Building on the success of the 2010 competition on the Millennium Development Goals (WeCanEndPoverty), for which over 2,000 ads from 34 European countries were received (finalists.wecanendpoverty.eu/), our 2011 competition focuses on gender equality and an end to all forms of violence against women and girls.

The United Nations Regional Information Centre for Western Europe, in partnership with the new UN agency UN Women, The UN Secretary-General’s Campaign UNiTE to end Violence Against Women, UN information centres and leading European Newspapers, is launching a new ad competition with the aim to increase awareness and denounce violence against women. Violence against women and girls is one of the most systematic and widespread human rights violations, it is both intolerable and avoidable.

The competition which was launched on 8 March is open to all citizens and residents in Europe. We ask Europeans, professionals and non-professionals, to create an ad which states: “No to Violence Against Women”.

The winner will be selected by a jury composed of experts. The public vote is open to all.

Timeline

The competition opened for submissions on 8 March 2011, International Women’s Day, and ends at midnight (CET) 30 May 2011. The winners will be announced on 25 November 2011– the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women. All submissions must be made through the competition website, www.Create4theUN.eu.

Condition for entry:

Use the No to Violence Against Women logo in your ad. For more details on the rules and conditions, please see the competition website www.Create4theUN.eu.

Prizes

An award ceremony will take place on 25 November 2011 in Madrid.

The first prize will be a 5,000€ cash prize given by the Caixa Foundation in Spain to the winner selected by the jury.

The youth prize will be provided and selected by Fabrica (for entrants of 25 and under). Fabrica is the Benetton Group communication research centre, founded by Luciano Benetton and Oliviero Toscani, with the aim of combining culture with industry and offering young designers and artists from around the world an opportunity for creative growth and multicultural exchange. Fabrica is based in Treviso, Italy.

The public vote prize will be offered by the Portuguese Government.

Jury

• Jacques Séguéla (Vice-President of Havas, chairman of the jury 2010)
• Omar Vulpinari (Creative Director of the Visual Communication Department at Fabrica, and Vice President of ICOGRADA)
• Olga Sviblova (Director of the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow)
• Jan Arnesen (Head of UN exhibits unit)
• Mieke Gerritzen (Designer and Director of the Graphic Design Museum – Breda)
• Stefan Einarsson (Creative Director at Hvita Husid, and last year’s winner)
• Aldijana Sisic (Campaign Manager - United Nations Secretary-General’s Campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women)

Facts

• Up to 70% of women experience violence in their lifetime
• 1 in 5 women is a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.
• Between 500,000 to 2 million people are trafficked annually. Women and girls account for about 80% of the detected victims.
• Between 100 to 140 million girls and women have experienced female genital mutilation
• In DRC, at least 200,000 cases of sexual violence have been documented since 1996

Sources:

UN Women www.endvawnow.org (UNiTE Campaign)

www.un.org/en/women/endviolence/