The Mifumi Project

On November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women, December 10, international Human Rights day, November 29, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, December 1, World AIDS Day, and December 6, Anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, over 2000 organizations around the world will be commemorating the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence and the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

During this campaign period organizations and individuals around the world to call for the elimination of all forms of violence against women by:

(1) raising awareness about gender-based violence as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international levels
(2) strengthening local work around violence against women
(3) establishing a clear link between local and international work to end violence against women
(4) providing a forum in which organizers can develop and share new and effective strategies
(5) demonstrating the solidarity of women around the world organizing against violence against women
(6) creating tools to pressure governments to implement promises made to eliminate violence against women

The Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) dedicates the 2009 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign to honoring groups and individuals who have committed to bringing violence against women (VAW) to the forefront of global attention, to encouraging everyone in their various capacities to take action to end VAW, and to demanding accountability for all of the promises made to eliminate VAW. Therefore, the 2009 theme is:

Commit - Act - Demand: We CAN End Violence Against Women!

Commit: We are All Responsible

In 1991 when 23 women from around the world met together at the first Women's Global Leadership Institute at the Center for Women's Global Leadership and envisioned the 16 Days Campaign, it was unlikely that any of them could have foreseen the incredible success of the campaign as a mobilizing tool. Because of their efforts and the commitment of so many other activists over the past 19 years, well over 2,000 organizations in 158 countries have organized around the 16 Days Campaign, and the issue of gender-based violence has received a significant amount of international attention.

This year;
* Honor and celebrate the achievements made to ending VAW.
* Encourage broad-based community participation by emphasizing that everyone has a role to play because we all have a responsibility to end gender-based violence together as women, girls, men, boys, and individuals of all generations, religions, occupations, sexual orientations, abilities, political persuasions, and socio-economic backgrounds.

Act: We Can All Make a Difference

2009 will mark the 10th anniversary of the United Nations' formal recognition of November 25th as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. There are many other landmark dates and documents that are the direct result of ACTION that women's rights activists and defenders have taken.

This Year;
* Encourage individuals, organizations, governments, etc. to take action on the commitments they have made to ending VAW. Each commitment - be it a personal pledge to speak out, a local or national law, an international convention or resolution; NOW is the time to act on these promises. Every action, no matter how big or small, can make a difference!

Demand: We Are All Accountable

At the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, women's organizations from around the world met with government representatives and collaboratively produced the Beijing Platform for Action - one of the most forward-thinking government negotiated documents on women's rights to date. This ground-breaking document set forth a list of actions, which, if implemented, would significantly reduce incidences of violence against women. 2010 marks the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Conference on Women. This Year;

* demand state accountability for ending impunity, allocating adequate resources, and implementing good laws and national action plans to address VAW.
* We also call on the UN to take bolder action on the UN Secretary-General's "UNiTE to End VAW" Campaign Framework for Action. We are all accountable for playing our part in reducing violence at the individual and community levels, as well as at the nation-state and global levels.