There is more news about religion, politics, and the United Nations. This past Thursday, Religions for Peace launched a new partnership with UNIFEM (the UN Development Fund for Women) “to engage communities of faith around the world to lead efforts to end violence against women.” Part of this cooperation entailed signing on to the “Say NO to Violence against Women Campaign.” According to the Say NO factsheet, the economic costs of intimate partner violence in the U.S. exceeds 5.8 billion USD per year. $4.1 billion are for medical services, while almost $1.8 billion are lost in productivity. The Secretary-General of Religions for Peace said that “people of faith around the world believe that it is a moral responsibility to end violence against women.” The Say No to Violence campaign is part of the UN Secretary General's global campaign UNiTE to End Violence Against Women, which runs until 2015. These ambitions are also directly linked to Millenium Development Goal #3, which promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women.
Now, UNIFEM is hoping to collect one million signatures through its SAY NO website.