UN football team in Kyrgyzstan oranges their game in support of the UNiTE Campaign
Date:
UN staff members in Kyrgyzstan joined the football tournament devoted to Independence Day with orange uniforms to support UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign. The tournament was initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and took place on 21 August 2015. The UN team included players from FAO, UN Women, UNDP, UNDSS, UNICEF, UNODC, WFP and WHO.
Staff members of MFA, the Parliament, President’s Office and the Government also played among other participants.
According to the 20th year review of the Beijing Platform for Action – the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women’s rights – in Kyrgyzstan, violence against women in the country is a common practice. According to the same national review: “the number of recorded acts of violence against women and girls is generally growing. The number of reported cases of physical violence increased by more than 30 percent in 2013. Various groups of people: women, men, the elderly and children, are exposed to violence. However, women become victims of violence in most cases. Thus, the proportion of women victims, especially those, suffering domestic violence is almost 90 percent.”
The UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, managed by UN Women, has proclaimed every 25th of the month as “Orange Day” – a day to take action to raise awareness and prevent violence against women and girls. As a bright and optimistic colour, orange represents a future free from violence against women and girls, for the UNiTE Campaign. Orange Day calls upon activists, governments and UN partners to mobilize people and highlight issues relevant to preventing and ending violence against women and girls, not only once a year, on 25 November (the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women), but every month.
2015
The year 2015 marks the 20-year anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most progressive road map to gender equality. World leaders will meet in March at the United Nations 59th Commission on the Status of Women to take stock of the progress made and commit to take actions to close the gaps that are holding women and girls back. This is also the year when a new development framework will come in to replace the Millennium Development Goals. The elimination of violence against women and girls must be a centerpiece of the new development agenda.
You can learn more about 2015 Orange Day themes here.