High-level Meeting on the occasion of the Fifth Anniversary of the Group of Friends for Eliminating Violence against Women and Girls | Five Years On: Securing Achievements and Ensuring Durable Impact (CSW70 Side Event)

That may constitute genocide under international law and accountability process must reflect intersectionality, ensuring that women from minority communities, including Hazara women, are meaningfully represented in justice discussions and policy response. But more importantly, I would like to echo Mitra John's points as well is to that we need everybody to join this Afghan woman and to join our campaign to so we can bring justice

to all of us around the world. Thank you so much.

You mentioned that you have preserved documentation from the torture in your experiences as well. What role do you think these documentations can provide in the general context of accountability and once the mechanisms that we are demanding are created and it is addressed.

Thanks for the questions. During these events, I preserve documents, videos and records related to my detention and the broader situation in Afghanistan. Today I process more than 3,000 documents and hundreds of videos involving Taliban officials and institution.

Preserving this evidence is extremely important. Without documentation, these violations risk being forgotten or denied. Evidence collected today can help ensure that the suffering of victims recorded and the future accountability mechanism have credible material to examine. The justice that I experienced is not unique. Millions of people in Afghanistan face similar abuse, particularly women and girls whose rights to education, freedoms and dignity have been severely restricted.

My hope is that the documentation being preserved today will one day help create a pathway toward justice, not only for individuals like me, but for all those whose rights have been violated. The pain, torture Complete me to take the pain and write a book by the name of the day the sun cried. And I want to read a poem for all women around the world, especially in Afghanistan. Thank you.

I understand it is very important, but for the interest of time, we'll have to sum up.

Please. Agar Jahon Hamato, Rico Sartgardat,

Thank you so much. Thank you.

Well, this discussion reminds us that the access to justice for Afghan women is not only a legal issue, but a human one, which requires continued documentation, accountability and meaningful international engagement. Back to Mr. Ambassador. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr. And thank you so much for our great panelists for very productive and illustrative presentations.

I appreciate that we are already running out of time. We have just three speakers from the floor. If I may just call that they should take the floor and then we will close because there is another event following this event. So the first speaker in our list is Her Excellency, Ms. Laura Reisanen, the State Secretary of Finland. Please.

Incredible panelists. I think anything said after this panel is going to sound very flat and very meaningless, but I'll try. Finland strongly condemns all human rights violations in Afghanistan. And and hearing from you has made us even stronger. The Taliban's actions against women and girls, gender based violence and the extreme discrimination that denies them education, work and the freedoms of movement expression, they are unacceptable.

No society can be just as stable when half of its population is deprived of its basic rights. We also call for the protection of the rights of persons belonging to minorities, including ethnic and religious minorities such as the Hazara and persons in vulnerable situation, as well as LGBTI persons. Over the past four and a half years, the human rights situation under the Taliban has continued to deteriorate to an intolerable level. As The Special Rapporteur, Mr. Bennett has noted, the systemic discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan may amount to gender persecution, a crime against humanity. The Taliban must be held accountable.

This requires strengthening existing accountability mechanisms, including through the International Court of Just. We fully support the work of Mr. Bennett and look forward to the new Human Rights Council accountability mechanism for Afghanistan becoming operational as soon as possible. The exclusion of half of Afghanistan's population has detrimental consequences for the entire Afghan society. We support all Afghan women and girls in their immense resilience. Without them, Afghanistan will never achieve sustainable stability and prosperity.

And I once again want to thank all of you for speaking out loud because without these voices, we won't know what is happening. Thank you.

Thank you, Excellency. Thank you so much. And thank you.

We have another speaker from Australia, Ambassador for gender equality, Ms. Michelle O'. Brien. Please.

Thank you and thank you all for your passionate storytelling and information today. Australia is long held that the full and equal participation and leadership of women and girls in society is critical for sustainable economic and political development, for social cohesion and stability and for lasting peace.

And we're gravely concerned with the continuing and systemic erosion of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. Chair Since August 2021, the Taliban has demonstrated a pervasive disregard for the human rights of the Afghan people, especially women and girls. Restriction on women and girls, access to education, work, healthcare and legal protection violate international human rights obligations and deny dignity and self determination. The Taliban has weaponised Afghan's justice system, entrenching gender based discrimination in law, policy and in practice. It interferes in the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those most in need.

Taliban's edicts, enshrined in its so called morality laws and so called recent past penal code, systematically erase women from public life. This deepening campaign of sustained oppression enables and normalises sexual and gender based violence, including abuse, harassment, arbitrary detention and coercion by authorities, as well as violence within homes and communities. The Australian government is taking active steps to hold the Taliban to account and support the Afghan people. Complementing broader efforts, we have introduced the world's first autonomous sanctions regime on Afghanistan for its ongoing human rights abuses and systemic efforts to undermine good governance and the rule of law in Afghanistan. And together with Canada, Germany and the Netherlands, Australia is holding Afghanistan to account under international law for violations of the human rights of women and girls as enshrined in the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against women.

Since 2021, the Australian government has provided over 310 million Australian dollars in humanitarian and basic human needs assistance to respond to the Afghanistan crisis with a specific focus on women and girls. Decades of experience show that justice systems too often fall short in delivering meaningful gender justice. Yet landmark legal advances and deep expertise across national and international institutions demonstrate that gender responsive accountability is not only possible, but urgently needed. It's why we're proud to support the Gender Justice Practitioners Hub. Today we reaffirm our deep and enduring commitment to Afghan women and girls in our call for justice.

We fully support the inclusion and amplification of their voices and we urge their equal and meaningful participation and leadership in shaping Afghanistan's future. Thank you.

We are running out of time. I'm so sorry. We know there are a lot of interests, but we have the last speaker. If I can request the last speaker to keep it short, it is Her Excellency Ambassador Anna Giganto, Ambassador at Large for Feminist Foreign Policy of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Please,

thank you very much and all protocols observed. I just want to mention that Spain continues supporting Afghan women. As you know, many of you in this panel, you have been guests in the Kiaras conferences that we hold every single year. We will have our Hear US conference this year yet again to give you the voice. But I want to further insist on the All Tools approach that has been presented here by Mr. Richard Bennett and that you have been commenting.

In that regards, we must make good use of the icc, the icj, the courts, the international courts, but also Spain now is supporting the campaign to End Gender Upper Height. And in the first coup this year around the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity, we have had a side event together with the Malala Fund to support this campaign.

Furthermore, the President of the Government of Spain and the Minister of Foreign affairs of Spain have both met with the Malala Fund to lend their political support to the End Gender Upper Height campaign. So I think that this mainly summarizes our support for the All Tools approach that you have been talking about and it's not only about Afghan girls and women accessing just within Afghanistan. It is also about international accountability of the de facto authorities. So thank you very much for your testimonies today.

