On the occasion of International Women’s Day, university Professor Heybatollah Najandi-Manesh said that people should free their minds from wrong and discriminatory traditions, while addressing a one–day seminar in Isfahan on 6 March.

Another speaker, Dr. Najandi-Manesh, said “If there would be another world war, that war would be the women’s war against discrimination and those men who advocate injustice”. 
 
Organized by the Women’s Commission of Isfahan Bar Association, the seminar was opened by a reading of the UN Secretary-General’s message on the Day read by UNIC Tehran’s Reference Assistant, who also delivered a speech on “UN Women and women in the UN”. Other speakers at the seminar were: member of the Board of Directors of the Isfahan Bar Association Dr. Leila Raeisi and Professor Mohammad Ali Solhchi, an International Law expert and professor at Allameh Tabatabaei University.

A documentary on violence against women in Iranian rural areas was screened and a panel of experts including a film critic discussed the issues raised in the documentary.

On 6 March 2013 UNO Baku – the Department of Public Information (UN DPI) team braved the cold and joined hands with the women of the Azerbaijani Tartar region, before a  promising  cooperative session devoted to the upcoming International Women's Day under the theme: “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women.”

The event was a continuation of a series of ‘advocacy and action’ information sessions that the UN DPI team in Azerbaijan has been conducting to promote the wider “UNiTE to End Violence against Women” campaign launched in 2008 by the UN Secretary-General. It is “based on the simple but powerful premise that all women and girls have a fundamental human right to live free of violence,” says Ban Ki-moon in his message for the 2013 Women’s Day celebration.

Collaborating with the national NGO - International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF), the UN DPI Representative with her small team traveled 330 km out of the capital to meet with women of the Tartar, which is the second most infamous place in Azerbaijan for registered domestic violence cases. The Head Inspector of prophylactic work with the juvenile working group at Tartar Police Department, Ruslan Allahverdiyev, raised this alarming statistic at the session, thanking the UN for pushing this issue into the spotlight.

Violence against women continues to spiral worldwide, but the UN will never stop denouncing this social ill, was the overall message of the presentation of the DPI team.

“We need a wider awareness campaign in our region, and not only to talk, but to take action and work on prevention since we still do not have a real sequence of actions – what should be done to help those who run from the place where they are victimized,” says Allahverdiyev. “We know that psychologically, the scars run even deeper, but most women stay in the abusive relationship or environment fearing that they will not be able to support themselves once when they confront their abuser(s).”

Tartar is not an easy place to live. According to government statistics, more than 2,600 refugees and around 15,000 internally displaced persons are living in the district that is often in the news headlining frequent ceasefire breaches due to the heavy military presence that comes with its proximity to the Azerbaijani-Armenian cease-fire line.

Women and children, as everywhere in postwar zones, are among the most affected, says MD Elman Hasanov, deputy chief doctor at the Central Clinic of Tartar. However, the conditions of living should not be an excuse for “the rising number of domestic violence cases”, Hasanov continued. “Very often, the abuse is overlooked, excused, or denied and this is especially true when the mistreatment is not brutally physical.” He also expressed his gratitude to the UN DPI team for shining light on this important issue and promised to collaborate in future campaigns. “We should not let down our women,” he added.

“Women do not get half the media's attention, or an equal voice in expression,” says Svetlana Ezizova, a local journalist from “Yeni Terter” newspaper. “We are truly thankful to the UN team for highlighting these important issues. It is not an easy task to have women to talk about happenings within the family or how they maintain their morale and individuality in the face of demanding circumstances.”

The UN team suggested that it is very important to educate women and the public that violence against women is not justified under any situation and that they should always speak out and actively seek help from relevant sources to protect themselves from any kind of violence.

“Most times the main reason for women to put up with the domestic violence is social pressure and stereotypes and we can avoid this only by educating and investing in women and girls,” said Zulfiyya Abdullayeva, deputy principal of Tartar School #6.

