Georgia says No to gender-based violence

The official launch of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence was held at the Queen Tamar Hall at the Parliament of Georgia on November 25, organised by the Parliamentary Advisory Council on Gender Equality and the United Nations Population Fund in Georgia.

The event was opened by Vice Speaker of Parliament and Chair of the Gender Equality Advisory Council Rusudan Kervalishvili, who greeted the guests and expressed her gratitude for the cooperation of members of the Parliament of Georgia, representatives of the Government, the diplomatic corps, UN agencies, international and local organisations and the media in this project. She spoke about the importance of the 16 days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, an international campaign observed annually worldwide from November 25 to December 10. “The campaign aims at eliminating all forms of violence against women by raising awareness about gender-based violence, strengthening efforts around women’s rights and demonstrating the solidarity of women in our country,” the Vice Speaker stated.

Eric Fournier, Ambassador of France to Georgia, spoke about important advances in combating gender-based violence here. He also read an appeal prepared by Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, encouraging men to unite against gender-based violence through the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls adopted as part of the event. The Ambassador was the first man to sign this and all the other men in the hall followed him to express their readiness to achieve gender equality.

Tamar Khomasuridze, Assistant Representative of UNFPA in Georgia, once again thanked all the guests for their readiness to fighting against gender-based violence and ceremonially declared the 16 Days of Activism in Georgia open. She invited guests to participate in over 50 activities which have been planned by different international and non-governmental organisations in different parts of Georgia.