Australia stands with Palau as organisations and government ministries raise their voices to end violence against women and girls during the global campaign for 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The campaign starts on the 25 November with the International Day for the Elimination of Gender-Based Violence and ends on 10 December, Human Rights Day.
The Australian Government has supported initiatives that reached more than one million Pacific women, men and children over nearly ten years through its support to gender equality in the Pacific, formerly through Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development (Pacific Women) and now through the new Pacific Women Lead program.
‘During these 16 Days of Activism, and on every day of the year, we support our partners in Palau as they call for the elimination of gender-based violence,’ said Ambassador Turner, adding this is a shared challenge impacting the Pacific, Australia and countries globally.
‘We continue to listen to the needs of our partners working to end gender based violence and, guided by their leadership and expertise, to support them in building upon Pacific-led approaches and initiative.’
Prevention of violence requires coordinated efforts at all levels aimed at raising awareness of related issues, changing community norms about violence and equality and increasing women’s leadership and participation in society.
Australia remains committed to its partnerships in Palau, especially during crises such as COVID-19 when violence against women is known to increase. The Pacific region has some of the highest recorded rates of violence against women and girls globally, with almost 2 out of 3 women who have been subjected to physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, almost double the global average.
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is a global campaign dedicated to ending gender-based violence. Each year, civil society and the United Nations nominate a theme; this year the civil society theme is ‘Awareness. Action. Accountability. All year round’ and the United Nations theme is ‘Orange the World: End violence against women now!’.
For more information, please contact the Australian Embassy, Palau on 488-4628 or koror.embassy@dfat.gov.au.