The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Port of Spain mounted an International Women's Day exhibit in the College of Science Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT) cafeteria from 3 to 20 March 2009. This year's theme for International Women's Day was “Women and men unite to end violence against women”, which is part of a year long campaign launched by the UN Secretary-General to end violence against women.

The exhibit included recent UN publications on women, gender and human rights. Other activities that continued the observance throughout the month of March included a Ministry of Community Development and Gender Affairs sports day for women and girls, which was attended by the Director of UNIC Port of Spain, who read the UN Secretary-General's message for International Women's Day before the mini marathon run.

The Ministry also launched a year long campaign on fighting violence against women in partnership with the UN System in Trinidad and Tobago.

Finally, a Take Back the Night march and rally on the University of the West Indies campus in St. Augustine, Trinidad on 13 March 2009 was organised by the UWI activist group, Consciousness Raising and was attended by the National Information Officer from UNIC Port of Spain.

To celebrate International Women's Day 2009, the network of 63 UN Information Centres (UNICs) organized various activities, which included public events, briefings, panel discussions, seminars and video screenings, often with the participation of high-level Government officials, civil society and media. 

Please click on the link below to read about how UNICs celebrated International Women's Day 2009.

UNICs mark International Women's Day 2009(pdf 1.07 mb)

The United Nations system in Ghana and the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs organized a film screening and art exhibition in Accra on 13 March 2009 as part of their activities to mark this year’s International Women’s Day.

Two films covering physical, cultural and verbal violence were screened. One, Taking Action – Protecting Lives, included images from Senegal while the other, Real Men, showed real Ghanaian incidents of violence against women. Both films served to raise awareness about women’s rights and to teach women and girls to resist violent actions.

A panel discussion moderated by an Ark Foundation representative followed. The audience agreed that legislation alone could not do much to end violence against women and called for concerted action by both individuals and groups.

UN Secretary-General’s message on the Day was read out, and the United Nations Resident Coordinator (UN RC) and the event’s moderator, the Director of the Department of Women of the Ministry of Women & Children’s Affairs, highlighted the necessity of involving all men and women to achieve further development in gender issues.

While commending the Ghana government for their work on gender issues, the UN RC also praised the work of the Department of Women of  the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and reiterated the strong commitment of the UN system in Ghana to support efforts of the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The events’ art exhibition was mounted by the Foundation for Contemporary Art-Ghana. Both national and foreign artist participated and the paintings portrayed women in their daily chores and some of their challenges.

The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Tripoli organized a series of events to celebrate International Women's Day. On 9 March 2009, UNIC Tripoli together with Ghadaffi International Charity and Development Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) held a workshop entitled "Empowerment of
Women and Gender Equity: International Women’s Day 2009." A professor from Garyounis University opened the workshop and expressed his appreciation for the strong leadership and support provided by Ghadaffi International Charity and Development Foundation. The UN Resident Coordinator spoke about the work the UN will do to set up a women’s network in the country to forge an active partnership for the advancement of women’s rights and a representative from Benghazi University presented a paper on issues of women in Libya, national political issues and their impact on women's empowerment in Libya.

Also on 9 March 2009, the Organization of Women and Children’s Rights celebrated International Women’s Day at the Cultural Center of Jafara Shabeya. UNIC Tripoli distributed the Secretary-General’s message for the Day, press releases, and a large number of publications on the subject of women.

On 10 March 2009 a press conference, held at UN House, was arranged by UNIC Tripoli for the Resident Coordinator. The Resident Coordinator outlined the events scheduled for International Women’s Day 2009 and gave an interview to Libya TV.

Finally on 11 March 2009, a debate was held for female teachers. Prominent female leaders in the field of women’s rights chaired the debate. They highlighted different aspects of violence against women in society and said though Libya has ratified a number of international agreements on women's rights, what was required was to raise awareness among girls and women of their rights. Participants asked questions of the panel and discussed the causes, effects and solutions to violence against women.