Malabo, 09 December 2022. On the occasion of the celebration of the "16 Days of Activism to end Violence against women and girls" that started from November 25 to December 10; the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA Equatorial Guinea, together with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Gender Equality and sister UN Agencies in Equatorial Guinea organized a series of activities, under the 2022 theme UNiTE! Activism to end violence against women and girls. This campaign contributes each year to fight violence against women and girls through multiform interventions including the engagement of men and boys as actors of change.

The objective of the campaign is to mobilize all the networks All UNiTED to (i) Increase awareness among women, men, girls and boys on the importance of protecting women and girls and the consequences of violence against women/girls; (ii) Advocate for inclusive strategies, programs and resources to prevent and eliminate violence against women at all levels; (iii) Promote the leadership of women and girls (iv) mobilize state actors, civil society organizations, international organizations, the private sector and all other entities to support actions to combat violence against women technically, materially and financially.

The launching ceremony was held at the Colinas Hotel in the city of Malabo, and was chaired by Her Excellency the Minister of Social Affairs and Gender Equality, Ms. Mª Consuelo Nguema Oyana; Her Excellency the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Secretary of State in charge of Economic Affairs, Ms. Mª Ángeles Miaga Bibang; the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System, Ms. Anna Marttinen Pont and the Resident Representative of UNFPA, Ms. Hind Jalal. The event was attended by government officials; UN sister agencies Resident Representatives; embassies and other diplomatic representations; UNFPA partners and donors; survivors of gender-based violence and civil society organizations, with the presence of the 2nd Deputy Secretary of the P.D.G.E, in charge of Women empowerment, militant Sister Judit Nfono Ngomo.

The meeting began with the address of the United Nations Resident Coordinator, Anna Marttinen Pont, who highlighted that “the United Nations in Equatorial Guinea is determined to work hand in glove with the government, and all other partners to coordinate events and activities at national and local levels and advocate for inclusive, comprehensive, and long-term strategies, programs and resources to prevent and respond to Violence Against Women and Girls, to change the prevailing narratives and promote an environment free from all kinds of violence”.

During the event the consultant Mr Salvador José Eló, presented the main findings of the "Study on the situation of Violence against Women in Equatorial Guinea-2022" and UNFPA disseminated hard copies of this research, to more than 65 participants present at the event. The participants were also informed about the chain of services provided to survivors of gender based violence by the Delegations of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Gender Equality. A music entertainment was performed by a young artist Mr Julian Evita, who entertained the event with 2 songs: "LA ESPERANZA HO MUJER" and "ÚNETE HO MUJER".

The ceremony continued with Hind JALAL, UNFPA Representative in Equatorial Guinea, through the reading of the United Nations Secretary General message, who called to “proudly declare: We are all feminists. Let’s consign violence against women and girls to the history books”.

In her address, Mª Consuelo Nguema Oyana, Minister of Social Affairs and Gender Equality, calls on all of us: men, women, families, communities, leaders at all levels, government officials, to develop an inclusive approach to fight gender based violence.

At the national level, more than 500,000 people, women, men, young people and adolescents were sensitized through communication and awareness talks on gender violence in the different provincial and district delegations and through television, radio, posters, social networks, etc....