Thank you very much. And with that, we have come to our end of the session. I would like to once again thank all our co sponsors and panelists, particularly the missions of Australia, Ireland, Spain, Greece, Canada, Luxembourg, Finland, and all of you who took the time and participated. Thank you very much. And a special thanks to our panelists and our special keynote speaker.

Thank you very much. Have a wonderful rest of the day.

Sam.

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Excuse me. We'll kindly ask you to leave this for the next event. If you don't. Don't mind.

Sure.

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Okay. Come this. This is dirty. Come this side.

Check, check, check. Wireless mic check. One, two, three.

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Good morning everyone. We're running a little behind, so if you could please take your seats.

Asking them which topic. Let's get that.

For yourself.

Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you.

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Violence against women and girls has really affected the world in a negative way. He doesn't only hurt us as women, it hurts him as a guy. Did you know one in three women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence? That's more than 730 million women every single day.

Women and girls wake up wondering if today will be safe. There needed to be a change. Spotlight Initiative is the United nations high impact initiative.

To end violence against women and girls. Through the Spotlight Initiative, the UN and the EU have shown that comprehensive approaches to eliminating gender based violence can work. We are working.

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Please make some noise.

Good morning and welcome everyone. What an incredible amount of people. This is great. I think this room hosts about 500, which means we have about 500 people in the room. My favorite week of the year is always csw.

Everything runs late, but all in good spirit and so much more lively than any other time in this building. So thank you to everyone for coming and making time in what is a very busy week. My name is Sherene Tadros and I'm the Deputy Director of Advocacy for Amnesty International and their representative to the un. It's an honor to moderate this high level meeting on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the Group of Friends for the elimination of violence against women and girls. This event is entitled five years on Securing Achievements and and Ensuring Durable Impact.

It's organized by the European Union as chair of the Group of Friends, along with members of the steering group, Mongolia, Morocco and New Zealand, and also with the very kind support of UN women and the Spotlight Initiative. It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of events like these that aim to shed light on and find solution for an epidemic that is sadly not getting much better. Violence against women and girls, which continues to be at alarming and unacceptable levels affecting more than 730 million women over their lifetimes. That is actually almost one in three women globally. While legal and policy frameworks have expanded, gaps still persist in implementation in access to justice and accountability, especially where institutions are under resourced or conditions across sectors remain.

Weak funding is also a huge problem. Recent UN Women data looking at 428 women's rights and civil society organizations across 90 countries showed 34% have been forced to stop their programs or shut down completely because of funding cuts. 40% have had to reduce their services. And these are services that save lives, that save children's lives. We need to take action.

This should not be a controversial topic. We are talking about how to stop acts of violence against women and girls. Over the next hour or so, we'll be hearing from experts in this field, civil society organizations, and I'll lead a discussion with some of the members of the Group of Friends so that we can really get into the details of not just what the problems are, but also what states can do to overcome them and implement national level policies that really work to protect some of the most vulnerable in their countries. We have a very distinguished panel of speakers that I'm so glad while I'm speaking have actually taken the podium and we are so grateful to each one of them. The host of our event, Her Excellency Haadi Labib, Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management of the European Commission, Her Excellency Ms. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the UN, Her Excellency Ms. Sima Semi Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women.

And right next to me, Professor Joy Ngozi Zelo, lawyer, feminist, scholar and activist, and also the former UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in person. Welcome everybody. First, I'll turn to the EU Commissioner to invite her to deliver her opening remarks. The floor is yours.

Thank you, Excellencies. Distinguished. It's such an honor to sit here and to be surrounded by Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed and Her Excellency Sima Baous and former UN Special Reporter. Thank you very much for joining us to mark this fifth anniversary of this group of Friends. In just five years, the world has changed profoundly.

More conflicts, more crisis, more division. But one thing has not changed. Our determination to end violence against women. In my work, I have met so many extraordinary women and girls. I remember one in particular, Carla, a successful businesswoman and mother of two adult sons.

I met her at a domestic violence shelter in Italy. She suffered 30 years of abuse from her ex husband and narrowly escaped being killed by him. She stayed because of her children and she left with the help of her children. Today we honor Karla and millions of others like her. Last week the European Commission presented our new gender equality strategy for the next five years.

And the very first objective of the strategy is crystal clear. Ending gender based violence. Because this violence is a poison in the bloodstream of our societies. In recent years the EU has made historic progress such as accepting the Istanbul Convention and adopting the first ever EU law to combat violence against women and domestic violence. But we are not at the finish line.

1 in 3 women in the EU has experienced gender based violence. 1 in 5 faces violence at home. 18 women are killed every week in Europe and this must end. So what are we doing? We will continue to support Member States in putting into action the Violence Against Women Directive.

Prevention, protection, justice and support for victims. We will step up our fight against gender based cyber violence, working with major online platforms and strengthening trusted flaggers so illegal content is removed faster. Violence is violence offline and online and we will not tolerate it. The European Union is determined to lead on this issue at home, but also around the world, because the urgency could not be clearer. But despite rising conflicts, shrinking civic space and growing backlash, there has also been progress.

Since 2019, 90% of countries have strengthened laws on violence against women. But laws alone do not guarantee safety. Violence remains widespread and too often it happens behind closed doors. The European Union of course, is taking action by co leading the Action Coalition on Gender Based Violence. Together with UN women and through our flagship UN partnership, the Spotlight Initiative.

We saved the lives of nearly 2,000 women each year. Since 2017, it has prevented violence against more than 21 million women and girls. We have also tripled funding for women's rights organization around the world from 56 million euros in 2021, 2022 to nearly 170 million in 2023 2024, including through our ICT program, Advocacy Coalition building and transformative feminist action. Because civil society is the backbone of change, we are also tackling impunity through our global initiative with international criminal courts and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. But no country can do this alone.

The backlash, we all know that and we have to be aware of that, is coordinated, well funded and well organized. So our response must also be coordinated, well funded and well organized. Dear friends, as we mark the fifth anniversary of the group of Friends, let's renew our common commitments to to stand beside women and girls for their safety, their dignity and their justice wherever that fight takes place. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Commissioner, for your important words, for sharing Carla's story, highlighting the different forms of violence, which is something we will get into later in our discussion and also for the life saving work that the EU is doing. It's now my honor to invite the Deputy Secretary General to give her remarks and keynote speech. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Your Excellency, Commissioner Hajid Labeep.

Her Excellency Seema Barhus. My sister, Professor Joy Azilio. Excellencies, dear friends and colleagues. So, women in the room. Yes, that's really quiet.

Women in the room.

So a couple of men. There may be some endangered species there, but. Okay, so now let me behave. First, big thank you to the delegation of the European Union to the United Nations. Thank you so much.