For Laman Huseynli, a young volunteer of IEPF Vocational Centre, the only way to uproot the violence against women and girls is to build new generations of young people who believe in the right to a life free of violence. “Our mothers are those who are zealous guardians of the male dominance and they will always find an explanation why our brothers are right, even if they openly abuse their wives or sisters.”

After a vibrant discussion that lasted around two hours, Hejer Askerova, a coordinator of the Vocational Centre expressed her gratitude to the United Nations and to the UN DPI team in particular for the session.
“To me, these UN organized sessions are always great encouragement and we hope to inspire young people to take leadership on ending violence against women and girls.”

Envera Selimovic, UN DPI Representative in Azerbaijan, who was warmly greeted by the women that she met last November in the ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence’ campaign, says that she was happy coming back. For Selimovic there is no doubt that “we all should join hands to encourage women to stand up for their rights, but we should also help women in building a safe alternative for themselves, once they break the silence’.”

“Violence against women remains a challenge because it is based on social constructs that condone the behavior. It certainly takes courage to say “No” but it will be far easier for many women should they have an alternative option,” said Selimovic. 

“So, there is a task for all of us, starting from building state support and securing resources for preventing and ending all forms of violence against women and girls.  We all should step in and help thousands of ordinary women to make an extraordinary move – jump with a safety net built for those who dared to say NO.”
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Although Azerbaijan is one of those countries that have ratified the Treaty for the Rights of Women, officially known as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and a significant improvement in addressing the rights of women and girls was made, there is much room for improvement. This was a conclusion of the seminar conducted by the Azerbaijani Women Association for Rational Development (WARD), and supported by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) in Baku.

For many CEDAW is essential to advancing the status of women around the world. It establishes rights for women in realms never before subject to global standards, such as political participation, legal protections, and access to jobs, education and health care.

While discussing this document, for many known as the Women’s Bill of Rights, the participants emphasized that although women have partnered with the government to improve the status of women and girls for several years already, the legislation of the country on ensuring gender equality is not implemented properly. Moreover, as participants emphasized, there is no effective measures to punish those who fail in the process of using paragraphs into real life situations, or at least letting women know what their rights are all about.

“We concluded that, in general, there is a serious gap between the depicted image of the role and status of Azeri women, comparing to the real-life situation. That is why we very much hope that not only laws and policies will change, but most importantly that government will insist on their implementation. That is the only way for women to exercise their rights at the first place,” says the WARD’s Chairperson Shahla Ismailova.

The seminar took place in the capital of Azerbaijan throughout June 2011, with great participation of several UN agencies. “The DPI Representative, UN Resident Coordinator’s office, UNFPA, UNICEF took an active role during the seminar and we are sincerely grateful for that,” says Ms. Ismailova.

The UN Women Office in Burundi was officially launched in Bujumbura on 1 June 2011 under the high patronage of the First Vice-President of Burundi, Mr. Therence Sinunguruza. The ceremony started with the presentation by the UN Women Country Representative, Mr. Jean-Claude Muenda of the context of the establishment of UN Women, its strategic plan, as well as the priority thematic  that it addresses, and its relationships with the diverse partners including the UN System.

Speeches of the day were presented respectively by the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Burundi, Ms. Karin Landgren, the Minister of Human Rights and Gender, and the speech on behalf of the government was made by the First Vice-President of the Republic.

The ceremony was attended by the members of the Parliament and the government, the diplomatic corps, the civil society representatives and the United Nations Agencies.
In preparation of the above event, UNIC Bujumbura co-organized with UN Women am media campaign including a press conference with was hold in the UNIC conference room on 30 May 2011.

The centre invited the press and mobilized the senior journalists to attend. The NIO moderated the session while the UN Women Country Representative presented the new UN entity and its mandate and priority issues it covers related to gender equality and women empowerment. Around thirty journalists representing the local media attended the press conference.