yassir, UNTF Head Aldijana Šišić, UN Women BiH Representative David Saunders, and UN Women BiH Program Specialist Amna Muharemović, were interested in legal aid provided by the Foundation for Local Democracy, and especially for women who were victims of rape during the war in BiH.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is on an official visit to BiH to mark the opening of the Global Grantee Convention of the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women Fund, which will be held from November 4-7 in Sarajevo, and will also mark the start of the global campaign "16 Days of Activism against violence against women, which is taking place around the world and seeks to mobilize the public to combat gender-based violence.
This year's "16 Days of Activism" global campaign will focus on the topic of rape and that is why the visit to the Safe House in Sarajevo has been a part of this campaign.
The opening session of the Convention will take place in the Building of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the participation of the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željko Komšić, as well as the Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and feature prominent civil society representatives including Charlotte Bunch, Founding Director and Senior Scholar at the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University and Hakima Abbas, Co-Executive Director of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID). Aldijana Šišić, Chief of the UN Trust Fund, will welcome all participants to the convention in the opening session.
During this unprecedented gathering, participant discussions will focus on topics including current issues in ending violence against women programming, managing evidence and knowledge, building effective institutions, and ensuring sustainable funding to organizations working to create change and support survivors around the world. Participants will examine these specific aspects of global work to end violence against women and girls implemented through three generations of active projects funded by the UN Trust Fund.
The convention takes place in the context of important global convenings taking place in 2020; 25 years since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action, 20 years since the landmark United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace, and security, and the development of the UN Trust Fund’s new strategy for 2021-2025.
(FENA) S. R.
