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UN links violence against women to hunger
2007-03-08 09:31:59
By Guardian Reporter
The United Nations and the World Food programme has called on the society at large to stop violence against women.
A statement issued in Dar es Slaam yesterday by the Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) Sheila Sisulu said ending impunity for violence against women and girls was the theme chosen by the UN and the WFP for commemorating today`s International Women`s Day.
He said through WFP operations to relieve hunger around the world, WFP sees first hand how a lack of adequate food often creates situations in which women and girls are vulnerable to all forms of violence.
`When we work towards a world free from hunger, we must also work to eliminate the terrible problems alongside its poverty, illiteracy, conflict, fear, and of course, gender violence,` says Sisulu,
Sisulu added that it was unacceptable that women and girls were victims of violence which, while not a new problem, had become a new weapon of choice because it alienates, debase, demoralize, dehumanize and kills not only women and girls but the entire society.
Sisulu said that projects and programming that help reduce women`s exposure to violence and assist in their recovery were already in place and continued to be improved at WFP offices worldwide.
`For example in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WFP provides food aid to women hospitalized due to sexual assault; this allows them sufficient time to make a medical and psychological recovery, said the Deputy Executive Director.
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