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Respect The Brightest Light campaign 2023
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Report on the 16-Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence 2023

Campaign Overview

 

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) is an international campaign held every year from 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) to 10 December (Human Rights Day). Its focus is the most widespread violation of human rights – the violence against women and girls.

This Campaign has been organized internationally since 1991 and aims to raise awareness and engage the public to end GBV and other harmful practices against women and girls. The 16 Days Campaign was first held in Mongolia in 1997 by the National Center Against Violence, a pioneering NGO with more than 25 years of experience in the field.  Over the years, many government, non-government and development partners, UN agencies, including UNFPA, and other civil society organizations (CSOs) also joined the initiative to further amp up the effort to end GBV in the country.

The UNFPA Mongolia Country Office has taken the lead to coordinate the Campaign nationwide each year since 2018. This year, UNFPA Mongolia CO, acting as a lead organizer, coordinated the activities of partner organizations which included the line Ministries, Government and UN agencies, Development Partners, NGOs, and CSOs.

This year’s Campaign, in line with UNITE 2023, an event created by the UN Secretary General, focused on the importance of investing in RESPECT framework, an evidence-based prevention strategy published and endorsed by UN agencies to end violence against women and girls.

Campaign Theme, Target Audience, and Strategy

Organized to align with the UNITE 2023 campaign and the theme, “Invest to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls”, the partners developed the branding and campaign title “RESPECT the Brightest Light”. The proposed key messages were #investinrespect, #respectwomenandgirls, #endviolenceagainstwomenandgirls #unitetoendviolence. However, all participating organizations were able to formulate their own key messages and develop their content around the theme to reach their specific target audience.

The 2023 Campaign employed both traditional and innovative strategies to amplify the reach of the interventions by the participating organizations. The main target audience of this year’s campaign was the public at large, men and boys, civil servants, UN agencies, and most importantly, young people, especially university students as they are the future leaders and change agents of the country.

The Campaign's various contents were developed and delivered through traditional media channels, social media channels, events, discussions, and competition among young people. A new and innovative strategy employed this year piloted the development of Campaign visual content by the students of the arts and cultural universities through the Education Entertainment Initiative.

 

Key Activities and Results

  • Official Launch of 16 Days Activism Campaign: The National Committee on Gender Equality (NCGE) organized a press conference on Friday, November 24 to officially launch the Campaign. High level officials including Mr. D. Tsogtbaatar, MP and Chair of Parliament Standing Committee on Justice, Ms. Kh. Bulgantuya, MP and Minister for Labour and Social Protection, Mr. Evariste Kouassi-Komlan, UNRC a.i, and Ms. N. Arvintaria, Director of the National Center against Violence provided the opening speeches. The press conference was moderated by Ms. T. Enkhbayar, Secretary and Head of Secretariat of the National Committee on Gender Equality. The event was attended by more than 50 representatives from government and non-government organizations, diplomatic missions, development partners and UN agencies, and media. This demonstrates the high political commitment to ending GBV in the country. MP Tsogtbaatar said that it is important for Parliament to have an internal structure that consults on gender equality issues and monitors the implementation of relevant legal framework. Minister Bulgantuya emphasized the importance of men’s and boys’ engagement as essential to combating GBV, underscoring how crucial it is to establish men’s centers in all provinces and districts. Furthermore, the UN joint statement was delivered by acting UNRC which called on everyone to invest in the prevention of GBV and reaffirm the commitment and dedication by UN Mongolia in ensuring that all spaces are safer for women and girls so they may fully enjoy their rights.
  • Development Partner Meeting: The development partners meeting, organized by NCGE, was attended by heads and representatives of international organizations and diplomatic missions, including the EU, World Bank, US Embassy, UNDP, and UNFPA. Topics of discussion were the importance of addressing the root causes of GBV, the power dynamics between men and women, harmful social norms and stereotypes. All parties agreed on the need to continuously invest and organize advocacy and awareness-raising interventions to ensure women and girls are able to exercise their rights and contribute to the country’s social, political, and economic development.
  • Mobilization of Stakeholders at the National and Subnational Level to Join the 16 Days Campaign: NCGE officially informed and mobilized all provinces, districts, line ministries, agencies, NGOs and CSOs to join the Campaign. As a result, 249 central and local government and non-government organizations, provinces, schools, and kindergartens took part. Simultaneously UNFPA led the mobilization of development partners and UN agencies. All organizations joining the Campaign expressed their commitment to the prevention of violence against women and girls. Furthermore, NCGE developed a series of videos on different forms of GBV, their consequences and the importance of prevention and response to disseminate accurate information and raise awareness of the issue.
  • Edutainment Initiative Among Students: The Coordination Council for Crime Prevention (CCCP) organized an edutainment initiative on preventing and responding to GBV among students with future artists from six arts and cultural universities through competition. CCCP announced the competition among the universities and organized a series of discussions and sensitization training for teachers and students about principles of gender equality, GBV, and its consequences, the importance of their contribution, and developing the sensitive content depicting GBV. As a result, a total of 36 campaign contents on GBV were developed, and, most importantly, the understanding and knowledge of the students was increased as evidenced through the contents developed and performances presented during the last phase of the competition.
  • Public Awareness Raising by National Police Agency: While these interventions were running, the National Police Agency collaborated with professional studios and social influencers to develop and disseminate the awareness raising content for the public. One of the innovative approaches applied and tested was to develop videos and short, 60 seconds reels for social media channels. In an effort to appeal to the feelings of the target audience, the use of government or UN agency logos was avoided.  A total of 27 contents were developed and disseminated through Facebook reel, pages of the NPA and participating actors and influencers, as well as through public spaces such as streets, apartments, supermarkets, convenience stores, public transportation, and cinemas. As a result, the reporting of domestic violence cases to police was increased by 20% compared to same period last year within the campaign duration, which indicates an increase in awareness and understanding.
  • Health Sector Involvement by the Ministry of Health: The Ministry of Health (MOH) organized a TV discussion on the elimination of violence against women and girls through Mongol HD channel. Key stakeholders, including MOH, MOLSP, MOES and CCCP, took part in the discussion. Participants shared the actions taken by their respective agencies and all agreed on the importance in accelerating the joint actions with strong coordination and synergy in policies and strategies. MOH also developed a draft of a 5-year action plan to strengthen the health sector response to GBV based on the recommendations of the readiness assessment. Furthermore, a training on healthcare management of GBV was conducted, during which the gender-responsive budgeting was introduced. 75 healthcare managers, hospital accountants and health service providers attended the training, which was conducted by the consultant who specialized in health financing and gender activists in the country. 
  • UN Mongolia’s Commitment Towards Ending GBV: the UN Country team in Mongolia prepared a joint statement for the Campaign and posted it through respective agencies’ websites and social media channels. The joint statement reiterated the united commitment towards ending GBV.
  • Awareness Raising through Sports: Using sports as a platform to raise awareness about GBV can be a powerful and effective strategy. Therefore, UN agencies in Mongolia organized the Sports Day event to commemorate the 16 days Campaign. Over 100 staff members of the resident and non-resident UN agencies joined the event to express their commitment and solidarity to the cause of addressing GBV.
  • Discussion on Social Norms and Stereotypes that Perpetuate VAW: UNDP Mongolia, in collaboration with the National University of Mongolia, organized an engaging discussion and workshop titled, “Addressing root causes of violence against women and girls: Social Norms and Stereotypes”. The event aimed to raise awareness on harmful gender biases, social norms and stereotypes that perpetuate the violence against women and girls and featured distinguished guests and experts who shared their perspectives and best practices with the students on combating gender-based violence in Mongolia. The event mobilized academic, government, diplomatic and non-governmental officials in an active and constructive discussion around social norms and stereotypes in Mongolia.  The interactive workshop allowed the students to participate beyond the audience role and encouraged them to engage proactively on the issues surrounding gender-based discrimination. UNFPA Mongolia joined as the panelists and described the GBV situation in Mongolia and the challenges and opportunities in the country to improve the current situation.  
  • Sensitization for Future Health Service Providers: UNFPA Mongolia organized the discussion among lecturers and students at the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences on the role of the health system in GBV prevention and response. The talk covered the current prevalence of GBV, including intimate partner violence and sexual violence globally in the Asia-Pacific and Mongolia, and explained the important role health professionals play in the response to GBV, as health facilities often serve as the trusted, first entry point for the victims of violence. The discussion was enriched with the significance of integrating GBV issues into the pre-service training curriculum which will equip future health care providers with the knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary to respond to GBV within the health sector.
  • Priority Actions Identified: A crucial intervention organized by UNFPA Mongolia was the dissemination of the results of the in-depth analysis of risk factors of partner violence. The primary data was derived from a 2017 National GBV survey conducted in collaboration with the National Statistics Office (NSO) of Mongolia with support from UNFPA APRO. The findings of the analysis were presented to the relevant stakeholders, and policy recommendations were discussed during the consultation with high-level decision makers to further strengthen the GBV prevention and response in the country. The recommendations are:

