New partnership between UNFPA, Center for Women’s Global Leadership aims to end gender-based violence

New York, United States, 19 December 2019 – UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) from Rutgers University to work towards eliminating all forms of gender-based violence. The agreement will support the organizations’ goals of achieving sexual and reproductive health for all, promoting gender equality and protecting human rights. 

The partnership will expand discourse on women’s human rights, and influence policy, processes and practice in the field. Its activities will include working with news media to raise awareness and enhance global discourse about gender-based violence, and building a knowledge base on the links between sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, economic policy and other relevant issues. 

“We at UNFPA welcome this partnership with the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, which has played such a pivotal role in raising awareness and driving action to end gender-based violence around the world. Through greater collaboration with strategic partners like CWGL, we will ensure that every woman and girl can live free of discrimination and violence and exercise her right to sexual and reproductive health,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA.

CWGL, a feminist human rights organization affiliated with the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University (USA), is the founder and coordinator of the Global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign, which has been implemented in over 180 countries by more than 6,000 organizations.

“We acknowledge the foresight of UNFPA in initiating this partnership and collaboration at global, regional and national levels to address and eradicate GBV. One key initiative is the Global 16 Days Campaign that is in 185+ countries and reaches close to 200 million people around the world. UNFPA’s partnership makes it possible to envision a world without violence. We are excited to integrate into this partnership one of the most successful international campaigns on GBV with a reach of over 200 million people around the world, along with our ability to mobilize change,” said Krishanti Dharmaraj, Executive Director of CWGL.

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Media contact for UNFPA:  Eddie Wright, +1 212 297 2717, ewright@unfpa.org
Media contact for CWGL: Cherelle Jackson, cherelle.jackson@rutgers.edu 
 

*Updated 20 February 2020