Doha, Qatar: The Ministry of Social Development and Family (MSDF), represented by the Family Development Department, yesterday announced the launch of the annual international campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
The campaign’s key objectives are to bolster community awareness about issues of violence against women and girls, highlight its physical, psychological, social, and economic impacts, promote a culture of societal rejection of all forms of violence and abuse, and empower women and girls to know their rights and protection mechanisms.
The core objectives also focus on empowering service-providing entities to familiarize them with, and facilitate access to, the required services, emphasise the role of legislative and executive bodies in adopting policies and laws that protect women and girls, and involve all segments of the community so that they become part of the change.
The campaign, initiated by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership, was launched in parallel with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and will run annually through 10 December, coinciding with Human Rights Day.
It engages a wide range of government and non-government organizations, civil society, and human rights activists in the country through awareness activities that spotlight multiple forms of violence and abuse against women, in pursuit of protecting women and empowering them.
Assistant Director of the MSDF’s Family Development Department Nouf Al Abdullah said the execution of this year’s campaign is implemented through a whole-of-government approach, engaging all relevant public and non-public actors.
She highlighted that a national calendar has been prepared, encompassing all planned activities and events to be implemented during the campaign, which focus on the protection of women and girls from all forms of violence and abuse.
Some of the calendar’s activities include addressing the protection of women and girls in the digital world, in line with the global campaign theme adopted by UN Women, “Unite to End Digital Violence against All Women and Girls”, Al Abdullah noted.
Al Abdullah further elaborated that the nation’s prudent leadership has specifically prioritized the issue of women and family, making Qatar a role model on the global stage in the areas of protecting women and enhancing their status.
In essence, the MSDF’s National Strategy is laser-focused on women’s empowerment and enhancing their independence in all fields, in addition to ensuring their rights and bolstering their active engagement in the community.