The first, I would say the largest commitment to gender based violence was a few years ago when you came along with half a billion euro to actually force us to take that seriously and to get it across the world. So thank you for the spotlight initiative. It has continued to grow. Thank you to permanent missions of Mongolia, Morocco, New Zealand, for bringing us together to mark five years of the Group of Friends for the elimination of violence against Women and Girls. When I got the title, I thought, oh my goodness, don't give me a UN speech that says everything and probably lands not very much in this audience because everything matters to all of us.

Violence against women, we're not there yet. We're still. Still on the road to ending it. But I wanted to talk about conflict. It is a crisis that we face today.

We faced yesterday, we will probably face tomorrow, where women take the burden of it. Conflict, violence, political violence, and violence woven through daily life come to us under different names, in different settings, with different perpetrators. Yet they grow from the same old assumption that women's lives can be discounted, women's bodies can be used, women's voices can be contained, and women's freedom can be traded away when power decides it's got other priorities. That assumption is never more visible than in times of war. We're living through a moment in which war is too often narrated through the language of strength, victory and domination.

That language asks us to admire force, to look away from consequence, inviting a kind of moral deafness. But as we know, the lived reality is something else entirely. It is homes that are torn open. It is schools reduced to rubble, bodies violated, communities displaced, and futures that are cut short. Women and girls carry that violence in ways that are more intimate and lasting.

This wider climate should disturb us. Global military spending has reached over $2.7 trillion in 2024, the highest level ever recorded. That expansion does more than fill arsenals. It directs money, political energy and public prestige towards systems organized around force and away from the equality of genders. It enlarges the standing of institutions that have treated women's suffering as collateral to larger strategic aims.

Rhetoric demands security scrutiny. When public life begins to romanticize militarization, it becomes easier to sanitize what militarization does. It maims, it rapes, and it kills. The language grows cleaner as the reality grows dirtier. The latest reporting from the UN leaves no room for evasion.

The Secretary General's report on conflict related sexual violence verified that we had more than 4,500 cases in 2024. We also know that the report stressed that the true number is almost certainly far higher because fear, stigma, retaliation and collapsed reporting systems conceal so much of the harm done. The report is explicit that sexual violence continues to be used as a tactic of war and political repression, as a heinous tool of torture. That pattern is visible across crisis after crisis. In Sudan, UN experts warned in May 2025 of widespread conflict related sexual violence, abductions, killings and attacks on women, human rights defenders and frontline workers.

In eastern DRC Congo, UNICEF reported in April 2025 that a child was being reported raped every half hour and yesterday we sadly lost one of our UN colleagues in the DRC. In Haiti, UNICEF documented 100% increase in sexual violence against children between 2023 and 2024. In Ukraine, UN Women reported in February 2026 that more than 5,000 women and girls have been killed since the full scale invasion began. In Gaza, UN Women estimated that more than 28,000 women and girls had been killed between October 2023 and May 2025, an average of one every hour. We could go on and on, filling every moment of this event with statistics more horrifying than the last.

But even then we would not be confronted with the full force of the the crisis that we are facing because the assault does not end in conflict zones. It reaches women who document crimes, women who organize, women who testify. It reaches the women who defend human rights and preserve the possibility that those in power will be named and will face justice. Yanar Mohammed, an Iraqi feminist and human rights champion murdered on March 2, was one of those women. Excellency's condemnation alone will not shift the ground beneath women's lives.

This agenda has to enter places where power is excised and decisions are taken. It has to shape ceasefire talks, peace processes, sanction regimes, accountability mechanisms, humanitarian planning, financing decisions and national laws. Women and girls cannot keep appearing in the margins of those discussions and simply left to endure the consequences of priorities that have been set by others. Their dignity and authority belong at the center of the decision itself. This is where women led.

Peace becomes indispensable. Excellencies and friends. It is time to pull the world back from the brink of celebrating war while abandoning women and girls. That begins with calling out the forms of power that we are rewarding. It continues with refusing impunity in every guise.

It deepens when we protect those who speak out for justice. It endures when women help write the terms of peace instead of being left to survive terms written by others. And often don't men come back from war as heroes? Women are often discarded with lifetime injuries through their lives scarred. So on this fifth anniversary, let's hold tight to the courage of our convictions while narrowing our tolerance for excuses.

It is the time now to secure what has been achieved in the last five years and to forge ahead for all women and girls. Today, let's double down and say no to violence of any type against any woman or girl. Let us demand the investments that are needed for us to succeed in the promises that we have made to leave no one behind. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Deputy Secretary General, for the thoughtful and powerful remarks, for the important warnings that you gave us, and for always bringing the energy to the room, every room you go into. Now I turn to Executive Director Seema Bahus. UN women play a central role as the Global Normative lead coordinator and convener on gender equality, including ending violence against women and girls. The floor is yours. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Excellencies. Hacha Alabib, my good friend, EU Commissioner for Equality, Excellency, Deputy Secretary General Amina Muhammad, our leader and also our very good friend and supporter. Distinguished guests, colleagues and partners, it is an honor to join you here today to mark the five years of the Group of Friends for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Girls. Very difficult to speak after these two wonderful speakers which we heard just before.

But I will continue to proceed with my speech. The group this group was born of crises and instability during COVID Today that sense of crisis and instability is changed, but it is not diminished. Conflict has intensified. Democratic spaces are contracting digital technologies and outspace safeguards, facilitating all old forms of violence while making possible new ones. Prevalence remains of violence against women and girls horrific, with one in three women reporting lifetime physical or sexual violence.

We have not been idle. Since 2019, 90% of member states have strengthened laws on violence against women and girls. 79% have updated or expanded national action plans. Now we need action. Despite this, too many survivors encounter fragmented and biased systems across police, across courts, across health services and social protection.

Too many lack access to legal aid. Less than 10% report violence because it feels futile or unsafe to report it, thereby undermining deterrence and fueling impunity. And the strong feminist movements and organizations we depend on are ever more underfunded. UN Women's analysis shows us that over 1/3 are suspending programs addressing violence and almost all reporting severe reductions on women's and girls access to essential services. So, Excellencies, we have spent the past few days discussing Access to Justice, the priority theme of this 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

We applaud the agreed conclusions that were adopted by a large majority on Monday calling for greater justice, increased accountability, better protection for all women and girls. Justice, as you know, goes beyond the courtrooms to encompass accessible, coordinated and adequately resourced systems centered on survivors needs and dignity. And I will quote just a few data points. We know now that women face greater barriers to justice than men. In nearly 70% of countries and globally, women hold just 64% of the legal rights enjoyed by men in every single country in the world.

Less than 40% of the women who experience violence seek help of any sort. In the majority of countries with available data on this issue, women who do seek help look to their family and to their friends. And very few seek support from formal institutions such as police and health services. And less than 10% of women who experience violence reported to the police. Countries with domestic violence laws report significantly lower prevalence rates compared to those without such legislation and whole of governments and comprehensive action to end violence against women, women is more effective.

