News in English     | 04.11.2019. 12:25 |

UN convention: Violence against women is a violation of basic human rights

FENA Hana Imamović

SARAJEVO, November 4 (FENA) - Any form of violence against women is a violation of fundamental human rights and it does not only endangers the victims, but it has an unprecedented impact on society, it was underlined today at the opening of the Global Grantee Convention of the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, which will be held from November 4-7 in Sarajevo, and also marks 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 global campaign will be dedicated to the topic of rape.

The Sarajevo conference has brought together 150 members of the Fund from around the world, and it is an organization that supports civil society, especially women's organizations that are determined to combat gender-based violence, and it is the largest organization of its kind in the world.

The UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka opened today’s conference and stressed that it is of utmost importance that the convention is being held in BiH as they will urge the government and non-governmental organizations to do their utmost to combating violence against women, which is still a huge problem in this country.

She recalled that BiH is a signatory to a number of international conventions and other documents, and added that, by gathering in Sarajevo, members of the Fund encourage those responsible to implement the provisions of those documents.

According to the available data, every other woman in BiH has survived some form of violence, which is why it is extremely important to cut down on this number and create an environment that will reduce the number of women who have suffered violence.

Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Resolution on Women, Peace and Security 1325. Both of these documents deal with the fight against violence against women, and the UN Women executive said she hopes that BiH would comply with these resolutions.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in BiH Sezin Sinanoglu also participates in the conference, and has emphasized in a press release that no country in the world is immune to violence against women, and a solution to this issue needs to be sought jointly.

“The UN has been working to eliminate violence against women in BiH since 2011 through support from the UN Fund. That year, UNDP and UNFPA jointly implemented a project to combat violence against women, which was later expanded,” Sinanoglu reminded.

Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željko Komšić addressed the participants at the opening ceremony and emphasized that violence against women is one of the burning problems, and he also singled out the BiH institutions' data, which shows that more than 50 percent of women in BiH have experienced some form of violence.

“Violence against women and girls is not and should not be a problem for individuals. Individuals, as parts of society, are responsible for recognizing the characteristics and forms of violence that occur around us. We are obliged to support abused women and girls and through our actions actively work on creating preconditions for preventing abuse,” Komšić noted.

By providing selfless support, he emphasized that this would encourage victims to report violence to competent institutions and send a clear message to abusers that they will not go unpunished.

He concluded that in a civilized society, there is an obligation to prevent violence and speak publicly about the problem of violence against women, but also to ensure that there is support for the institutions working to combat violence.

Over the past 22 years, the Fund for combating violence against women has supported 517 organizations with USD 149 million in 139 countries and territories, and over the past year alone it has covered more than six million people.

(FENA) S. R.

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