Thank you, Mr President.
Let me thank you, Special Rapporteur for your leadership on this critical agenda. Ending the pandemic of violence against women and girls has never been more important. And, as my Ukrainian colleague has just reminded us, in typically eloquent terms, the most horrific acts of violence are being perpetrated right now in Ukraine against women and girls.
We agree on the importance of collecting comprehensive disaggregated data on the prevalence, magnitude and forms of violence against indigenous women and girls.
The UK’s flagship research programme, ‘What Works to Prevent Violence’, shows that interventions tackling values and behaviours – in homes, in schools, and in communities – can achieve significant reductions in violence against women and girls – indeed, it has almost halved the levels of violence. Last year, we were proud to launch the next phase, which will invest almost 70 million pounds in scaling up interventions and pioneering new innovative approaches to address the specific needs of those at the greatest risk of violence, such as women with disabilities and those in conflict and crisis.
So, Special Rapporteur,
How do we better ensure gender-based violence prevention and response interventions are evidence-based in their response to the unique challenges faced by the most marginalised women?
Thank you.