Regional Conference "Partnering to prevent and respond to sexual violence"

The regional conference “Partnering to prevent and respond to sexual violence” is expected to present and discuss key steps for advancing national and regional commitments to end sexual violence based on extensive research and long-standing partnerships with civil society organizations and national institutions throughout the Western Balkans. The event is organized by UN Women and WAVE Network within the regional programme on ending violence against women “Implementing Norms, Changing Minds,” funded by the European Union. Full details ▼

Event type: Conferences, meetings, symposiums

Start date: 10 March 2022 | Start time: 09:00 UTC +00:00

End date: 10 March 2022 | End time: 11:00 UTC +00:00

Location: Virtual, UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia

Event description

The regional virtual conference “Partnering to prevent and respond to sexual violence,” organized with WAVE Network following International Women’s Day, aims to examine critical policy recommendations to prevent and respond to sexual violence in the region and outline key actions to accelerate their implementation. The conference builds on research, advocacy and long-standing partnerships with national institutions and civil society organizations throughout the Western Balkans and Turkey.

In 2021, the region took a step closer to transforming the elimination of violence against women from an aspiration to a plausible reality with new measures undertaken by four countries to improve and expand services for survivors of sexual violence. These commitments build on the momentum created by the advocacy work and concerted efforts to move forward on the implementation of the recommendations stemming from the policy paper “Promising practices of establishing and providing specialist support services for women experiencing sexual violence: A legal and practical overview for women’s NGOs and policy makers in the Western Balkans and Turkey.”

The policy paper was developed as part of the project “Strengthening the capacities of regional CSO networks for policy advocacy, knowledge-based expansion and partnership facilitation on sexual violence in the Western Balkans and Turkey,” under the regional programme “Ending violence against women: Implementing Norms, Changing Minds,” funded by the European Union.

The conference is expected to bring together around 100 representatives from the Western Balkans to discuss progress and next steps in implementing at least two recommendations for ending sexual violence from the above-mentioned paper.

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