Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the EU on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
- On: 25.11.2008
Sixty years have elapsed since the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris on 10 December 1948. This founding text clearly states that "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights" and that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in the Declaration, without distinction of any kind, including sex. However, the status of women currently remains one of the major challenges to the implementation of the universality of human rights. Women throughout the world in fact face discrimination which prevents the full realisation of their rights and their potential, and exposes them to violence of all kinds – both domestic or family violence and violence generated by conflict situations. The defence of women's rights is a fight which is unfortunately highly topical, for example in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where tens of thousands of women have been and continue to be victims of rape.
For many years now, the European Union has been committed to the promotion and respect of women's rights and to the fight against violence against women. In the United Nations, it has supported and continues to give active support to a large number of resolutions and actions in favour of the universal acknowledgement of women's rights. Every year since 2006, the European Union has co-sponsored a resolution of the UN General Assembly aiming to combat violence against women, which represents a major development. The EU welcomed the adoption in June 2008 of resolution 1820 on "Women and peace and security", eight years after the adoption of resolution 1325, which explicitly acknowledges that sexual violence during armed conflicts may constitute a real weapon of war, and that it may be an obstacle to the restoration of international peace and security. The EU is firmly committed to applying both these resolutions.
In this context, an international conference was held on 10 October 2008 by the French Presidency, in cooperation with UNIFEM, on the topic of the security and protection of women in conflict and post-conflict situations. Specific recommendations emerged from the discussions, in favour of strengthening the implementation of Security Council resolutions 1325 and 1820 in the EU's ESDP operations. The EU has thus undertaken to draw up a global EU policy on the protection and the role of women in conflict and post-conflict situations.
Furthermore, this year the EU decided to draw up new guidelines dedicated to combating violence against women and all kinds of discrimination against them, which will lay down the criteria for EU intervention in women's rights and will specifically guide the work of mobilisation and vigilance of the European Commission delegations and the diplomatic network of all the EU Member States. The adoption of guidelines on violence against women shows the EU's clear political will to make the issue of women's rights a priority.
Unfortunately, no region of the world is spared by violence against women. The EU has implemented a large number of policies and programmes to combat such violence, which still remains all too frequent in Europe.
The European Union is convinced that women have played and continue to play an essential role in the positive development of societies. It therefore intends to intensify action to combat violence against women in the world, by pursuing three inseparable aims: the prevention of violence, protection and support for victims, and combating the impunity of perpetrators of violence.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia and Georgia align themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
- Updated: 26.12.2008