Prevalence rates are 2.5 times lower in countries with comprehensive prevention and response measures. So we really need to act and to act fast. Also, it is about budgeted national action plans and trained institutions. It is about prevention, accountability and the clear signal that that violence will not and will never be tolerated. And UN women, as you all know, works with Member states in all these areas and more.

Through the spotlight initiative, for example, which was supported by the EU, we have seen that when the UN acts together, it delivers major results. UN's unique strength lies in its ability to Connect international commitments to real change in people's lives. Between 2019 and 2024, coordinated UN action through spotlight initiatives helped reform 548 laws related to violence against women and girls and gender equality and doubled conviction rates in 13 countries. That is good, but we still have a long way to go. With the leadership and support of governments and partners represented here today day, and through initiatives like the EU funded Act to End Violence Against Women program, UN Women and the UN Trust Fund have strengthened feminist leadership, resilience and institutional capacities of hundreds of CSOs, facilitated evidence based advocacy and influenced legal change.

So maintaining such progress depends on sustained political will, political leadership and also investment. With 96 member states, this Group of Friends is a powerful force. It can drive visibility and momentum, keeping ending violence against women and girls at the top of a crowded agenda and championing effective national approaches. It can also demand resources, including for the essential work of women's rights or organizations. Dear friends, these five years have been inspiring.

I thank the European Union for your leadership and member States leaders and the Secretary General for their continued commitment. UN Women will continue to support this group's work with pride. I believe we can go even further in the next five years. I believe we can outpace our challenges, accelerate our actions, surpass each success with the next. This is our task and it is our responsibility.

It is what we owe the women and girls of the world and what we owe humanity. And it is within our power to make this real. I urge us all to vigorously sustain and deepen our partnerships towards this end. And I thank you,

Thank you so much Mr. Hos for those uplifting, but also a good reminder of how much more needs to be done. So there you heard a call to action to all of us to do more. I now turn to Professor Joy Ngozi Ezelo, lawyer, feminist, scholar and former UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons. Floor is yours.

Thank you, your excellencies, dsg, eu, UN Women.

I call it Women Leading Women Amnesty. On this part of the table, transformational female leadership. Thank you so much for Group of Friends without Group of Friends. I know when I was Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in persons between 2008 and 14, the group of Friends United against Trafficking made it possible for my work around the world. So they make things happen and EU is making things happen.

And I can tell you from the work that is going on. Let me just give an example. With the support of EU act under UN Women funded project, which an organization I founded 28 nine years ago in Nigeria, benefited. They researched in four countries on climate change, digitalization and violence against women and girls In Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Togo, that's women's aid collective. They surveyed 751 households, 74 institutions engaged and they produce one consistent finding.

The laws exist but they fail. Survivors survivors of sexual and gender based violence. The gaps are not primarily about legislation that has not been written. They are about legislation that has been written but not enforced or implemented. Institutions that exist but are not resourced and a justice system that cost money that survivors cannot assess or afford.

The problem. Climate shocks and rapid digitization are creating new and overlapping risk for violence against women and girls. Key evidence Research shows that climate driven resource scarcity is linked to household violence. There is even fish for sex. We found out in the other place.

If you want to fish here, then you have to pay with your body. With statistics indicating 75% of household in Ghana and 58% in Nigeria affected. Additionally, disparate displacement significantly increases exposure to exploitation and abuse. And digital platforms are enabling new forms of technologically facilitated gender based violence. The policy gaps include current climate digital and gender based violence policy framework.

We found that no one country especially in the four countries surveyed have a comprehensive law on digital that to protect women marital rape not fully criminalized. No country has a comprehensive technologically to cover technologically facilitated SGBV Nigeria Cybercrime doesn't even talk about that. So the formal justice system is effectively privatized for the poor and that's the problem. And then my final part of the point to link this is on accountability. And when we talk of accountability to women especially towards elimination of violence against women and girls it's not a one way traffic.

It's not just one option. It's not just about doing one thing about doing multiple things across sectors, across divide horizontal and vertical. It's not saying that oh this is private sector. Oh this is a dichotomy between public and private. Oh is the private citizens costing this?

We need to ensure accountability for women and girls to ratified commitment by state because there is a legitimate expectation by women that if government for example in Africa signed the protocol to the African Charter on the rights of women in Africa that is beautiful higher threshold with regard to elimination of violence that the government not only implements put money where the amount is in that commitment to make sure it works. You must budget, you must budget for implementation of this. You must budget for services. With budget cuts we see that women are not survivors are not getting the important services they need. My first house was building a shelter and I built ultra modern shelter begging for money.

My late husband donated even land that he was given in 2001 and today even to fund the shelter to put women there. And then it costs money and sometimes you have to restrict because it costs money to maintain them in the shelter. Accountability means respect to those commitments. Accountability is enforcement, investigating, prosecuting, not commercialization of police services. Not a place where you want them to arrest a rapist.

They ask for money to arrest, they ask money to go to court. So the victim and survivor will be so discouraged that they will give up if we call it the case. Accountability also means. I've talked about budget, but bridging the gaps also between law and practice and the DSG also mentioned the digital protection is very important. Defending the defenders, protecting the defenders.

Because also with the shrinking civic spot space, defenders are exposed and then they are also clamped down, especially in any protest. We are very happy with the EU that have shown leadership in putting money to make this work in several countries. You don't know the impact of the money, what it's doing. And we are so happy that you're helping to end impunity. I currently also work on the mandate in Sudan as one of the three experts sexual violence in conflict situation.

It is. I don't know, it's atrocious. It's thousands that we've documented, even with the El Fascia fall of el Fashion in October 2025. And these women have no services. Absolutely.

And that was why we were afraid with the merger being proposed of UN women and unfp. How would this big organization with huge mandate be funded when they even come together to have this huge mandate emerge? But service provision, reproductive health. And when women. I see I was in Gorum settlement in January, February and women are not even being registered by UNHJ because there is no money.

And then those who are victims and survivors of sexual. I don't know whether to call them survivors. I struggle, I'm a professor of law, to sometimes call them survivors when I know they have not even received any form of services. No psychological, no medical, no legal assistance. They haven't survived, they haven't even started to heal.

Some of them told me nobody has spoken to us about what we experience. This is the first time we interviewed over 300. This is the first time I'm talking about this. And they are still highly emotional, highly traumatized. So where are the services?

Where is the money to support this? With the budget, with the cut in funding? So we hope that accountability, that we all continue to raise that accountability stake and together empower the UN women gender entity that has been doing so much to make sure that the work women do at country level because at times they are the only existing funding whether for political participation. In Nigeria, we are struggling with special seat political violence. It all comes from the small fund that they are not even funded as such.

