News
Youth Say NO to Violence against Women in Thailand
Date: 19 May 2009
Udon Thani — Following the collection of over three million signatures in Thailand for the Say NO to Violence against Women campaign, UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha on 18 May launched the school-based Youth Say NO to Violence against Women programme, organized by UNIFEM in collaboration with the Office of the Basic Education Commission (OBEC), the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice.
Preceding the launch, over 200 students and teachers from eight public schools across Thailand gathered in Udon Thani for a three-day gender sensitivity training on 15-17 May. During the course of the training, the students developed their own action plan on making gender equality and ending violence against women a theme in existing school-based activities. It is envisaged that student-led and youth-focused actions in the eight pilot schools will subsequently be replicated in other schools throughout the country, under OBEC supervision, and ultimately be part of the official curriculum.
At the launching ceremony, students from the pilot schools reported on the outcomes of the workshop to HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha, who works as an assistant public prosecutor in Udon Thani province and recently received an Award of Recognition from the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime for her work to promote prison reform and the humane treatment of female prisoners. “I am extremely pleased to launch the Youth Say NO to Violence Against Women programme,” said Princess Bajrakitiyabha. “I will monitor the programme closely and I wish you all the best in this endeavor.”
“Our students hold the world of today and tomorrow in their hands – to shape for better or for worse. If you students commit yourselves now to stop violence against women and girls and all human and living beings, you will be building humane, wholesome and sustainable communities,” said Dr. Jean D’Cunha, UNIFEM Regional Programme Director for East and Southeast Asia.
Mrs. Kasama Varavarn, Secretary-General of OBEC, added that the workshop and programme launch represented a meaningful start of the partnership with UNIFEM. To begin with, OBEC staff along with its schools, teachers and youth constituted a critical mass in implementing activities to raise awareness on gender equality and ending violence against women and girls.
