Press release 10 September 2008
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Integration and Gender Equality

The Government signs UNIFEM campaign

Today, UNIFEM Executive Director Inés Alberdi is in Stockholm to meet Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson and Minister for Integration and Gender Equality Nyamko Sabuni and others. The Ministers will sign the UNIFEM `Say No to Violence against Women' campaign.

"Bringing an end to men's violence against women is of the highest priority for the Swedish Government, both at national and international level. Ultimately, this is an issue of gender equality and women's full enjoyment of human rights," says Ms Carlsson.

"I am very pleased that UNIFEM is using the Say No to Violence against Women' campaign to focus attention on men's violence against women, something that occurs all over the world every day," says Ms Sabuni.

The campaign is one of several methods of mobilising support for gender equality issues at all levels and is one of the measures to be initiated by the Swedish UNIFEM.

In the autumn of 2007, the Government adopted a national action plan to combat men's violence against women, violence and oppression in the name of honour and violence in same-sex relations. Just over SEK 800 million has been allocated for the period up to 2010 to this broad front for action to prevent violence against women. In July this year, the Government also approved the important action plan against prostitution and human trafficking for sexual purposes.

At an international level, gender equality and the role of women in development are two of the most important priorities with regard to development cooperation and poverty reduction. Gender equality is also one of the Millennium Development Goals that the world's leaders agreed to achieve before 2015.

UNIFEM's Swedish Chair, Maud Ekgren Schori, will also participate in signing the campaign.