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WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTÉ WELTGESUNDHEITSORGANISATION ВСЕМИРНАЯ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ ЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЯ Date: 04 September 2025 REGIONAL OFFICE FOR EUROPE BUREAU RÉGIONAL DE L’EUROPE Dr Karmen Joller REGIONALBÜRO FÜR EUROPA Minister of Social Affairs ЕВРОПЕЙСКОЕ РЕГИОНАЛЬНОЕ БЮРО Ministry of Social Affairs Head office: Suur-Ameerika 1 UN City, Marmorvej 51, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark 10129 Tallinn Tel.: +45 45 33 70 00; Fax: +45 45 33 70 01 Estonia Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.who.int/europe Our reference: Your reference: Notre référence: Votre référence: Unser Zeichen: Ihr Zeichen: См. наш номер: На Ваш номер: Dear Madam, “I believe you”: Building survivor-centred health systems for women and girls Madrid, Spain, 20–21 November 2025 I have the honour to inform you that the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the Ministry of Health of Spain plan to hold the aforementioned two-day, high-level meeting, marking a critical moment for action. Thirty years after the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action, violence against women and girls (VAWG) remains a global crisis. Far from being eradicated, it has intensified and evolved – most notably through the weaponization of technology, which has enabled new forms of abuse and deepened existing health, gender and socio-economic inequalities. The health sector must rise to meet this challenge, as part of a multisectoral system of prevention and response. This event will convene health leaders and policy-makers from across the WHO European Region to hear directly from survivors, civil society organizations and experts. In addition, a new WHO Regional Report will be launched. Together, we will explore how to build health systems that are truly survivor-centred. Demonstrating that WHO/Europe’s commitment is the first step to increasing action, the Special Initiative on the Response to Violence against Women and Girls aims to strengthen the health sector response to the needs of women and girls who experience violence to support progress for gender equality. The event will: • discuss priorities for implementing the Call to Action to be made during the 75th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe by ministers of health from the Region; • launch the report: “Prevalence, policies and promising practices – The role of the health sector in addressing Violence against Women and Girls in the WHO European Region”. The report will include the 2025 update to the internationally comparable global, regional and country prevalence estimates of VAWG, pursuant to target 5.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals; and in-depth analysis on policy implementation across the Region. UN City, Marmorvej 51 Tel.: +45 45 33 70 00 Email: [email protected] DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø Fax: +45 45 33 70 01 Website: https://www.who.int/europe Denmark  • share and discuss good practices and innovative solutions from other regions with global and regional experts that will pave the way to address challenges in countries. I have the pleasure of inviting you to nominate one participant to represent your country. We particularly encourage the participation of an official from the ministry of health responsible for the health sector’s response to VAWG and related topics. While in-person attendance is preferred, online participation will be available for selected sessions. The working language for the event will be English, with simultaneous interpretation into Russian and Spanish. Kindly address your reply to Ms Melanie Hyde, Technical Officer for Gender, Equity and Human Rights, who serves as the focal point for the meeting, by email at [email protected]. Please share your nomination at your earliest convenience and no later than Friday, 10 October 2025. Kindly note that countries are expected to cover travel and accommodation costs related to their participation in the event. Yours very truly, Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge Regional Director Encls: Scope and Purpose Copy for information to: Ms Helen Sõber, Adviser, European Union Affairs and International Co-operation Department, Ministry of Social Affairs, Suur-Ameerika 1, 10122 Tallinn, Estonia Ms Agne Nettan-Sepp, Head, European Union Affairs and International Co-operation Department, Ministry of Social Affairs, Suur-Ameerika 1, 10129 Tallinn, Estonia H.E. Ms Riia Salsa-Audiffren, Ambassador Representative of the Republic of Estonia, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Estonia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, Chemin