he Ministry of Health of Iraq and the Ministry of Health of the Kurdistan Regional

Government, Iraq, in collaboration with WHO, organized a four-day training workshop

on gender-based violence/violence against women from 30 May to 2 June 2012 in Erbil.
The workshop focused on building the capacity of health practitioners and other key
actors to integrate the protection, health care and referral of victims into the health system
of Iraq; developing and strengthening the knowledge of participants on gender-based
violence/violence against women and enhanced cooperation between different sectors in
Iraq (governmental and nongovernmental) towards promoting and violence against
women.

On behalf of H.E Dr Rekawt Rashid, Minister of Health of the Kurdistan Regional

Governemnt, Dr Jameel Ali Rashid, Director General of Directorate of Technical Affairs
in the ministry said “Violence against women continues to be a serious problem across
Iraq. It cuts across cultural and religious barriers, impeding the right of women to
participate fully in their societies”.

“All governments, including Iraq, have declared that violence against women constitutes
a violation of basic human rights and is an obstacle to the achievement of the objectives
of equality, development and peace" said Dr Dindar Zebari, Deputy Minister, Department
of Foreign Relations of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain, WHO Representative in Iraq said, “Fulfilling the right of Iraqi
women will require concerted collaboration and action between governmental and
nongovernmental actors, including educators, health care authorities, legislators, the
judiciary and the mass media”.

The workshop was attended by 35 participants from Iraq representing the Ministries of
Health, Women's Affairs, Human Rights, Education, Higher Education, Interior, Justice,
Women and Children and Education, the Higher Education Parliamentarian Committee,
in addition to women's empowerment organizations, women and childrens associations,
WHO, United Nations Population Fund and UN WOMEN and facilitated by WHO
regional experts.

Dr Syed reaffirmed WHO’s commitment to providing technical support to the

Government of Iraq in addressing the needs of violated women and girls to combat
violence against women and to contribute to an improved environment for the protection
of women’s rights and prevention of violence against women throughout Iraq.
Photo by Amin Ismail, UNAMID.

EL FASHER – UNAMID and the United Nations Country Team in Sudan launched the
annual ‘16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence’ campaign with an event in
El Fasher, North Darfur on 28 November.

Attended by members of the local community, along with UNAMID leadership and staff,
the event included handicrafts made by Darfur women, cultural performances and a
concert featuring Darfuri saxophonist Hussain El Naqoor.

The campaign – which runs each year between 25 November (International Day for the
Elimination of Violence against Women) and 10 December (Human Rights Day) -- aims
to raise public awareness and mobilize people everywhere to bring about change. The
global theme for this year’s campaign is ‘Leave No One Behind: End Violence against
Women and Girls’.

Francoise Simard, Head of UNAMID’s Rule of Law Section, shared with participants the
message from UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, issued on 25 November.

“It is now widely recognized that violence against women, including harassment and
harmful practices, are major barriers to the fulfilment of human rights, and a direct
challenge to women’s inclusion and participation in sustaining peace,” said Mr. Guterres
in his message.

“It is time for united action from all of us, so that women and girls around the world can
live free from harassment, harmful practices, and all other forms of violence,” continued
the message.

Ruth Kibiti, Chief of UNAMID’s Gender Advisory Unit, said that women and girls have
continued to experience different forms of violence, including rape, gang rape, wife
beating, abduction, sexual harassment and abusive language.

“The violence experienced by women and girls is due to high levels of poverty which
affects women more than men, and which has increased significantly because women
cannot engage in income generating activities for fear of being raped or gang-raped,” said
Ms. Kibiti.

Hiromi Amano, Acting, UNDP Regional Coordinator, said that UNDP, in partnership
with other members of the international community and national institutions, will
continue to advocate to combat violence against women through effective policies and
interventions.

Mona Ibrahim, a member of a local women’s development group, highlighted the

importance of empowering women through capacity-building, especially the production
of handicrafts.
19 women benefit from two-day training
on sexual and gender-based violence in
East Darfur

Photo by Hassan Ibrahim Ishag, UNAMID.

El Daein, 13 February 2018: 19 women from Al Manara village in East Darfur

participated in a two-day, UNAMID-supported training programme on sexual and
gender-based violence (SGBV).
The activity aimed at educating participants about different forms of gender-based
violence and raising their awareness that violence against women in any form is
unacceptable. Furthermore, they were trained in methods that can be used to prevent such
acts.

The workshop also sensitized participants on support structures available for victims of
such violence, under the framework of family and child protection principles, through
various humanitarian agencies as well as non-governmental organizations.

Speaking on behalf of the trainees, Mustoura Rihan, a displaced women’s leader, called
upon all participants to disseminate key points of the training activity to members of their
community, thereby creating a trickle-down effect which, she hoped, would contribute to
a reduction of such incidents.