NAWALPUR: A campaign against gender-based violence (GBV) that earlier kicked off from Muktinath, the religious shrine in Mustang, concluded in Nawalpur.

The campaign was launched by the Federation of Community Forestry Users, Nepal (FECOFUN), Gandaki Province on November 25. It was part of the 16-day activism against GBV, a global campaign held from November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women to December 10, International Human Rights Day.

The global campaign aims to challenge all forms of GBV including violence against women and girls.

The anti-GBV campaign in the province was held under the theme of 'violence and abuse, not acceptable to us', FECOFUN province chair Kalidas Subedi said.

Organisers believe that the campaign was successful in making people understand different forms of sexual abuse and the need to challenge and fight against them. The campaign was successful in reaching out to the rural mass, they claimed.

Under the campaign, a 17-point collective commitment was made which is expected to be helpful in tackling violence against women and girls. The message of the campaign was for pressing one and all not to discriminate against anyone on the basis of gender, caste, ethnicity, religion, age, language, political belief, social status, geography, access or relations, physical structure and marital status, ending all sorts of violence.

The common understanding of rights activists is that GBV is not only the concern of any particular group and place, instead it is a national, more global issue and combined efforts are a must to bring an end to it.

FECOFUN central chair Bharati Pathak insisted educational opportunities, leadership building and economic empowerment as essential for women who are largely subject to GBV to minimise the violence. 'Besides, women's access to and control over natural resources such as water, land and forest must be guaranteed if we aspire to empower women.'