The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has joined forces with the global movement to end violence against women known as V-day.
The new partnership intended to stop rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo also aims to empower women and girls and to bring to justice those responsible for the rapes. Rape has become a weapon of war in many countries. During almost two decades of conflict in DRC hundreds of thousands of women and girls, as young as six months and as old as 80 years, have been sexually assaulted. The V-Day movement has raised over $50 million and educated millions of people on the issue of violence against women. It has reopened shelters and funded over 5,000 community anti-violence programmes and safe houses in DRC, Haiti and Iraq. The V-Day - UNICEF joint initiative is just one example of UN efforts to end sexual violence in DRC. Another is a nationwide public awareness campaign organized by the UN Population Fund together with civil society groups and non-governmental organizations.
Reporting for UN Radio, I am Elena Vapnitchnaia.
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