So I will end by thanking the group of friends. You've done a lot and your work is not done. Please don't give up on us. I know with the DSG and we hope that with the women leading and even at the UN that things will get better for us and that this scourge, epidemic and impunity of violence against women will end. Thank you.

Thank you so much professor for your powerful, your powerful remarks. I hope everyone was listening and taking notes because the professor really shared important experiences, real experiences from what she has seen and heard. So let us, let us take note.

Thank you to everyone on the panel for this very, very rich discussion. We've heard from our speakers important advances that have been made in eliminating gender based violence. But we've also hearing about the dire challenges that remain while legal and policy frameworks have expanded significantly. We have heard from each one of them about how gaps persist and that's what we want to discuss next. What is the recipe for success?

Where are the gaps and how do we fill them? Thank you again for each one of you. I always love all women panels. I find they are the best panels. So it's been an honor to host you.

We're going to ask you to

leave the podium and we will bring on our panelists. Thank you.

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Violence against women and girls has really affected the world.

Violence against women and girls has really affected the world in a negative way. It doesn't only hurt us as women, it hurts him as a guy. Did you know one in three women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence? That's more than 730 million women every single day.

Women and girls wake up wondering if today will be safe. There needed to be a change. Spotlight Initiative is the United nations high impact initiative to end violence against women and girls. Through the Spotlight Initiative, the UN and the EU have shown that comprehensive approaches

to eliminating gender based violence can work. We are working with governments and and our partners across the globe to strengthen laws and institutions, prevent violence, support survivors and fund women's movements. You can be part of the change. Never give up. Let's go.

It.

Thank you everyone so much for bearing with us while we did a little transition there. That video that you saw Just a second ago, that was from the Spotlight Initiative. And we will be speaking a lot more about the Spotlight Initiative. Let me welcome warmly our panelists and experts, civil society speakers and so on that we have on the panel today. And let me just say that since 2019, 90% of states have reported introducing or strengthening laws on violence against women and girls, including measures related to implementation and enforcement, just as you and women were telling us moments ago, while 79% have established updated or expanded national action plans to end violence.

That is a great start. But violence against women and girls nevertheless remains pervasive. Efforts have to start with adopting and implementing the necessary laws, policies and backing them up with adequate resources. Our first panel will be discussing these very policies and they'll be discussing them from not a place of loftiness, but from. From actually working on them, seeing what went right, what went wrong.

So I hope that we can all listen, engage. I now give the floor To Her Excellency, Ms. Naima Ben Yahya, Minister of Solidarity, Special Integration and the Family of the Kingdom of Morocco. The floor is yours.

Thank you, Madam President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to express my deep appreciation for the convening of this high level of meeting. We are proud to have launched the group of Friends to end violence against women and girls.

During the pandemic, where violence against women and girls increased, we had to act and stay stopped to this crime. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the Kingdom of Morocco, under the wise leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed 6, has made the promotion of women's rights and the enhancement of their protection from violence a strategic choice framed by the Constitution, Reinforced by advanced national legislation and guided by its international commitment and constructive engagement with UN human rights mechanisms. Proceeding from the conviction of that violence against women is not a sectoral issue, but a structural challenge that affects social justice, development and democracy, Morocco has adopted an integrated approach based in four prevention, protection, support and economic empowerment. In this context, the Kingdom has expanded the network of multifunctional institutions for women and girls, with a special focus on rural areas and ensuring special justice in access to services. Recognizing that the importance of digital transformation is improving efficiency and transparency, Morocco has launched the digital platform to facilitate women access to support services, ensure rapid response to cases and enhance monitoring at local and central levels.

The annual national campaigns have also been a key driver for consolidating a culture of equality and rejecting violence. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, international experience confirms the availability of legislation and laws, as important as they are, is not enough to ensure the effective protection of women and girls from violence in all its forms, unless they are translated into strict enforcement, equitable access to justice, coordinated action among stakeholders and the mobilization the mobilization of sufficient, efficient and sustainable resources. From this perspective, we would like to emphasize three strategic priorities. First, investing in financial sustainability. Second, enhancing data driven governance.

Third, keeping pace with societal and technological change and provide effective protection mechanisms from women in the digital space. Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen. As part of strengthening its relevant legal arsenal, the Kingdom of Morocco is preparing to review law on combating violence against women through a bold participatory approach involving various institutional actors, civil society and experts to address the practical challenges of implementation, strengthen protection, prevention and support measures and align national provisions with constitutional principles and international commitment. In conclusion, we renew our commitment to work alongside other states and and partners towards a world where the dignity of every woman and girl is protected and their right to safety, justice and full participation in public life is guaranteed. We affirm our strong determination to eradicate this phenomenon by following up on commitments and expanding partnership so that no woman or girl should is exposed to violence.

Thank you.

Thank you, Excellency, for your insights and for using the word choice. Because it is always a choice whether or not to prioritize this kind of legislation. Laws and policies can only be implemented successfully if they're adequately resourced. And gender responsive budgeting, as we call it, is indispensable in this regard. So I'd like to turn to Her Excellency, Ms. Maria Luisa Morales, apres Vice Minister of Women and Human Rights of Ecuador.

Madam Minister, Ecuador passed a new law on ending violence against women, establishing a legal requirement for implementation and dedicated budget allocations at the local level. Participatory budgeting and strong municipal budgets contributed to successful resource mobilization. I'd like to ask you how gender responsive budgeting can be established and implemented successfully on national and local levels. And let me tell everyone here that the Minister will be talking in Spanish. There will be a translated transcript that should be available to you or be dispersed to you soon.

Thank you for the question. With your permission, I will deliver my response in Spanish. Excellencies, el presupuesto con perspectiva de Janero es una ramienta fundamental paragrantizar que los compromisos in materia de gualdad y de los de las mujeres cetra duscan empoliticas publicas, sostenibles y financieras desde l' experiencia de Ecuador quisiera de estacar tres elementos claves para establisher y applicar con exito los prepared los presupuestos comperspectiva de genero tanto anivel nacional como tambien anive local, emprimer lugar contar Congo Marco normativo e institucional solido en Ecuador, la ley organica integral para prevenir y radicala violencia contralas mujeres establishion sistema nacional qui articula aventidos instituciones del estado irreconoce la responsabilidad.

