16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM 2022
5 videos • 21 views • by PAWA254 16 days of activism is a civil society led campaign that takes place each year. It commences on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and ends on 10 December, Human Rights Day, indicating that violence against women is the most pervasive breach of human rights worldwide. It is used as an organizing strategy by individuals and organizations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls (VAWG). The United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE by 2030 to End Violence against Women initiative (UNiTE), calls for global action to increase awareness, galvanise advocacy efforts and share knowledge and innovations to end VAWG once and for all. Launched in 2008, UNiTE is a multi-year advocacy effort aimed at preventing and eliminating VAWG around the world. UNiTE calls on governments, development actors, civil society, women’s organizations, young people, the private sector, the media and the entire UN sys tem to join forces in addressing the global pandemic of violence against women and girls. While the COVID-19 pandemic intensified all forms of VAWG, it also created even more urgency which UN Women, women’s rights organizations and others have capitalized to spur and secure policy changes which are expected to have long-term, trajectory altering impacts on reducing violence. In Kenya high levels of violence against women and girls is an ongoing problem that further increased especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. While official data records may be incomplete, there is a clear trend of increased violence against women and girls. According to data from the national gender-based violence hotline 1195 run by Healthcare Assistance Kenya—an NGO that works with survivors of GBV in Kenya—in partnership with the Ministry of Public Service and Gender, there was a staggering 301 percent increase in calls reporting violence against women and girls in the first two weeks of the lockdown between March and April 2020. PAWA INITIATIVE as an organization is interested in the advancement and safeguarding of Human Rights including Women in Kenya primarily because respect for human rights lays the foundation for good governance-what PAWA seek to achieve for Kenya and the region. To further this noble aim, PAWA partners primarily with artistes and other partners to advocate for the advancement of human rights while at the same time mobilizing support to push back repressive laws and hold the Government to account for violations of treaties, laws and statutes relating to Human Rights in Kenya. It is against this background that PAWA has crafted a campaign to join the force in fighting against Violence against women and girls during this period. The campaign will entail different activities that will aim at creating awareness against the issue, strategies to help prevent the violence and protection mechanisms of Women Human Rights Defenders.