UN relief chief underlines "epidemic of sexual violence" against women and girls

Women in Sudan participate in the launch of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, joined by UN humanitarian leaders who reaffirmed the campaign's message of solidarity and support: “You Are Not Alone.” Photo OCHA/Matteo Minasi

Remarks at launch event for ‘16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence’ Tom Fletcher, by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

Algharbya School, Port Sudan, Sudan,
25 November 2024

As delivered

I’m hearing your story loud and clear and it is a story that needs to be heard by the world. It is your voices, not my voice, that we need the world to hear. When we say you are not alone, we mean this: You are not alone.

I know from hearing your stories that what you have endured as a community of women and girls is beyond anything that I can understand or anything that I can explain to the world. And as a representative of the world coming to join you today and being welcomed by you today, I feel ashamed that we have not been able to protect you, and I feel ashamed for my fellow men for what they have done.

We know that it is not just here in Sudan that women and girls are enduring these atrocities. This is happening across the world. This is an epidemic – an epidemic of violence against girls and women. One in three have experienced sexual violence, and this is completely unacceptable.

We have to do better, we must do better. We must make sure that these words, ‘you are not alone,’ are not just words that people say into a microphone when they visit you, but they become the core of our work.

My commitment to you, my promise to you, and not just the people in the fancy chairs, but the people with us today and the people out there who do feel alone – my commitment to you from the heart is this:

We will make sure that your voices are at the heart of everything we do.
We will do more to support the local community organizations who are acting with such courage to take on this epidemic of sexual violence. I know that it is those organizations, those NGOs, those community groups, who are leading the response.
We will take your stories, we will take your messages, and we will make sure that the world hears you. We will demand that the world responds with support and with funding and with genuine partnership and recognition.

My final message is actually to my fellow men:

Firstly, men have got to be out there supporting your work. We have got to get out of the way and give you the power so that you can win this campaign, that you can win these arguments.

So for those men who are here supporting you, I salute that, and I say, where are the rest? Come and join us in this effort to support women and girls in standing up against sexual violence.

For the men who are carrying out the sexual violence, I say: If you think you are doing this because you are strong, you are wrong. You are doing this because you are weak.

We are together, and we will get this message out there, and we will support you. I want to thank you for your courage, for your inspiration and for your leadership. Shokran.