Parel accesso a servicios especializados como tercer punto esta fortale ser la implementacion territorial y la cordination interinstitucional Liualdad cematerialista en los territorios porrello es fundamental trabajar conos gobiernos locales y contoda las instituciones que forma emparte del sistema de prevencion y eradicacion de la violencia comaserlo fortaleciendo capacidades technicas mejorando la planificacion local y carantisando que lo recurso jegan effectiva mente a los proyectos quia tienden a las mujeres and todal territorio el compromiso del covierno se amantenido a signanto recursos destinados a politicas y programas con perspectiva de genero equatoriano aprobola lei de organizacion territorial la misma que sia justa y ajusta tod las structuras financieras de los gobiernos locales. Afinde que exista una priorizacion de la eje cucion de los recursos de inversion directa mente para el bienestar de cada uno de los cuando los presupuesto reflejan las prioridades de yualdad los compromisos internazionales y las leyes nacionales e combierte en acciones concretas impactan la vida de las mujeres y las ninas. Muchas gracias.

Thank you, Madam Minister, for your remarks and for showing how sufficient and well allocated budgets make a difference when it comes to policy implementation. One thing we haven't touched on yet, but it's just as important as financing and budget, is the underlying root causes of violence, such as harmful social norms, something that Our last panelist spoke about. I'm pleased to give the floor now to our third panelist, Her Excellency, Ms. Bayer Saikhan Bal Yinayam, Director of the General Authority for Child and Family Development Protection of Mongolia. Who will speak about exactly that? The root causes.

Director, what specific policies and programs have proved successful in eliminating the root causes of violence against women and girls and accelerating progress to achieve gender equality in your experience?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, warm greetings from Mongolia. On behalf of the girls and women who make up 51% of our population today, I would like to briefly highlight three important issues. First, Mongolia is making steady progress in women's political participation. When I served as a member Of Parliament from 2020 to 2024, our Parliament had 76 members and only 13 were women.

Today, Parliament has 126 members and 32 of them are women. This means women's representation increased from 17 to 25%. By 2028, this is expected to rise to 40%. It's also encouraging to see women's participation, participation and leadership increasing in local elections. This marks us an important step toward stronger women's leadership in our country and in Asia.

Second, as a nomadic country, improving education and safe sanitation for rural girls has been a national priority. Over the past four years, Mongolia has begun replacing latrines with modern sanitation facilities in 819 schools, kindergartens and dormitories nationwide. Today, all children in countryside attend these facilities. Nearly half of them are girls. This is an important step to protect health, dignity and safety for each child.

Third, the digital world is expanding rapidly. While it offers many new opportunities, it also exposes children to serious risks, including online violence and cyberbullying. This is growing concern for mothers and families everywhere. From this platform, I strongly urge governments and international organizations to work together in a more effective and coordinated way to prevent and respond to cyberbullying. Lastly, Mongolia is strongly affected by climate change.

Our country is warming at more than twice the global average, and this is placing increasing pressure on our nomadic way of life. It has a serious impact on the daily lives of rural women and girls whose families depend on livestock, pasture and the land for their livehood. Climate action is therefore not only about protecting nature, it's also about protecting the nomadic lifestyle, the lives and future of women, girls and families. My dear friends, in August this year, mongolia will host COP17 and in 2027, the world's children's Conference. We warmly invite you.

Join us. May every family, every girl and every woman live in peace and dignity thank you.

Thank you so much, Madam Director, for sharing your experiences with us. So far. We've heard about how governments can take action to tackle the scourge of violence. However, the judicial system also plays a key role in ensuring proper accountability for gender based violence. Therefore, I turn to our next panelist, Ms. Mariella Labuzzata, Coordinator of the Gender Specialized Network for the IBO American association of Public Prosecutors.

In the current context of overlapping crises, resource constraints and political pushback, what actions are member states taking to ensure these legal and policy gains translate into effective implementation, enforcement and access to justice for survivors, and also to prevent any backsliding?

Thank you, Shireen, for your question.

Indeed, we are learning in these times that the achievements of recent decades regarding the rights of women and girls at the legislative, public policy and institutional levels are not set in stone. We are witnessing a period of legislative regression, the dismantling of specialist structure and a rise in the hate speech against activists. Consequently, we must redouble our efforts to safeguard what has been built. In this context, I think three points deserve particular emphasis. First, the vital importance of maintaining the institutional framework already established within justice systems.

We must leverage their inherent stability with transcendent specific administration. Unlike the executive and legislative branches that are subject to electoral shifts, specialized prosecution units, victim assistance offices, gender departments and criminal policy plans are essential tools for ensuring the stability of international standards. Second, we must strengthen regional coordination spaces as a mechanism to sustain national progress and act as a bulwark against local regressions. I am referring to network of judges, prosecutors, public defenders and other judicial stakeholders capable of drafting model guidelines at a regional level. To this end, fostering alliances with specialized international agencies such as UN women remains crucial.

Their technical and more importantly, their political and institutional support is essential to sustaining these structures. Lastly, I believe it is very, very important to strengthen dialogue between regions on women's rights. Our realities are very different in Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia. Even within these large regions there are many differences. However, the root causes of gender based violence are similar and we can and should share our experiences and most importantly, we must support and strengthen one another.

Thanks.

Thank you so much for your insights. I'd now like to when we're talking about ending violence against women and girls, and that is multi sectoral collaboration and engagement with civil society and other stakeholders. Because history has shown us that policies are durable and robust if they are built on collaboration across different government sectors, public authorities, service providers and local partners, as well as with civil society and other stakeholders. In other words, if those that are actually affected by the Violence have a say in how the policy is developed and how it's implemented. For example, Kenya has been a champion of advocating prevention efforts through collaboration with community and traditional leaders.

So let me now turn to Her Excellency, Ms. Hannah Wendo Cheptumo, Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Gender, Culture and Children's Services of Kenya. Madam Cabinet Secretary, how can governments engage with community and traditional leaders to transform social norms to prevent and address violence against women and girls? Thank you very much. I bring you warm greetings from the Republic of Kenya. Thank you.

Moderator Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Kenya is honored to join this important discussion as we mark the fifth anniversary of the Group of Friends on how governments can engage with community and traditional leaders to transform social norms to prevent and address violence against women and girls. Kenya reaffirms that ending violence is not the work of a single institution. It is a shared responsibility that demands coordinated, sustained and inclusive action across governments, civil society organizations, private sector communities and development partners. Preventing and addressing violence against women and girls requires more than strong laws and policies, but it also requires transforming the social norms and cultural beliefs that allow such violence to persist. Chairpersons we call on governments to institutionalize structured dialogue with community and traditional leaders through creating regular platforms for engagements at all levels by building shared understanding on gender equality, human rights and protection of women, men, boys and girls.

Strengthen capacity support for traditional and community leaders to enable them access information on gender equality, legal frameworks and survivor centered responses to violence to guide their communities toward positive norms. Integrate community leaders and survivors into national prevention, response and protection mechanisms to bridge the gap between formal institutions and grassroots communities. Engage traditional leaders to shape positive cultural practices that promote values of respect, dignity and nonviolence through signing and implementing declarations with elders from communities that engage in harmful practices. Strengthen male engagement and inclusion approaches that promote healthy and respectful masculinities. Moreover, governments are called upon to ensure that women's voices are included in community leadership structures to strengthen accountability and ensure that responses to violence reflect the realities of women and girls.

