WUNRN
PALESTINE
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Palestinians Join UN
Agencies in Denouncing Honour Killings and Gender Abuse
5 December 2008 – Eight United Nations
agencies have co-sponsored the first Palestinian ‘festival’ to combat violence
against women, driving home the message that so-called “honour killings” have
nothing to do with honour and seeking to break the conspiracy of silence
surrounding domestic abuse.
“It is time for action, not words,” UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Programme Manager in the occupied Palestinian territory Alia El Yassir told the festival in Ramallah on the West Bank. “UN agencies are working as one on this issue and supporting civil societies in their efforts to end violence against women.”
It is time for action, not words
The main
message of the festival was threefold:
- Killing
a woman has nothing to do with honour. It is a violation of fundamental
human rights and freedoms.
- Break
the conspiracy of silence surrounding domestic violence. Silence protects
the perpetrators, and is the greatest obstacle encountered by women and
girls in protecting themselves and their children.
- Youth,
especially young men, can play a positive and driving role. Male and
female Palestinian youth have the right, duty and responsibility to play a
key role in building a Palestinian society free of domestic violence
against women and girls.
The emphasis
on youth groups at the festival reflected the vital role the young can play,
since they account for 48 per cent of the population in the occupied
Palestinian territory.
Beside
UNIFEM, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UN
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN Population Fund
(UNFPA), World Health Organization (WHO), High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) and UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
(UNRWA) joined three Palestinian Authority ministries and 15 local
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in sponsoring the event.
The
festival, with a similar event taking place in Gaza, was part of the global 16
Days of Activism against Gender Violence, an annual international campaign from
25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women,
to 10 December, International Human Rights Day.
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