 

  • ONE: Develop and implement the National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence in Mongolia 2024-2030 with evidence-informed strategies to enhance response, accelerate the implementation of the legal framework, prevent violence before it occurs, and continue to build the evidence base for Mongolia.
    • The Plan will support multi-sectoral coordination and implementation and has been informed by a stakeholder mapping exercise.
    • The National Action Plan will be fully costed and budgeted. 
  • TWO: Further strengthen multi-sectoral prevention and survivor-centered response to GBV, particularly actors in health and education who play a key role. Ensure all actors lead by example with clear policies and procedures to prevent and respond to GBV in the workplace.
  • THREE: Develop an integrated approach to GBV data collection, analysis, and use, including conducting a regular national prevalence survey. Build research capacity to produce evidence for the Mongolian context and strengthen the capacity of national stakeholders to interpret and apply the findings in policies and programmes.
  • FOUR: Institutionalize GBV content into the education curricula at all levels of educational institutions and programmes. Ensure that the national general education curriculum incorporates comprehensive sexuality education, including specific components on GBV prevention and response.
  • FIVE: Develop a road map for the acceleration of SDG5. As the root cause of gender-based violence, achieving gender equality is inextricably linked to ending GBV. The road map will situate the strategies to end GBV in the broader work to achieve gender equality in all areas of life. It will support government institutions, donors, development partners, UN in Mongolia, private sector, civil society, and communities to meaningfully contribute to the realization of Gender Equality in Mongolia by 2030.

The latter discussion was organized at the Government House and facilitated by Ms. Ts. Munkhtsetseg, MP and Chair of Human rights sub-committee, Mr. B. Batdavaa, Chairman of NSO, and attended by government and non-government organizations, development partners, UN agencies, and media.

 

Conclusion

In conclusion, organizing a joint campaign for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is a powerful and impactful initiative that brings together diverse stakeholders to raise awareness and take collective action against GBV. The success of such a campaign is contingent upon effective planning, collaboration, and sustained efforts.    

Overall, the 2023 campaign reached over 8 million views throughout the 16 days of its rollout. Success was evidenced in the strong commitment and united effort that was observed. Considerable political commitment to end GBV was exhibited in the engagement of high-level decision makers.  Strong commitment to a united effort by all attending is anticipated, marking the Campaign a success.