United Nations Country Team of Nepal together with Gender Equality and Social inclusion Working Group of international development partners in partnership with all seven Provincial Assemblies is organizing an awareness raising event to kick start the 16 days of activism against Gender-based Violence Campaign. The event will take place on 25 November.

To mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, all Provincial Assembly Buildings will be turned into an orange.

This year’s theme of the campaign is “Orange the World: #HearMeToo. The unofficial translation of slogan from the Government of Nepal is “Gender-Based Violence and harassment is unacceptable to us.

Remarks from the speakers along with representatives from UN Agencies and Development Partners will be given during the event. Following the event, the Provincial Assembly buildings will be lit up in orange, the official color of the UNiTE campaign, symbolizing hope and a country free of violence against women and girls.

About 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign which takes place each year. It commences on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day. It was originated by activists at the first Women's Global Leadership Institute in 1991 and is coordinated each year by the Center for Women's Global Leadership. It is used as an organizing strategy by individuals and organizations around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.

In support of this civil society initiative, under the leadership of the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women Campaign (UNiTE) calls for global action to increase awareness, galvanize advocacy efforts and share knowledge and innovations. In recent years, the UNiTE campaign has utilized the color orange to represent a brighter future, free from violence against women and girls, as a unifying theme running through its global activities. In Nepal, the UN Country Team (UNCT) has marked the campaign during the past years, including ‘oranging’ of Patan Durbar Square (2016) and Lumbini (2017).