UNITED NATIONS EXPERT GROUP MEETING TO DISCUSS GOOD PRACTICES

IN COMBATING, ELIMINATING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

 

NEW YORK, 11 May (DAW) -- The United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, will convene an expert group meeting on “Good practices in combating and eliminating violence against women”.  The meeting will take place at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria from 17 to 20 May 2005.

Violence against women and girls continues to be a major human rights concern in all parts of the world.  Governments, non-governmental organizations and women’s rights activists all over the world have used different approaches in dealing with violence against women, with varying degrees of success.  The expert group meeting will bring together individuals who have a wealth of experience in strategies to combat violence against women.  These experts will discuss factors for enhancing implementation of the international legal and policy framework, identify legislation, plans, policies and other approaches that have been effective in combating violence against women at the national level and analyse the various components of such strategies.  The aim of the expert group meeting will be to arrive at a set of recommendations of good practice to combat and eliminate all forms of violence against women.

The expert group meeting will provide input for the Secretary-General’s study on all forms of violence against women, requested by the General Assembly (A/RES/58/185).  The study is expected to cover the following areas:  a statistical overview on all forms of violence against women; the causes, consequences, and costs of violence against women; and best practice examples for combating and eliminating violence against women.

Information about the study is available at http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/index.htm.

For further information, please contact:  Monique Widyono, United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, e-mail:  widyono@un.org.

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