The national positive parenting initiatives that address violence at its roots Strengthen families by equipping parents and caregivers with practical skills for nonviolent discipline, responsive caregiving and healthy communication. Preventing violence against children, improving child well being and nurturing family environments. Ultimately, transforming harmful social norms requires a whole of society approach. When governments partner effectively with community and traditional leaders, they unlock powerful local influence that can shift attitudes, strengthen prevention and create safer communities for women and girls. I thank you,

thank you so much, your Excellency for that important perspective and for sharing your experience. There were many, many nodding while you were speaking. So I have the pleasure now to introduce our next speaker who's from civil society, Ms. Esther, Associate Director at Legal Equality at Equality Now. Equality now works globally with civil society partners, governments and justice actors to strengthen legal frameworks to close accountability gaps and advance survivor centered approaches to ending violence against women and girls. So from your perspective and drawing from the learnings under the act to End Violence Against Women program, what are the key incentives and specifically those how to mechanisms required for meaningful enduring partnerships that deliver results on the ground?

Thank you Madam Chair, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends. Thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of Equality now and our civil society partners. For more than 30 years, equality now has championed a core principle that laws must provide substantive, transformative gender equality to protect all women and girls and that these protections must be implemented and enforced in practice. Across our global work and in particular through the act to End Violence Against Women and Girls program, we have witnessed the power of collaboration and strategic partnerships. When civil society justice actors and community leaders as well as intergovernmental bodies work together, real progress is possible.

Today I would like to share three insights from the lessons that we have learned on what is required for meaningful enduring partnerships that deliver results on the ground. Firstly, co creation and co ownership strengthen Collaboration One of the strongest incentives for meaningful partnership is shared ownership. When civil society justice actors and community leaders are invited to co design strategies, not simply implement them, they become invested in the results. Under the ACT program, Equality now and the Solidarity for African Women's Rights Coalition, a continent wide network have engaged traditional and religious leaders to reflect on their experiences working with civil society organizations and to identify how these relationships can be strengthened. Their insights are directly informing the development of new guidelines for civil society organizations on engaging traditional and religious leaders on ending violence against women and Girls or Evog.

By helping CSOs, women's rights organizations and other non state actors branch better understand the needs and realities of cultural and religious leaders, we are fostering more inclusive advocacy and building partnerships rooted in trust. Secondly, investing in capacity and networks builds resilience and sustainability. Sustainable progress requires strong interconnected actors who can carry the work forward. Beyond project timelines through the ACT program, we have strengthened the capacities of women's rights organizations, feminist networks, journalists, influencers and traditional and religious leaders. This investment has enhanced their technical expertise and amplified their advocacy.

By equipping journalists and influencers with accurate information on women's rights and ending violence against women, women and girls laws, we have expanded public awareness and created a trusted network of media actors across eastern and southern Africa who now champion these issues. Their reporting helps shape public opinion, hold governments accountable and inspire communities to act. Through the ACT program, we also recently implemented the Stop the Count campaign in which we collaborated with social media influencers to highlight the legislative and policy gaps in violence against women and Girls Laws in 13 Eastern and Southern African countries. These networks of EVA advocates are essential for sustaining momentum, countering shrinking civic space and ensuring that pressure for accountability comes from all sides. Thirdly, evidence, visibility and context specific advocacy drive meaningful change.

Research, communication and visibility equip partners with the information they need to advocate effectively. Data drives change and ensures that commitments are not symbolic but measurable. At the same time, appreciating and leveraging regional and country specific context is crucial. By grounding our strategies in local realities and by supporting community leaders to challenge harmful norms from within based on international and regional human rights law, we create space for change that is both authentic and lasting. In conclusion, Excellencies Ending violence against women and girls requires collaboration across traditional and non traditional allies, from religious and cultural leaders to legal professionals, justice actors, member states and regional and international mechanisms.

It requires a shared agenda, long term investment and the resilience to continue pushing forward even in the face of backlash. Together we can ensure that the laws meant to protect all women and girls are not only written, but implemented. I thank you,

Thank you so much Esther for your insights and your advice on how to establish and maintain long term impactful partnerships between different stakeholders and the public sector. Now I turn to another state leading the way when it comes to government collaboration with civil society. Timor Leste the Government of Timor Leste successfully collaborated with civil society organizations and and community members to strengthen its capacity and commitment to gender responsive budgeting for ending violence against women and girls. I'd like to ask Her Excellency Ms. Elvina Sousa Carvalho, State Secretary of State for Equality of Timor Leste, how government and civil society can work together to strengthen capacity for gender responsive budgeting thank you very much.

It is an honor for me to represent Timor Leste to share best practices, especially how government and civil society work together to strengthen capacity for gender responsive budgeting. In Timor Leste, the government and civil society strengthen capacity for gender responsive budgeting through strong partnership, shared experience and inclusive participation in the planning and budgeting process. Key approaches includes one. Timoleste has established guidelines for gender responsive budgeting to integrate gender equality, international planning and financial management. Formalized by National Parliament number, the resolution form the national parliament number 122010 calling on the government through the Ministry of Finance to apply budgetary policy rules, to take gender equality into account and to analyze the differential impact of macroeconomic policies on women and men.

The Ministry of Finance uses an engaged budget called Circular and integrates gender markers, principal, significant and non targeted into the budget systems. 2 Joint capacity building initiatives Government institutions in collaboration with civil society organizations, particularly Women's group, to provide training and technical support for public officials, municipal authorities and community leaders into strengthening gender perspective on annual planning and budgeting processes. The third is inclusive policy dialogue and consultation. Civil society organizations participate in national and municipal budget consultations, ensuring that the priorities and the needs of women and girls and vulnerable groups are reflected in development plans and budget allocations. Number four is the development of gender responsive tools and guidelines.

The government, in partnership with civil society and development partners strengthen and apply gender responsive budgeting guidelines and analytical tools to help ministries and municipalities integrate gender equality objectives into their programs and budgets. The fifth Monitoring, transparency and accountability Civil society organization play an important role in monitoring and implementation of public budgets and programs, ensuring that allocated resources effectively address gender equality priorities and benefit women and girls. The sixth Strengthening gender disaggregated data and evidence Civil society support the collective of community level data and research to complement government statistics, helping policy maker better identify gender gaps and allocate resources more effectively. On the seventh Participation of Civil society organization at the annual State Budget Discussion it is very important civil society organization including the association of Persons with Disabilities of Timor Leste and The forum of NGOs in Timor Leste actively participated as observers in the national annual deliberations of the Budget Review Committee and State Budget discussion at the National Parliament. Their engagement contributes to ensuring that budget proposals from line ministries, Secretary of State, autonomous agencies and municipalities duly incorporate programs addressing gender equality and the rights and needs of persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.

