VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTU #0886 3360642
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 020642Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7044
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS TUNIS 000886 
 
SIPDIS 
 
S/GWI FOR BENNETT AND GHORI; ALSO FOR NEA/MAG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KWMN KPAO PHUM TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIAN RESPONSE TO INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION 
OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND THE "16-DAY CAMPAIGN" 
 
Ref:  STATE 120322 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  This cable is in response to the Department's 
request for Post to organize  activities and initiatives in honor of 
the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women 
(IDEVAW) on November 25 and the "16-day Campaign."  To commemorate 
this day, Embassy Tunis has highlighted the IDEVAW on its website, 
is working with a regional NGO and a women's organization to 
increase attention to the issue of violence against women, and has 
adapted IIP's op-ed for placement in the Tunisian press.  Tunisia 
has a long tradition of supporting women's rights in the modern era 
and thus is a favorable climate for the Embassy to promote the 
IDEVAW.    End summary 
 
¶2. (SBU).  In honor of the IDEVAW, Embassy Tunis created a new 
section of its trilingual website to focus on women's issues.  This 
area, http://tunisia.usembassy.gov/policy/women.htm l, features 
important speeches made by the President and the Secretary voicing 
their strident opposition to violence against women, information and 
background about the work of the United Nations Populations Fund 
(UNFPA) and other international organizations to combat 
gender-related violence, and calls attention to the work of Tunisian 
activists and organizations that support and defend women's rights 
and freedoms. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Embassy Tunis is working with the Center of Arab Women for 
Training and Research (CAWTAR), a regional non-governmental 
organization, to publicize the organization's mission of increasing 
women's empowerment in the Arab world and to develop future programs 
and trainings between the Embassy and the organization. 
Additionally, the Information Officer meets monthly with a group of 
women involved in the development field in the private and public 
sectors in Tunisia that puts a specific focus on raising awareness 
about global women's issues. 
¶4. (SBU) Embassy Tunis will seek placement for an op-ed under the 
name of the Ambassador calling attention to the right of women to be 
free from gender-based violence and honoring the IDEVAW and the 
"16-Day Campaign" in local media outlets.  Because of its history of 
supporting women's rights and freedoms, Tunisia is a favorable 
environment in which to publicize the importance of the IDEVAW.  The 
Tunisian government observed the IDEVAW on November 25th and put out 
an official statement in support of women's rights: 
http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/?p=29893.  Additionally, the 
Tunisian First Lady has taken a personal interest in the rights of 
women and said last week that elimination of violence against women 
is a civil, social, and moral obligation. 
 
DESJARDINS