Tomorrow, March 8 2007, will be observed worldwide as International Women’s Day. The theme chosen this year by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is ‘Ending Impunity for Violence against Women and Girls”.

Through its operations to relieve hunger around the world, WFP sees first hand how a lack of adequate food often creates situations in which women and girls are vulnerable to all forms of violence. Violence may be an isolated episode, but more often it is sustained and severe abuse.

According to reports from WFP, Sheila Sisulu, WFP’s Deputy Executive Director said “when we work towards a world free from hunger, we must also work to eliminate the terrible problems alongside it, poverty, illiteracy, conflict, fear, and of course, gender violence”. The report added It is unacceptable that women and girls are the victims of violence which, while not a new problem has become a new weapon of choice because it alienates and injures, debases, demoralises, dehumanises and yes, kills. Not only women and girls, but the entire communities.

“All WFP’s efforts will, however, be achieved no lasting impact without the awareness, cooperation and support of men. Eliminating violence against women is not the responsibility of one gender, it is the responsibility of both and WFP is committed to incorporating both men and women into its programmes towards that goal,” Sisula said.

She added that WFP has found that while men are more often the perpetrators of violence against women and girls, other men frequently suffer the effects of violent behaviour. “Male refugees have expressed feelings of helplessness and humiliation at the repeated attacks against their wives, daughters, sisters and mothers. These men can be vital participants in helping to change attitudes towards gender discrimination and violence” she urged.

WFP for several years has marked International Women’s Day as a means of drawing attention to the plight of the organisation’s prime beneficiaries. This year, a variety of events are being staged in WFP regional bureaux and country offices, including a panel discussion in WFP’s Rome Headquarters.

It could be recalled that, WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian agency and each year, they give food to an average of 90 million poor people to meet their nutritional needs, including 58 million hungry children, in at least 80 of the world’s poorest countries.