The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the Swedish Institute Alexandria (SwedAlex) have recently signed a Letter of Understanding (LoU) to collaborate on a regional project estimating the cost of Violence against Women.
The LoU will herald a phase of collaboration between both parties on ESCWA and UN-Women’s joint project on “Estimating the Economic Cost of Violence against Women.” The parties will hold a thematic launch for two regional studies on violence against women and conduct regional consultations on the topic.
Commenting on this collaboration, ESCWA Deputy Executive Secretary Khawla Mattar said, “The Economic cost of violence against women is not only a major violation of women’s rights, but can hinder nations’ efforts for sustainable development and achieving the 2030 agenda. We are pleased to join all efforts in the region to highlight such a tremendous hurdle to the development policies and institutions.”
For his part, SwedAlex Director Peter Weiderud said, “Violence against women is not only a coward exercise of primitive power and a violation of Women rights. It is also very costly for society, for health care, loss of production and other related costs. By making these costs visible, we hope to contribute to improved societies.”
Director of the ESCWA Centre for Women Mehrinaz El-Awady noted, “We have high hopes that estimating the cost of violence against women in the Arab region will be a great tool and opportunity to introduce new policy reform to end this salient phenomenon.”
This partnership is part of a regional project implemented by ESCWA and UN-Women comprising the development of two studies on violence against women, an economic model to estimate the cost of violence against women in the Arab region. The project also involves piloting the economic model in one Arab country with the aim of rolling it out to all countries in the region.
In accordance with this partnership, ESCWA, in consultation with SwedAlex will undertake a series of actions, among others, by 31 December 2017. They will include organizing a launch event at the Beirut based UN House to present the findings of the two studies highlighting the importance of costing violence against women as a tool for policy reform. Other activities covered under this partnership include holding regional consultations in Alexandria Library, Egypt, on estimating the cost of violence against women with the aim of gauging interest among policy makers and sensitizing the community on the topic.
ESCWA in brief
ESCWA is one of the five UN regional commissions. It is part of the UN Secretariat, and works under the supervision of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It provides a framework for the formulation and harmonization of sectoral policies for member countries; a platform for congress and coordination; a home for expertise and knowledge, and an information observatory. It aims at supporting economic and social cooperation between the region’s countries and promoting development process in order to achieve regional integration.
Mauritania became member of ESCWA in October 2015. The Republic of Tunis, Libya, and the Kingdom of Morocco had joined it in September 2012. By those new memberships, the number of ESCWA countries rose to 18, including: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
SwedAlex
The Swedish Alexandria (SwedAlex) is located in Alexandria, Egypt. It is part of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and seeks to promote peace and pluralism through dialogue, and building networks between the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Europe through organizing conferences, seminars, workshops, debates, and trainings, as well as intercultural, intergenerational and interfaith projects and exchange programs.
* *** *
For more information:
Nabil Abu-Dargham +961-70-99 31 44; email: dargham@un.org
Ms. Mirane Abi-Zaki: +961-70-993 155 email, abi-zaki@un.org
Ms. Rania Harb: +961-70-008 879 email, harb1@un.org
ECIU email: escwa-ciu@un.org
For more ESCWA news:
Website: www.unescwa.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/unescwa Twitter: @ESCWACIU
The LoU will herald a phase of collaboration between both parties on ESCWA and UN-Women’s joint project on “Estimating the Economic Cost of Violence against Women.” The parties will hold a thematic launch for two regional studies on violence against women and conduct regional consultations on the topic.
Commenting on this collaboration, ESCWA Deputy Executive Secretary Khawla Mattar said, “The Economic cost of violence against women is not only a major violation of women’s rights, but can hinder nations’ efforts for sustainable development and achieving the 2030 agenda. We are pleased to join all efforts in the region to highlight such a tremendous hurdle to the development policies and institutions.”
For his part, SwedAlex Director Peter Weiderud said, “Violence against women is not only a coward exercise of primitive power and a violation of Women rights. It is also very costly for society, for health care, loss of production and other related costs. By making these costs visible, we hope to contribute to improved societies.”
Director of the ESCWA Centre for Women Mehrinaz El-Awady noted, “We have high hopes that estimating the cost of violence against women in the Arab region will be a great tool and opportunity to introduce new policy reform to end this salient phenomenon.”
This partnership is part of a regional project implemented by ESCWA and UN-Women comprising the development of two studies on violence against women, an economic model to estimate the cost of violence against women in the Arab region. The project also involves piloting the economic model in one Arab country with the aim of rolling it out to all countries in the region.
In accordance with this partnership, ESCWA, in consultation with SwedAlex will undertake a series of actions, among others, by 31 December 2017. They will include organizing a launch event at the Beirut based UN House to present the findings of the two studies highlighting the importance of costing violence against women as a tool for policy reform. Other activities covered under this partnership include holding regional consultations in Alexandria Library, Egypt, on estimating the cost of violence against women with the aim of gauging interest among policy makers and sensitizing the community on the topic.
ESCWA in brief
ESCWA is one of the five UN regional commissions. It is part of the UN Secretariat, and works under the supervision of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It provides a framework for the formulation and harmonization of sectoral policies for member countries; a platform for congress and coordination; a home for expertise and knowledge, and an information observatory. It aims at supporting economic and social cooperation between the region’s countries and promoting development process in order to achieve regional integration.
Mauritania became member of ESCWA in October 2015. The Republic of Tunis, Libya, and the Kingdom of Morocco had joined it in September 2012. By those new memberships, the number of ESCWA countries rose to 18, including: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
SwedAlex
The Swedish Alexandria (SwedAlex) is located in Alexandria, Egypt. It is part of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and seeks to promote peace and pluralism through dialogue, and building networks between the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Europe through organizing conferences, seminars, workshops, debates, and trainings, as well as intercultural, intergenerational and interfaith projects and exchange programs.
* *** *
For more information:
Nabil Abu-Dargham +961-70-99 31 44; email: dargham@un.org
Ms. Mirane Abi-Zaki: +961-70-993 155 email, abi-zaki@un.org
Ms. Rania Harb: +961-70-008 879 email, harb1@un.org
ECIU email: escwa-ciu@un.org
For more ESCWA news:
Website: www.unescwa.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/unescwa Twitter: @ESCWACIU
