News

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The campaign, which was also aimed at raising increased awareness of UNFPA's mission, was launched with a press conference and debate; the event took place on 26 November 2007 at the Hotel School of Lausanne (Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne – EHL).

The poster designed for the campaign illustrates one of the many forms of violence committed against the female population of various countries: early marriage. From the end of November to the end of December 2007, this poster was widely advertised in public transports (busses) and cinema screens (cinepicture) of the four university towns located in the French speaking part of Switzerland: Geneva, Lausanne, Fribourg and Neuchâtel.

The selection of these towns, as well as the decision to hold the 26 November event at the EHL, arose from the willingness to reach a high proportion of youth – as they will be the ones to shape tomorrow's society and values.

Early marriage, its causes and consequences, represent a means to address the broad topic of violence against women from a specific perspective – and furthermore pave the way for introducing a more global approach to the violation of girls' and women's rights, wherever they live.

The press conference and debate of 26 November were facilitated by Ms Renata Libal, editor of the weekly magazine Femina.

From right to left : Ms Christine Magistretti, IFPD Chair of the Board, Dr Bertrand Piccard, Ms Siri Tellier, Ms Cristina Marich, IFPD General Secretary.

The contributors included:

• Ms Siri Tellier, Director of the UNFPA Office in Geneva
• Dr Bertrand Piccard, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador for Switzerland
• Ms Jacqueline Thibault, Chair of the SURGIR Foundation in Lausanne
• Ms Saskia Marx, International Trade Centre (UNCTAD/WTO)), ex-student of the EHL
• Mr Alphonse MacDonald, Former Senior United Nations Official and member of IFPD's Board of Trustees

INTERNATIONAL NORTH SOUTH MEDIA FESTIVAL

The International North South Media Festival (www.nordsud.ch) is a yearly event that promotes north south exchanges, and tackles today's challenges in a spirit of open-mindedness. It takes place in Geneva and brings together international experts in the fields of media, economics, development and politics, who devote themselves to analyzing fundamental issues at stake for the world's future.

In 2007, the 23rd edition of the Festival took place from to 2 to 6 October and focused on the topic: India, a future world power – its development, its culture, its society, its influence on the rest of the world.

Among the many events of the Festival, a round table was organised to discuss the status of Indian women.

As IFPD gathered extensive experience in this matter through the WIN (Women of India Network) project, Christine Magistretti, IFPD's Chair, was asked to participate in the round table together with several other women, mostly Indian, whose contributions illustrated the manifold challenges faced by India's female population.

From left to right:
– Isabelle Milbert, Professor, IUED, Geneva
– Christine Magistretti, Chair, IFPD
– Kavita Joshi, Impulse films, New Dehli (India)

From left to right:
– Poojita Chowdhury, Filmmaker, Hyderabad (India)
– Aruna Roy, Social Activist, India
– Kaveri Haritas, Lawyer, Geneva
– Mr Jean-Philippe Rapp, Director, International North South Media Festival

During the Festival, several reports dealing with India were broadcasted on Swiss television.

The WIN project and IFPD were thus mentioned in a chronicle shown in the news of 3 October 2007 on the national TV channel TSR (Télévision Suisse Romande); the document includes a short interview of Dr Ramesh Potdar, co-founder of the WIN project and honorary president of CSSC (Centre for the Study of Social Change), IFPD's partner organisation in India.

To view the report (only in French):

www.tsr.ch/tsr