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UNITED NATIONS COMMEMORATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
November
23rd 2010 marked the yearly observance at the UN Headquarters of the
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the
corresponding Call-for-Action spearheaded by UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon.
The following excerpt reflects the exchange that took place on this
occasion between Ms. Michelle Bachelet , newly appointed
Under-Secretary General, Executive Director of UN Women and former
President of the Republic of Chile and Ms. Carmen Gloria
Arriagada, Mata Amritanandamayi Math Representative to the United
Nations, New York Headquarters.
QUESTION (Ms. Arriagada):
Good morning. My name is Carmen Gloria Arriagada. I represent Mata
Amritanandamayi Math, India. I want to welcome Ms. Bachelet and
congratulate her on her nomination. We, all the women working in
committees at the United Nations are very happy and proud to have you
here.
My question [addresses the fact that] given men- in all these
situations we’ve been hearing about violence against women- are the
main perpetrators of violence, I’m very impressed by the Bell Bajao
Campaign involving men and boys as agents to protect women and
interrupt situations of violence. I think this is a very important step
showing a broader perspective of men playing a role not only as
victimizers but as agents counteracting this violence.
My question to Ms. Bachelet as Executive Director of UN Women: Will
there be programs including men’s and boys’ participation in a key role
for the empowerment and for the protection of the rights of women?
RESPONSE (Ms. Bachelet):
On the issue that Carmen Gloria Arriagada asked, yes, we believe so.
And while we believe that women’s rights are human rights, we also
believe that women’s rights, women’s empowerment and the struggle to
eradicate violence [are] not a women’s issue- this is a societal issue
and of course it’s a men’s issue.
We need to involve more men in different programs (and I’m dying to
hear the experience that Sharon D’Agostino will share with us on this)
but we need to do much more than this. We need to have women in very
important, high positions: decision-making positions. Because although
we need to work with boys, with little boys in kindergarten (we have
done this in our country and it was very important), we need of course
to also have the involvement of the authorities, of people who make
decisions, who prioritize. Because we can help at the UN system and the
private sector can help [as well] but what we need is government to be
accountable for, to be responsible for, to supply resources- of course
within their possibilities- in order to give women equal conditions,
empowering them and offering them better opportunities in life, better
education, better health, and so on.
I can mention many other social policies that would mean we are helping to empower women and working against violence.
So we will involve men and boys in programs because we believe it’s
essential. But also we really need to get men involved from places
where decisions are made. And we need to make this [a priority].
I was actually thinking that maybe next year we should have here [at
the panel] only men talking with passion about this. Well, maybe not
necessarily only men. But what I mean is that yes, we have a lot of men
here but we should have many more. Because this is a men’s and a
women’s issue and it’s a humanity issue, I would say.
 Ms. Michelle Bachelet (right),
the newly appointed Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of
UN WOMEN- the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the
Empowerment of Women- and former President of Chile (2006-3/2010),
along with Ms. Carmen Gloria Arriagada (left), Mata Amritanandamayi
Math Representative to the United Nations, New York Headquarters.
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