On the International Day Against Homophobia, the UN System in Peru celebrated diversity while reaffirming its rejection of all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

To advance this important Day, the UN Information Centre (UNIC) Lima approached local UN agencies, asking them to speak to the young victims of homophobic bullying. To reach the widest possible audience, UNIC recorded their words as video messages under Proyecto Todo Mejora for posting on the UN System web page. 

Among others, speaking on camera were the Resident Coordinator of the UN System and UNDP Representative in Peru, UNAIDS Coordinator for Peru and Bolivia, Representative of the Pan American Health Organization and the  World Health Organization, UNICEF Representative in Peru, Officer-in-Charge of the UN Population Fund in Peru, OHCHR Regional Representative and the UNIC National Information Officer.

The UN Information Centre (UNIC) Lima organized an introductory workshop for the “Youth for Tolerance” project launched today by the Friends of the UN Club.

The idea was born on 14 November 2012, during and event organized by UNIC Lima to mark the International Day for Tolerance. During the commemoration, participants from 54 schools proposed a project for the 2013 school year in which a series of activities promoting tolerance be undertaken by upper grade high school students.

With a special focus on racism and homophobia, one of the activities is the creation of a blog to exchange ideas about tolerance, racism and homophobia. Others involve training school correspondents to cover the topics and songwriting and producing audiovisual material (photographs, videos, cartoons) for a school-wide campaign promoting the value of tolerance and the rejecting racism and homophobia.

All activities will be guided by specialists in journalism, photography, music, drawing and blog management and the contributions made by the students throughout the project will be used to support future education on these topics in the coming years.

Three schools initiated the project, “Martin Esquicha Bernedo”, “Jorge Cieza Lachos” and “Santa Rosa del Sauce” from Mangomarca, in the district of San Juan de Lurigancho, with the participation of 54 school leaders.

The activity was launched within the framework of the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (21 March) and the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade (25 March).  

The overall project has the support of the Outreach Division of the UN Department of Public Information.

The UN Information Centre (UNIC) Lima organized a presentation of the essay "Black Woman, slave resistance" by Zelmira Aguilar to commemorate the International Day Remembering Victims of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Zelmira Aguilar cited the black woman as leading the fight to liberate mid-nineteenth century slaves. During her investigations, she uncovered achievements of black women during the time of slavery that were almost unimaginable, such as the reduction of working hours during pregnancy and improvement in food and housing conditions.

"It's time to search the files of the nation to change the history of this badly told story" she said.

Her work included a series of portraits of black enslaved women in Peru whose life stories were testimony to the social process that brought the abolition of slavery to Peru in 1854.

Dr. Fernando Leanes, Resident Coordinator (ai), presided over the event as part of the "Youth for Tolerance" project being implemented by UNIC Lima. Dr Leanes commended the essay as an indispensable tool that challenges everyone to engage in the struggle against racial and all types of discrimination. 

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon message on the occasion of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade was read out.

At the end of the presentation, the author engaged in a lively discussion with the audience, which encompassed representatives of the education sector, the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations, civil society organizations and United Nations agencies.

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UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Lima in the area of gender equality continues especially when an important date calls for the international community to reflect upon the abuses against women’s rights that still exist in our society today.

This year, UNIC Lima marked International Women’s Day with 2 activities: a workshop co-organized with the NGO Asociación de Desarrollo Comunal (ADC) and an information campaign through Facebook.

The main activity saw the Vice Minister of Labor, Sylvia Caceres, and a group of representatives from labor unions gather to discuss the most effective way to influence, from a gender perspective, the labor agenda of the country. After the dialogue, the Vice Minister made the commitment to elaborate, with the union’s representatives, a working agenda that will be carried out during 2013. At the end of the meeting, the participants listened to the UN Secretary-General's message on the Day, and also enjoyed watching the video of the song One Woman, which was released in commemoration.

The second activity consisted of a week-long information campaign on Facebook and Twitter. On a daily basis, the campaign disseminated information showing impressive statistics about the situation of women in Peru. Statistics included figures about women’s labor conditions, political participation, level of income compared to men, etc. In the end, some women were interviewed to find out whether they were aware of these figures (http://youtu.be/nrAahOKedps).

The campaign was well received and raised the weekly reach of UNIC Lima’s facebook page by more than 700%.