Fund to Fight Gender Violence Puts Donors to the Test
By Thalif Deen

March 6, 2008 - (IPS) The U.N. "Trust Fund to End Violence against Women" has risen significantly over the last year: from 3.5 million dollars in 2006 to over 15 million dollars in 2007.

The U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which manages the Trust Fund on behalf of the U.N. system, has now set an ambitious goal: to raise about 100 million dollars a year by 2015.

Since it was set up in 1997, the Trust Fund has received over 33 million dollars, nearly half of it last year.

Joanne Sandler, UNIFEM's ad interim executive director, says that in line with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's campaign to end gender violence, UNIFEM is expanding its advocacy and fund raising efforts.

"The U.N. Trust Fund is a vital complement to our work in all regions and all contexts to end sexual and gender-based violence in women's lives, in both conflict and non-conflict situations," she added.

Sandler said the U.N. campaign will add value and visibility to the efforts that governments, women's and other civil society organisations, U.N. and donor partners are making to combat gender-based violence.

The message is that ending violence against women stands on par with other critical development goals.

To build on this success and capitalise on the momentum from the secretary-general's campaign, UNIFEM seeks to significantly increase its fundraising, she said in a message for International Women's Day 2008, which will be commemorated Saturday.

On Tuesday, Avon Products announced a public-private partnership to promote women's empowerment and an end to violence against women. With this goal in mind, Avon has pledged 1.0 million dollars to the UNIFEM-managed Trust Fund.

Andrea Jung, chairman and chief executive officer of Avon Products, told reporters that for more than 120 years, Avon has empowered women across the globe by providing them the opportunity to own their own business and achieve economic independence.

"We believe that by empowering women, we can help change the world and this commitment is imprinted on everything we do," she added.

The British Department of International Development has pledged 350,000 dollars over a three-month period to fight sexual and gender-based violence in Rwanda. This is part of a larger three-year programme, estimated to cost about 3.2 million dollars, where UNIFEM is working with the Rwandan Defence Forces.

Last November, UNIFEM initiated an Internet-based advocacy effort, "Say NO to Violence against Women", with UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman, one of Hollywood's best known movie stars, in the lead.

"Today, as more and more people add their names, we can see a growing movement of people who are demanding an end to violence, including governments, U.N. partners and celebrities Catherine Deneuve and Hillary Swank."

Sandler said the entire cabinet of Senegal, led by President Abdoulaye Wade, has signed on; U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro has lent her name; and people are signing from every corner of the globe.

The signatures will be presented to the secretary-general in November as an expression of widespread public support to his efforts.

Last month, the Washington-based U.N. Foundation pledged its support to UNIFEM by agreeing to donate one dollar for each of the first 100,000 signatures to the U.N.'s online campaign. The web address of the campaign is www.sayNOtoviolence.org

As of last month, the campaign, which was launched last November, has drawn over 18,000 signatures worldwide.

Timothy Wirth, president of the U.N. Foundation, said that UNIFEM's campaign allows "people everywhere to go on record and stand up for a world free of violence against women."

In a statement to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which concludes its two-week session Friday, the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women says that male violence against women and girls is a significant barrier to achieving gender equality and empowerment.

"Among the most severe and escalating practices of gender-based violence is commercial sexual exploitation, including sex trafficking, prostitution, the Internet bride industry, pornography, and sex tourism."

Sandler told the CSW last week that funding levels were an indicator of the vast financial distance that had to be covered to end violence against women.
Other sectoral or special purpose funds in the United Nations -- such as the Peacebuilding Fund and the U.N.Democracy Fund -- had far more generous beginnings than the Trust Fund.

Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, has raised about 10 billion dollars for grants in 136 countries.
In late February, the secretary-general formally launched the new U.N. campaign titled "Unite to End Violence against Women".

For more than three decades, women's rights advocates have been working to place the urgency of ending violence against women on every national, regional, and international agenda.

"That work took a huge step forward with the kick-off of the campaign and the secretary-general's personal pledge to bring in men and world leaders. It is the kind of high-level commitment that is so badly needed," Sandler added.

Speaking before the opening session of the CSW last week, the secretary-general said: "Violence against women is an issue that cannot wait."
At least one out of every three women is likely to be beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime, he added.

Through the practice of prenatal sex selection, countless others are denied the right even to exist.

"No country, no culture, no woman, young or old, is immune to this scourge. Far too often, the crimes go unpunished, the perpetrators walk free," Ban said.

The U.N. Campaign to End Violence against Women also comes at a time when world leaders are renewing their commitment to financing national development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which call for, among other things, a 50 percent reduction in extreme hunger and poverty by the year 2015.

The secretary-general has pointed out that increased resources invested in achieving Millennium Development Goal 3 -- on gender equality and women's empowerment -- is central to achieving all other development goals.

From:http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41488