EU & UN Launch 'ACT' Program to End Violence Against Women

At the 78th UN General Assembly, UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous and Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen signed the "ACT - Advocacy, Coalition Building, and Transformative Feminist Action to End Violence Against Women" programme. The European Commission and UN Women's partnership initiative reaffirms their commitment to "Generation Equality," with an emphasis on reducing gender-based violence.

The ACT programme aims to end violence against women and girls through developing women's rights movements, advocating for change, and forming multi-stakeholder partnerships. It will first be implemented in Africa and Latin America, which have both high rates of violence and robust women's rights groups.

"Gender equality informs the daily work of the European Union," said Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography Dubravka Šuica. “We must maintain our vigilance. Because we need women now more than ever. We are now more committed to them than ever before. Women can rely on us."

UN Women will oversee and coordinate ACT, as well as provide resources to regional and worldwide coalitions of women's rights organisations. This effort builds on the successes of the EU-UN Spotlight effort and aims to strengthen women's organisations globally.

Violence against women is still a major global problem, made worse by catastrophes, crises, and digitalization. ACT is an important step forward in the continuous battle to prevent and eliminate such violence, acknowledging the critical role of women's rights groups in pushing policy reform.