By Xinhua
United Nations : Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has pledged efforts by the United Nations to end all forms of violence against women.
“Violence against women continues to persist as one of the most heinous, systematic and prevalent human rights abuses in the world,” Ban said in a message to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women Sunday.
To end the violence, the world body is “stepping up its activities at all levels — from new initiatives by the regional commissions to better coordination and programming at the country level”, he said.
In order to incorporate all these efforts, Ban said that he has decided to “spearhead a system-wide campaign through 2015 for the elimination of violence against women.”
“The campaign will focus on three key areas: global advocacy; United Nations leadership by example; and strengthened partnerships at the national and regional levels to support the work of governments, civil society, the private sector and others,” he said.
The secretary-general said he has proposed that the General Assembly devote an agenda item every year to considering the question of violence against women and that the Security Council establish a mechanism dedicated to monitoring violence against women and girls.
On Dec 17, 1999, the 54th session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to designate Nov 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.