WFP DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SHEILA SISULU CALLS FOR SUPPORT IN JAPAN TO END GENDER VIOLENCE （英文）

YOKOHAMA – On the last day of a four-day visit to Japan, WFP Deputy Executive Director Sheila Sisulu participated in the International Women’s Day (IWD) 2007 Public Forum and delivered a keynote speech on the theme for this year’s IWD: “Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls.”

Sisulu spoke to the audience which filled the U Thant Hall at the UN House in Tokyo, and explained how WFP aims to eliminate gender violence, and empower women and girls around the world using food aid.

“At some point in her life, at least one in three women has suffered physical or sexual abuse,” Sisulu said. “To defuse a bomb, we cut its wires; to disable a gun, we remove its bullets. To eliminate violence against women, we should take it apart, identify its causes and work to address and eradicate each one.”

She provided an example of a WFP project which brings multiple benefits for women. In Darfur, in western Sudan, women travel far from the camps in order to find firewood and risk becoming victims of sexual violence every day. WFP started a project to teach women to make fuel-efficient stoves, which consume 40 percent less firewood. Women now make fewer trips in search of firewood, thus significantly reducing their workload and the risk of exposure to sexual assault. The 30 women who initially received stove-making training have in turn, trained another 4,400.

Sisulu also stressed the importance of partnership between both men and women in eliminating violence against women. In sub-Saharan Africa, 58 percent of those infected with HIV are women, many of whom are infected through sexual violence or exploitation. To enhance the awareness and support of men, WFP has recruited men to promote sexual health throughout sub-Saharan Africa. In Ethiopia, for example, 60 percent of HIV/AIDS prevention education facilitators in WFP-supported training are men who have become role models in their community.

Furthermore, Sisulu highlighted the magnitude of education as one of the most effective ways to empower women and end gender violence. More than 100 million children around the world do not attend school. Two thirds of those not attending are girls. By attracting them to school with school meals, WFP is rendering them not only nourishment, but a safe place offering a wider window of opportunity for their future.

“Seven years into the new millennium, violence against women and children is still rife even though numerous individuals and organizations continue to do their part to ensure women’s safety and empowerment. With donor support, the World Food Programme will be able to continue putting food into the hands of hungry and vulnerable women everywhere,” concluded Sisulu.

During her visit to Japan, Sisulu also had meetings with WFP’s Japanese counterparts, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japanese International Cooperation Agency, WFP Parliamentarians League, UN agencies and NGOs, to exchange ideas and further strengthen partnerships. They reaffirmed the significance of their partnerships in such areas as field-level project implementation, advocacy and key strategic issues focusing on aid to Africa, especially in relation to the forthcoming TICAD IV and G-8 Summit which are to be held in Japan next year.

Sisulu took this opportunity to personally thank the Government of Japan for the recent contributions Japan has made to WFP for a recovery operation in Iraq (US$3 million; JPY354 million) to support 1.34 million malnourished children and their family members, and 350,000 pregnant or lactating women in the poorest regions, and a special operation to combat Avian and Human Influenza (US$1.1 million; JPY130 million) in the event of a global pandemic.