Under the umbrella of the 16 days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, UNFPA organized jointly with the National Council of Women the 5th Annual Coordination Meeting for Anti-Violence Against Women Units in Egyptian Universities on November 26, with the support of KOICA.

The event focused on highlighting the goals and efforts by the units on combating violence against women and girls supported by UNFPA since 2018. The event was attended by 80 representatives of different universities, Heads of Departments, the National Council for Women, USAID, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and UNFPA. 

The event also focused on highlighting the importance of addressing GBV on campus though two sessions on: “Technology Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) presented by the Deputy Representative and Head of programmes Ms. Germaine Haddad and by the Gender specialist Ms. Sally Zohney. 

Judge Ahmed Al-Naggar, Legal Expert at the National Council for Women, also contributed to the discussion referring to the importance of the legislation when it comes to combating TFGBV. 

The second presentation was given by Dr. Carrie Forden, Head of the Psychology Department at the American University in Cairo (AUC) by Dr. Yasmine Saleh, Assistant Professor of Psychology at AUC. The focus of the panel was on the "First line Psychological Support" and its importance when it comes to managing GBV complaints with professors, representatives of the units, heads of departments and members of universities. 

During the final panel, the representatives of 40 different units had the opportunity to present their achievements, challenges and activities conducted as well as sharing experiences and best practices during the year of 2023.