High-level Meeting on the occasion of the Fifth…

Established in response to the alarming levels in domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Group of Friends for Eliminating Violence against Women and Girls celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. The Group convenes in a global context that has fundamentally changed in the past five years. An upsurge in conflict, growing resource constraints, a pushback on gender equality, shrinking civil society space, and new threats emerging in the digital sphere all risk undermining the hard-earned advances of the past decades.

The fifth anniversary of the Group of Friends provides an opportunity to take stock of progress, reaffirm political commitments, and galvanise renewed action to prevent and end all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG). The event will showcase successful approaches and provide a forum for exchanging best practices. In addition, the discussion will demonstrate how investments in policies and programs to eliminate VAWG catalyse transformative impact for gender equality and women's empowerment, as well as for societies as a whole.