Kabul, 16 December
The Ministry of Public Health along with Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and the World Health Organization observed the end of annual 16 days of activism campaign against gender based violence (GBV) on Human Rights Day, 10th December 2017.
The 16 days campaign is a global movement which aims to highlight the effects of gender based violence on society and individuals and invite organizations and individuals globally to tackle the problem.
Dr. Shafirullah Haqmal (WHO) speaking at the Human Rights Day event
The event was attended by 300 members of different institutions and stakeholder groups, and marked the launch of the second phase of the GBV treatment protocol created by WHO and the Ministry of Public Healthwhich is used currently in 14 provinces.
Dr. Shafirullah Haqmal, who represented WHO at the event, recognized the importance of the campaign and noted in his speech that “globally WHO estimates that one woman experiences gender-based violence every 18 seconds. Out of 10 victims of GBV, 3 die due the violence”.
Dr. Haqmal also presented the participants with a five year comprehensive program developed by the WHO Afghanistan country office in cooperation with MoPH to train 6,500 healthcare providers on GBV Treatment Protocol in 34 provinces. The aim is to further ensure a high quality of services to GBV survivors across the country.