Since Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women began on 6 November 2009, the global movement to stop violence against women and girls has only continued to grow. Diverse groups have taken a wide variety of actions—agreeing on new service standards, passing laws, engaging people to lend their voices and commitment, and speaking out to break the silence.

To celebrate the second anniversary of Say NO - UNiTE, we are highlighting a few actions from the past two years, taken by governments, activists and the UN system. The list is not comprehensive. It serves mainly to remind us all of how much we can do, and why we must continue to say NO to violence against women and girls!

2011

The Council of Europe adopts an historic convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. A landmark human rights treaty, it is the first legally binding instrument to protect all women in Europe against all forms of violence.

•  El Salvador opens the first centre in Latin America to offer comprehensive services to economically and socially empower women, covering healthcare access, support for survivors of violence, daycare and job training.

• Survivors of sexual violence from across Africa speak of their personal experiences and put forward recommendations for action at the African Union Peace and Security Council’s Second Open Session on Sexual Violence, Women and Children in Armed Conflict.

• The Caribbean Ombudsmen Association, representatives of police forces and local service providers agree on a protocol for protecting survivors of gender-based violence to be piloted in four Caribbean countries.

• On the fifth anniversary of the Maria da Penha Law on Domestic and Family Violence, the National Council of Justice of Brazil collects data showing positive results: more than 331,000 prosecutions and 110,000 final judgments, and nearly two million calls to the Service Center for Women.

• Coinciding with the commemoration of the United Nation’s first International Widow’s Day, UN Women launches a project in Rwanda to provide legal and medical services to widows who survived the 1994 genocide, especially those with HIV and AIDS. Many acquired the virus through rape.

• At the 10th All Africa Games, the UN Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign mobilizes 5,000 athletes to stand up for women’s rights.

• Men and women of the Brazilian delegation to the 5th Military World Games join the UN Secretary-General’s global UNITE to End Violence against Women campaign, and call on people everywhere to take the same step. Watch related videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/SayNoToViolence#grid/user/774FDC79CDF67DF2

• UNICEF, UN-HABITAT and UN Women launch “Safe and Friendly Cities for All,” a five-year programme to help women and children feel safer in their local neighbourhoods and improve their quality of life.

• The UN Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 1983 recognizing the importance of UN peacekeeping operations in responding to HIV and AIDS in conflict and post-conflict situations. UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon urges all UN Member States to link efforts to combat HIV and AIDS with campaigns against sexual violence and for the rights of women.

• The Spanish Government and UN Women carry out the second round of the Tu voz cuenta (“Your voice counts”) campaign, coinciding with November 25th, the International Day to End Violence against Women. It highlights the crucial role played by women’s rights advocates, particularly in the Arab countries.

• Serbia passes the first National Strategy for Prevention and Elimination of Violence against Women in the Family and in Intimate Partner Relationships.

• Nepal adopts a National Action Plan on women, peace and security, making it the first country in South Asia and the second in Asia to do so. The plan is based on UN Security Council resolutions 1325 and 1820.

• Ecuador strengthens a public budget tool to monitor state investments in gender equality and women’s access to justice in cases of gender-based violence.

• The Palestinian Cabinet endorses a nine-year national strategic plan to combat violence against women in the occupied Palestinian territory. It is developed in close consultation with women’s organizations, civil society, community organizations, private sector, ministries and women refugees, making it the first of its kind in the Arab region.

• Morocco conducts its first national survey on violence against women, finding that approximately 60 percent of Moroccan women have experienced some form of violence recently and a quarter of them sexual violence in their lifetime.

• Religions for Peace launches youth-led campaign, “Religious Youth Say NO to Violence against Women,” in Argentina, India, Philippines and Uganda.

2010

• The first Open Days on women, peace and security bring women activists together with senior UN officials to voice their concerns and demands for inclusive peace processes, underlining the need for better implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325. Related videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/SayNoToViolence#g/c/ADCA721A3AB3DA2F

• The Avon Foundation for Women partners with Vital Voices and the US Department of State to launch The Global Partnership to End Violence Against Women. It creates public-private partnerships to reduce violence against women through pilot programs in 15 countries around the world.

• Bolivia adopts its Jurisdictional Law, specifying that all jurisdictions in the country’s legal system must prohibit and punish all forms of violence against children, adolescents and women.

• As part of a mass national Say NO campaign in Thailand championed by UN Women Goodwill Ambassador Princess Bajrakitiyabha, over 73,000 people take part in training programmes organized by provincial public prosecutors across the country. Teachers, students, civil servants and local residents learned about laws that govern their lives, including on domestic violence.

• The African Union declares 2010–2020 the African Women’s Decade, with governments agreeing to accelerate implementation of gender equality commitments resulting in positive changes for African women at all levels and contributing to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

• The UNiTE campaign rolls out in Southern Africa and kicks off its Asia-Pacific regional campaign.

• More than 1 million actions are registered on Say NO - UNiTE.

• Breakthrough and Equal Access, two organizations from South Asia assisted by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, win awards and global recognition at the prestigious Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival and the U.K. One World Media Special Awards. Both groups conducted innovative outreach campaigns to mobilize popular audiences against violence.

• Colombia passes the Land Restitution and Victim’s Law as part of transitional justice, providing relief to women especially from indigenous and Afrodescendant communities that have been disproportionately affected by internal armed conflict.

• The National Parliament in Timor-Leste adopts a long-awaited law on domestic violence, the most common form of gender-based violence reported to the police.

• 12 African countries sign the Kigali Declaration on the Role of Security Organs, affirming their commitment to ensure these institutions fully support justice and services for survivors of violence.

• In the United Kingdom, the JAN Trust begins collaborating with faith leaders to reinforce the message that forced marriages are condemned in religion, attracting widespread media coverage. Almost all forced marriages take place in Asian communities.

• Believing Women for a Culture of Peace, based in Australia, issues a multi-faith toolkit addressing violence, “Flying with Two Wings.”

•  In Acholiland in Northern Uganda, the Acholi Paramount Chief, His Highness Rwot David Onen Ocana, pronounces himself against any practices within his chiefdom that promoted gender-based violence. The Acholi Principles on Gender and Sexual Relations were issued as a set of cultural norms compiled through consultations with chiefs, traditional leaders, opinion-makers and the general Acholi population.

2009

• Baguio City in the Philippines begins a series of men’s summits to galvanize men in saying no to violence.

• Mongolia adopts standards for shelters to protect women survivors of violence.

• Six countries of the Andean region join the UNiTE campaign. Government officials, UN representatives, civil society leaders and community members take part in launch events that included planting trees to symbolize a long term, and growing, commitment to ending violence against women, involving every single member of society.

• The UNiTE campaign launches in West Africa.

• Taijikistan’s National Federation of Taekwondo calls for zero tolerance for violence, and urges its athletes to support that goal. Promoting these messages at international tournaments by 2011 leads the International Federation of Taekwondo to issue a global call to end violence. The African Taekwondo Association has embarked on a similar campaign.

• The global advocacy initiative Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women begins to stimulate and showcase actions on ending violence against women, aiming to demonstrate the groundswell of support on the issue.

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