International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Statement from the Executive Director of Education Cannot Wait Yasmine Cherif
NEW YORK, November 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — In the 21stst century, we cannot tolerate the rape and abduction of girls and women, the forced marriage of children and the continued denial of all human rights and equality for girls and women everywhere.
We must take stronger action to end violence against girls and women through the UN. 16 days of activism campaign – which runs from the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls (25 November) until Human Rights Day (10 December). We urge world leaders to take firm and concrete action to put all the human rights of girls and women – particularly their right to 12 years of safe, quality education – at the forefront of the international agenda.
This year’s theme is “Investing to prevent violence against women and girls”. By investing in safe schools, protective learning environments, and mental health and psychosocial support – through holistic, quality education that empowers girls to be confident in their rights and empowered to claim them – we can truly empower an entire generation of future women leaders. .
Investing in girls’ education also contributes to meeting the binding commitments enshrined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against WomenTHE Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Sustainable Development Goals.
We must act now. Every minute, 22 girls are forced into early marriageand approximately 21% of girls worldwide are married before the age of 18. Now is the time to fully invest in girls’ education so that they can become school children, not child brides.
Globally, it is estimated 736 million women – nearly one in three people – have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner, sexual violence from another person, or both, at least once in their life. It is time to state loud and clear that no woman or girl can suffer any violation of their dignity, their rights, their freedoms and their person.
Now is the time to end irresponsible governance around the world that leads to armed conflict and flagrant violations of international humanitarian law. We must act collectively to ensure an immediate humanitarian ceasefire Gazawhere the humanitarian system faces near-total collapse, with unimaginable consequences for more than 2.2 million civilians, including 788,800 girls and women who have been forcibly displaced from their homes.
We must be moved to action by their words: “I saw dead bodies lying in the street. My mother told me to close my eyes, but I couldn’t. I was so scared,” said one 11-year-old girl in an UNRWA school. We cannot turn a blind eye to armed conflicts or violations of human rights and humanitarian law around the world.
We cannot turn a blind eye to the denial of human rights in Afghanistan, where girls are barred from attending secondary school and university because of their gender. We cannot turn a blind eye to the insecurity and violence in the world. Democratic Republic of Congo or any other country where girls are kidnapped, raped, killed in inter-ethnic clashes and their humanity is denied.
Just as the world can start war and oppress girls and women, we also have the same capacity to make peace and empower girls and women. The choice is ours. The choice we make as a human family will determine who we are and how far we have come as a human species.
Meanwhile, we who have chosen human dignity and moral responsibility will continue to invest in the education and unwavering spirits of girls and women around the world. Our investment in education is our investment in their courage, their resilience, their brilliance, their strength and their courage. For the good of 8 billion members of humanity. But we cannot do it alone. We are all in there.
SOURCE Education Can’t Wait
