BY DIRAMAKINI
THE Ambassador of the European Union, H. E. Manfredo Fanti together with EU Member States’ Ambassadors H. E. Nabil Hajlaoui (France), H. E. Peter Hughebaert (Belgium), H. E. Theresa Zitting (Finland), H. E. Regine Hess (Germany), H. E. Mary O’Neill (Ireland), H. E. Marco Lombardi (Italy), Deputy Ambassador Mr. Job Runhaar (the Netherlands), H. E. Francisca María Pedrós Carretero (Spain), Ms. Lena Hothes, Counsellor (Denmark), and Mr. Joakim Ladeborn, Head of Politics, Trade and Promotion (Sweden) will hold a press conference for Tanzanian media at the French Residence to present the Team Europe initiatives for this year’s 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence (GBV).
The annual global campaign, which will run from 25 November to 10 December 2022 under the theme “Take Action to Prevent Femicide Against Women”, will raise awareness about GBV and calls for global action and advocacy efforts to end violence against women and girls.
In Tanzania, Team Europe, together with local and international stakeholders, advocates for action to prevent and fight against femicide and GBV through support for a range of different initiatives at national, regional and local levels, including awareness-raising activities on both GBV prevention and response.
WiLDAF, coordinator for the national campaign, officially lauched the 16 Days of Activism in Tanzania on 25 November at Leaders Club grounds, together with the Minister for Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups.
During the campaign, the Embassies of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the EU Delegation in collaboration with government partners, NGOs, policy-makers, community groups and activists will organize several public events which will take place around the country.
Highlights include workshops and specialist dialogues, an anti-GBV caravan to 12 regions of Tanzania focusing on involving men and boys, the Shule Salama tour to various schools, an anti-GBV award ceremony as well as bringing together a diverse range of voices, activists, partners and decision-makers to address GBV.
Background
The 16 Days of Activism campaign was established in 1991 by activists at the Women's Global Leadership Institute. It underscores that violence against women, in any form, is a violation of human rights.
In 2022, the global theme under the Women Global Leadership is “Take Action to Prevent Femicide Against Women”; the UN theme under United Nation Secretary General Unite Campaign to end VAWG is “UNiTE! Activism to End Violence against Women & Girls”.
The locally contextualized theme this year is “Every Life Matters: End Femicide and Violence against Women and Children”.
The national campaign is under coordination of WiLDAF a local NGO functioning as Secretariat for the GBV MKUKI coalition in collaboration with the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups.