10 Nov 2009, New York, New York, United States…
ANN Staff
About a month after the Seventh-day Adventist Church launched EndItNow, a national campaign to end violence against women and girls, the United Nations announced a similar global initiative.
On November 6, the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) launched a Web site to encourage individual efforts aimed at eradicating violence against women.
The Say No – Unite to End Violence Against Women initiative's Web site addresses the widespread problem — estimates say around 70 percent of all women have been victim to some kind of violence — and demonstrates support by tracking efforts to combat the issue.
“We know that violence against women is a problem with solutions,” said UNIFEM Executive Director Inés Alberdi during a visit with patients at a health clinic for women victims of sexual violence in Nairobi, Kenya.
“What I have seen first-hand today in Kenya is the impact of effective work at the grassroots level, yet there is an urgent need for governments to make this issue a top priority and take decisive action,” Alberdi said.
Counting efforts by individuals, governments and civil society groups, the campaign has set a goal of 100,000 efforts against violence by March 2010 and 1 million by this time next year.
For more information about what the Adventist Church is doing to end violence against women and to sign the petition, visit enditnow.org.
For more information about Say No, visit unifem.org.