Second International Conference on Safer Cities for Women and Girls
22-25 November in Bogotá, Colombia.

This is the second conference in a series, which began in 2002 with the success of The First International Seminar on Women’s Safety – Making the Links when the Montreal Declaration on Women’s Safety was agreed upon. Previous conferences of UN-HABITAT’s Safer Cities International Programme, held in Istanbul, Beijing, Naples, and Johannesburg, discussed the subjects of crime prevention, cities, security, and women. Montreal was the first to link them all together.

To deepen understanding and communicate the links between violence in public spaces and in domestic settings, (women experience the majority of domestic violence and sexual assaults), the Second International Conference on Safer Cities for Women and Girls draws upon the expertise of stakeholders from local, regional, and international networks. It builds upon the first International Conference, held in Montreal, Canada.

Partner organisations represent civil society, academia, gender experts, urban planners, NGOs, police force, governmental representatives from the national and municipal levels, and organizers of international women’s networks, and are actively supported by UN-HABITAT, UNDP, and UNIFEM.

It is our hope that as many representatives of grassroots and NGO organisations, as well as local authorities and public officials, from Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, will participate in this important event. Together they will present and discuss many topics. These include the global problem of violence against women and children, strategies of mobilization to empower girls and women, the role of cities in promoting gender equality, violence prevention techniques in education systems, public spaces, and workplaces, the symbolic language of violence, gender roles among couples and as a family, as well as tools and campaigns to promote successful initiatives.

One of the highlights of the conference will be the announcement of the international winners of the Women's Safety Awards 2004 by Femmes et villes International.