Dear Friends,
 
First and foremost, I write to wish you a happy, healthy and peaceful new year and also to thank you for your ongoing, integral involvement in the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign.  The year 2006 marks the 16^th anniversary of 16 Days, a unique opportunity to honor the campaign’s history, map future directions, and reinforce the message upon which the campaign was founded: that violence against women is a human rights violation worthy of the directed attention of governments and advocates alike. 
 
I also write to ask for your suggestions for the 2006 “16 Years of 16 Days” slogan to celebrate this important anniversary. 
 
Historically, the 16 Days Campaign has been instrumental in using a human rights framework to draw global attention to the worldwide problem of violence against women.  The past several years have been no exception with the participation of thousands of individuals in hundreds of organizations representing all regions of the world.  This year is an ideal time to build on the widespread energy and awareness of violence against women generated by the campaign and to encourage activists to sharpen the focus on violence against women as a critical human rights issue.  During the last few years, the implementation of a number of key UN agreements has been reviewed, including the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Millennium Declaration, all of which address violence against women.  In 2006, a review of the implementation of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS will take place, as well as the release of a worldwide study on violence against women commissioned by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.  Ensuring attention to violence against women in a human rights context, and, in fact, defending and advancing the human rights framework itself remain as critical as ever. 
 
For 2006, we would like to use a slogan that captures the above ideas in an interesting and concise way.  It should celebrate the campaign’s 16-year history and reinforce the importance of human rights within the campaign.  It should also stress that the human rights dimensions of violence against women intersect with the human rights dimensions of all other issues: development, health, peace and security, etc., and that it remains critical to use the human rights framework to call for state accountability in the fight against violence. 
 
The annual campaign slogan is translated into many languages and used by activists all over the world.  The slogans are generally broad in nature to ensure their relevance to groups working on a wide range of violence-related issues in a wide range of contexts.  Slogans have traditionally been created through a collaborative effort by the 16 Days network.  That is why we are calling on you once again for your creative insight.  Please submit your suggestions for the 2006 16 Days campaign slogan by 3 February 2006 via email.  The 2006 slogan will be included in all 2006 materials produced by CWGL.  We will begin producing materials soon to promote the 16^th anniversary of the campaign and encourage people to get involved.  Please see below for a list of all past slogans for your reference. 

In addition, please continue to send electronic and/or hard copies of images, photographs, fliers, posters, reports, articles and other media from your activities during any of the past 16 Days campaigns since 1991 so that we may continue to expand the campaign archive.
 
Please do not hesitate to contact us with any comments or questions.  Thank you for your time and consideration and we look forward to hearing from you. 
 
Sara Nordstrom
Coordinator, 16 Days of Activism
Against Gender Violence

Center for Women's Global Leadership

Phone: (732) 932-8782
Fax: (732) 932-1180
Web: http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/
Email:  cwgl@igc.org 
     
 
16 Days slogans (1991-2005)
1991/1992: Violence Against Women Violates Human Rights
1993: Democracy without Women’s Human Rights . . . is not Democracy
1994: Awareness, Accountability, Action: Violence Against Women Violates Human Rights
1995: Vienna, Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing: Bringing Women’s Human Rights Home
1996: Bringing Women’s Human Rights Home: Realizing Our Visions
1997: Demand Women’s Human Rights in the Home and in the World
1998: Building a Culture of Respect for Human Rights
1999: Fulfilling the Promise of Freedom from Violence
2000: Celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Campaign
2001: Racism and Sexism: No More Violence
2002: Creating a Culture That Says ‘No’ to Violence Against Women
2003: Violence Against Women Violates Human Rights: Maintaining the Momentum Ten Years After Vienna
2004/2005: For the Health of Women, For the Health of the World: NO MORE VIOLENCE