Yerevan, 25 November 2011 – Today at UN House, UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund, held a press conference devoted to launching of "16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence" campaign in Armenia, with participation of Mr. Damtew Dessalegne, Acting UN Resident Coordinator, Ms. Lala Ghazaryan, Head of Family, Children and Women Issues Department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Issues, Ms. Maria Dotsenko, UNDPI Representative, and Mrs. Jina Sargizova, “16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence” campaign coordinator. The speakers presented the campaign details and talked about the current situation with gender violence in Armenia.

Message from UN Secretary General devoted to November 25 - the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, was distributed during the press conference. The “16-Days” campaign calendar of events was also distributed presenting a variety of events such as round table discussions with participation of government, political parties and NGOs, presentation of “Woman’s image in Armenian media” study results, “Men against violence” campaign together with representatives of Armenian Apostolic Church, PSA and film screenings, information meetings and seminars in Yerevan and throughout Armenia, and more. This year’s campaign slogan is: “From peace in the home to peace in the world”.

“Every year brings with it more new challenges and the 16 Days campaign is an ultimate opportunity to draw global attention to the worldwide problem of violence against women and to offer an opportunity to advocate for women’s rights to end gender inequality”, said Mr. Dessalegne during the press conference.

The “16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence” is an international campaign that runs from November 25 to December 10, International Human Rights Day. The brutal murder of 14 Canadian female students in 1989 triggered creation of two global campaigns: 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence and the White Ribbon Campaign. Since 1991, more than 3,700 organizations in 164 countries have participated in the 16 Days Campaign. The campaign has been held in Armenia since 2001.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. UNFPA supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.

For additional information please contact:

Mr. Mher Manukyan, Communication Assistant, UNFPA Armenia
E-mail: manukyan@unfpa.org
Phone: (+374 10) 54 34 17; (+374 77) 03 25 25