Note to Correspondents

Major United Nations Exhibit on Violence against Women, Based on Conflict

In Democratic Republic of Congo, to Open at Headquarters

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is sponsoring a major exhibit on violence against women to be opened on Monday, 12 October, at a ceremony to be attended by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other senior United Nations officials and delegations.  The ceremony also marks the fifteenth anniversary of International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, and will allow a full-day session of the General Assembly commemorating the anniversary.

The exhibit, entitled CONGO/WOMEN Portraits of War:  The Democratic Republic of Congo, uses images and text to raise awareness of the crisis of violence against women.  It features work by award-winning photojournalists Lynsey Addario (winner of a 2009 Pulitzer Prize), Marcus Bleasdale, Ron Haviv and James Nachtwey. 

The opening ceremony comes only days after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution, which both strongly condemns all violations against women and girls during armed conflicts and urges Member States and international and regional organizations to improve women’s participation during all stages of peace processes.

Among the participants at the opening will be Lynn Nottage, a 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner for best drama for her play, Ruined.

The programme will also highlight Women on the Frontline, a video series about the unreported war against females around the world.  First broadcast on the BBC in April 2008, it is a seven-part television series which documents the different kinds of violence against women and girls.  Presented by musician and recording artist Annie Lennox, the series features stories from homes, villages and cities where violence against women and girls is still rampant.

Monday’s opening ceremony will be at 6 p.m. in the North East Gallery of the Visitor’s Lobby at Headquarters.  The exhibition will remain open to the public until 2 November.

For more information on United Nations exhibitions, call Jan Arnesen at +1 212 963 8531, e-mail:  arnesen@un.org; or Liza Wichmann at +1 212 963 0089, e‑mail:  wichmann@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record