New EU-UN Initiative, ACT to Stop Violence Against Women

By: WE Staff | Tuesday, 19 September 2023

UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous and Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen signed the "ACT - Advocacy, Coalition Building, and Transformative Feminist Action to End Violence Against Women" programme during the 78th UN General Assembly. The collaboration project between the European Commission and UN Women confirms their commitment to "Generation Equality," with a focus on decreasing gender-based violence.

The ACT initiative seeks to eliminate violence against women and girls through strengthening women's rights movements, campaigning for change, and building multi-stakeholder partnerships. It will be applied first in Africa and Latin America, which have both high rates of violence and active women's rights organisations.

"Gender equality informs the daily work of the European Union," said Dubravka uica, Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography. "We must remain vigilant." Because women are more important than ever. We are now more dedicated to them than ever. Women can count on us."

UN Women will be in charge of overseeing and coordinating ACT, as well as providing resources to regional and global coalitions of women's rights NGOs. This initiative builds on the accomplishments of the EU-UN Spotlight initiative and aims to improve women's organisations worldwide.

Violence against women remains a serious worldwide issue, exacerbated by natural disasters, crises, and digitization. ACT is a crucial step forward in the ongoing effort to prevent and eliminate such violence, recognising the essential role of women's rights organisations in driving policy change.