GAZA, December 8, 2011 (WAFA) – United Nations agencies and civil society organizations joined forces together with a vibrant audience of more than 1000 people to mark the second edition of the Central Festival to Combat Violence against Women in the Gaza Strip, Thursday said a UN Women press release.

The release stated that the event , on the occasion of the Global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, took place at the Rashad Al-Shawwa Cultural Centre in Gaza City and was organized under the slogan ; ‘Stand up! Speak out! End Violence Against Women’, through a joint UN and civil society initiative bringing together the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women); the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA); the United Nations Development Program (UNDP/PAPP); the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the AMAL Coalition to Combat Violence Against Women.

It said that the festival embodied a unique opportunity to bring all Gazan voices together to take a stand for women’s human rights.

Speaking at the event on behalf of the participating UN agencies, the Acting Deputy Director of UNRWA Operations in the Gaza Strip Cathy Howard said, “A society free from violence against women is something we must strive to achieve, in order to create a safe and secure environment for everyone.”

“Today’s event is a step in that direction where men and women from all over the Gaza Strip have come together to show their support for ending violence against women,” She added.

In the occupied Palestinian territory violence against women remains a widespread phenomenon. Preliminary findings of a 2011 Violence Survey in the Palestinian Society conducted by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) found that 23.5% of Palestinian women were exposed to physical violence (17.4% in the West bank compared to 34.8% in the Gaza Strip).

Representing the AMAL Coalition,  Zeinab El-Ghunaimi, Director of the Centre of Women Legal Research and Consulting (CWLRC), thanked “all UN agencies for being part of this festival, for supporting the efforts and struggle of Gazan women against the violence from the occupation and against domestic violence, to build a more just an equal Palestinian society.”

The second edition of the Central festival featured Palestinian traditional dance (dabkeh); theatre performance and film screening; ‘Monsters in the Closet’ by the USA National Domestic Violence Association; and ‘The Body’ directed by Rita Is-ha) and an original operetta song entitled ‘Ana Mariam/I am Mariam’, especially composed by the female song writer Aarab to mark the occasion, was unveiled at the festival.

All performances aimed at increasing the audience awareness, understanding and recognition of the problem of violence against women as a public issue and a violation of human rights.

AMAL Coalition to Combat Violence Against Women is a strategic network of active women’s and human rights’ organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. The Coalition members are the Women’s Affairs Technical  Committee(WATC), the Women’s Affairs Center (WAC), the Centre for Women’s Legal research and Consulting (CWLRC), the Palestinian Centre for Democracy and Conflict Resolution (PCDCR), the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), the Culture and Free Thought Association(CFTA), the Al Atta Association, the AISHA Association for Women and Child Protection, the Wifaq Society for Women and Child Care, the Creative Woman's Association, the Red Crescent Society and the Union of Health Work Committees.

M.G./F.R.