Through these collaborative efforts, Timor Lastic and FORD strengthened the integration of gender perspective in public finance management and ensuring that national and municipal budget can contribute to advancing the gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, your Excellency, for your remarks and to all our panelists for this rich discussion and for being so generous in sharing your experiences. Thank you for all the work that you're doing. Today's event highlighted how far the Group of Friends has come since it was established five years ago, as well as how much more needs to be done to eliminate violence against women and girls, from reforming laws to working with communities on the ground in our Exchanges, we heard how laws, policies and budgets can truly deliver, but also how multi sectoral collaboration and engagement with civil society make this work effective and very importantly, make it sustainable. Speakers underlined that legal frameworks must be comprehensive addressing all forms of violence online and offline in private and public spaces if they are to reflect women and girls realities. Several speakers stressed that eliminating violence also means tackling its root causes, harmful norms and toxic masculinities in partnership with community and traditional leaders as well as men and boys.

Regarding the justice sector, it became clear that strong laws alone are not enough. Survivors still face barriers to reporting and inadequate or gender blind procedures and the need for gender responsive capacity building. Clear protocols, training and survivor centered approaches were key. On financing, Panelists highlighted that gender responsive budgeting is essential to turn legal and policy commitments into reality through laws that require dedicated budget lines and local measures such as participatory budgeting and mandated social spending. We also heard encouraging examples of government, civil society and communities working together to build capacity for gender responsive budgeting, analyze expenditures and ensure that resources follow the political priority of of ending violence.

Establishing these meaningful, enduring partnerships require clear roles, regular dialogue, shared planning and flexible predictable support rather than just one off consultations or purely project based engagement. Taken together, these exchanges remind us all that comprehensive laws are vital, but they must be implemented and adequately funded. Budget must match the the ambition to end violence and none of this can succeed without the involvement of civil society communities as well as men and boys as allies. The fifth anniversary of the Group of Friends is therefore an opportunity not only to reflect on our achievements, but also to renew our commitment to ensuring a lasting impact on the lives of all women and girls. Now in closing, I'd like to first invite Dr. Abiola Akioda Afolabi, Director of the center for Human Rights, University of Lagos and the founder of the Women Advocates Research and Documentation center, as well as a member of the UN Spotlight Initiative Global Reference Group.

The floor is yours.

Thank you very much Madam Sharon, and for a very powerful moderation. And to all the great women that spoke on air, I want to thank you and I want to thank the UN Spotlight Global Reference Group for giving me this opportunity. So today we have once again had statistics from un women, from national organization, from governments, but behind every statistics that we have had today are real women and girls whose lives depend on this work. For survivors, progress is measured not in policies alone, but in whether they can access safety, justice and support when violence occurs.

In communities around the world, Women's rights organization and local advocates are Often the first responders, the trusted voices and institutions that ensure commitment translates into real change on the ground. The examples that we have had great women shared today, from stronger laws, and I could recall that UN Women talked about over 600 and 578 laws have been made in the last few years to gender responsive budgeting, to partnership with communities show that change is possible when government, the UN system and civil society work together. And I recall that the UN Deputy Deputy Secretary General talked about the civil society being the backbone of change at a time of shrinking resources and growing backlash against women's rights. Sustaining these gains will require continued political leadership and sustained, predictable investment, especially for women's organization working on the front line. If the last five years have shown us anything, it is that eliminating violence against women and girls is very possible, but only if we stay the course, keep women and girls in the center of our decision and ensure that commitment discussed here today translates into real change in communities everywhere.

As we mark the five years of Group of Friends, we should take pride in what has been achieved. But anniversaries are and also remind us of more responsibility. The real test of our commitment is not what we say in rooms like this. It is whether women and girls in communities around the world feel safer, supported and heard. Now it is the time for all of us to redouble our efforts to achieve real and lasting change.

Thank you very much for the opportunity.

Thank you so much, Doctor for that powerful intervention. And finally, I'd like to invite to the podium the Deputy executive director of UNFPA, Mr. Pio Smith, for his closing remarks.

To ruin the trajectory. But firstly, let me say, you know, it's so good to see all of you here for csw and it's such an honour to be in this room, around these halls, listening to all the powerful testimonies that all of you are bringing to the many very different and rich discussions for csw. It's lonely in the United nations right now when it comes to speaking about women's rights and gender equality because there's a very deadly pushback against women's rights right now. And so I think it's really powerful that we have all of you here in these halls these days and I hope you will take away with you back to your homes, to your countries, that solidarity that you all get from each other, because it's at a time and in a week when we're talking about access to justice, we know that that can seem very abstract and we need to keep motivating ourselves and to hold hands so that we use that solidarity to continue, continue to give us the momentum for the hard days and weeks ahead. I'm also very conscious that since we began this event 90 minutes ago, probably nine or 10 of our women or girls somewhere in the world have died at the hands of a family member or an intimate partner.

So. So this isn't abstract and I think Abiola, like you just very rightly said, we have to keep the victims front and center of our mind when we're having these conversations. It has to be grounded in that real deadly reality that is facing many of our women and girls across the globe. And so I want to hold them in our hearts as we have these conversations today. But let me go back to what I'm supposed to say here now, the script, and firstly to thank all of our amazing panelists and thank them for their very insightful contributions today.

You know, it is five years ago in the midst of that COVID 19 pandemic when this group of friends was born out of a moral and political necessity to address the shadow pandemic violence against women and girls. And Today we have 96 members in this group of friends representing every region of the globe. And it's a formidable front at a time when we are navigating an upsurge in conflict and a deadly pushback against gender equality. This room is a testament to the power of partnership and we must continue to build this momentum in the face of adversity. And I look forward to coming back to mark a group of friends that has 193 member states as members, not just 96.

We need everybody involved in this work. I also look forward to seeing more of my brothers in rooms like this so that men are stepping up and speaking up, that they are here to support women and girls who are on the front lines of this and to listen to learn from the realities that are being shared. It is vital that we continue to scale evidence based programs that make a tangible difference in the lives of women and girls. Ending GBV requires action across the entire societal ecosystem, building systems of accountability, prevention and long term sustainability. Joint UN programs such as the Spotlight Initiative, implemented with governments, partners and civil society, demonstrate that this coordinated approach can deliver real impact.

For programs to succeed, we know that two conditions are essential. First, every woman and girl in all their diversities must have access to survivor centered and survivor led support. UNFPA's women at the Centre program is a key example. Ensuring that services are rights based, survivor led and accessible to the most marginalized. Second, every case worker must have the tools, training and support to respond effectively.