Mohamed Naciri, regional director of UN Women—Arab states/North Africa, said that one of the UN's priorities and roles is to support member states, civil society, and women and girls, specifically to empower women, including the pursuit of a world in which women and girls live without violence. This came during the ceremony that was organised by the UN regional office for women in Arab countries, on the occasion of launching the 16 days of activism to eliminate violence against women under the overarching theme, "Leave No One Behind – End Violence against Women and Girls." Furthermore, the campaign uses innovative methods for the first time in the Arab world this year to end this epidemic that affects one billion women around the world, said Naciri. He added that the 16 days would see the announcement of the results of The International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES). The first of its kind and size, the study was prepared by UN Women, in collaboration with Brazilian NGO Instituto Promundo and it covers four countries, namely Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, and Palestine. Moreover, the 16 days will witness the launching of "Because I Am a Man" campaign. Naciri explained that the campaign invites men to participate in the empowerment of women and gender equality. "This campaign was launched by our program ‘Men and Women for Gender Equality'," said Naciri. The 16 days of activism will witness launching the global campaign "HeForShe" in the Arab region. In another context, the 16 days of activism also includes the launching of an "edit-a-thon" under the title "Her Story", an initiative that aims to integrate volunteers into writing about inspirational female characters and address women's issues on Wikipedia, in an effort to introduce the world to women's contributions. Meanwhile, the "Leave No One Behind" campaign will feature many events across Arab countries, including featuring orange lights on iconic buildings around the world to call for a future free of violence, in addition to media campaigns, marches, and concerts to raise awareness around violence against women. Not surprisingly, during the ceremony, everything was themed orange, the campaign's universal colour, which also symbolises hope in having a world free of violence. Naciri stressed that the UN is well aware of the important role of the media with its great impact on public opinion, so he invites media professionals to participate in the campaign to eliminate violence against women by demonstrating their personal and professional support for the campaign. UN Women leads the global initiative "Orange the World" on behalf of the global UNiTE campaign launched by the Secretary General of the United Nations to end violence against women by 2030.