du Petit-Saconnex 28A, CH-1209 Genève, Switzerland H.E. Mr Andre Pung, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Embassy of the Republic of Estonia, Frederiksgade 19, 4th floor, 1265 Copenhagen K, Denmark Ms Kristina Köhler, Liaison Officer, WHO Country Office, Estonia, Paldiski Road 81, 10617 Tallinn, Estonia –2– WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ORGANISATION MONDIALE DE LA SANTÉ REGIONAL OFFICE FOR EUROPE BUREAU RÉGIONAL DE L'EUROPE WELTGESUNDHEITSORGANISATION ВСЕМИРНАЯ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ ЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЯ REGIONALBÜRO FÜR EUROPA ЕВРОПЕЙСКОЕ РЕГИОНАЛЬНОЕ БЮРО “I believe you”: Building survivor-centred /2 health systems for women and girls Madrid, Spain June 2025 20–21 November 2025 Original: English Scope and purpose 2025 marks 30 years since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action (1995), the key international instrument to progress gender equality globally and meet the gender-related targets in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. Today, the world is still 300 years away from reaching gender equality as our societies continue to grapple with high rates of violence affecting 1 in 4 women and girls across the WHO European Region. New WHO prevalence estimates show the ongoing reality of violence against women and girls (VAWG) across the Region. Intimate partner violence and sexual violence are among the most hidden and insidious of crimes perpetrated against women and girls, with individual, family, community and societal level impacts that have never been fully accounted for. Nearly 10 years have passed since Member States adopted resolutions WHA67.15 and WHA69.5 on strengthening the role of the health system in addressing violence against women, we have yet to see the investment necessary to enable the reduction of the $289 billion per year that violence against women costs in the Region alone. While important progress has been made in the justice and social protection sectors, all evidence shows the need to strengthen the health sector within a multisectoral response. To respond to this need, and in the context of the new second European Programme of Work, 2026–2030 (EPW2), the WHO Regional Director for Europe launched a Special Initiative on the Response to Violence against Women and Girls on 8 March 2025 with three main objectives: a. Increased sustainable investment in effective health sector violence prevention and response strategies to end VAWG across the Region. b. Increased capacity of health care workers and policy-makers in the Region to prevent and respond to VAWG. c. Increased role of the health sector in multisectoral policies to prevent and respond to VAWG in the Region. Purpose of the event Scope and purpose page 2 This event marks Beijing+30 not only in celebration, but in recognition that VAWG remains a crisis – and that health systems must be part of the solution. The purpose of the event is as follows: • To discuss priorities for implementing the Call to Action to be made during the 75th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe by ministers of health from the Region. • To launch the report: “Prevalence, policies and promising practices – The role of the health sector in addressing VAWG in the WHO European Region”. The report will include the 2025 update to the internationally comparable global, regional and country prevalence estimates of VAWG, pursuant to target 5.2 of the Sustainable Development Goals; and an in-depth analysis on policy implementation across the Region. • To share and discuss good practices and innovative solutions from across the regions with global and regional experts to pave the way to address challenges in countries. Design of the event The event will be organized in a hybrid format, allowing for in-person participation of speakers and options for participants to join sessions online. Sessions will be co-led by frontline civil society/women’s organizations to guide the transformation of health systems and shape policies that truly support survivors. The conference will take place on 20– 21 November at the Ministry of Health of Spain. It will be held in English, with simultaneous interpretation into Russian and Spanish. Saatja: "WHO EURO Special Initiative Violence against Women and Girls" <[email protected]> Saaja: "Karmen Joller - SOM" <[email protected]>, "Agne Nettan-Sepp - SOM" <[email protected]>, "Helen Sõber - SOM" <[email protected]> Teema: WHO_ Invitation_“I believe you”: Building Survivor-Centered Health Systems for Women and Girls, Madrid, Spain, 20-21 November 2025 Kuupäev: 2025-09-26 10:19 Tähelepanu! Tegemist on välisvõrgust saabunud kirjaga. Tundmatu saatja korral palume linke ja faile mitte avada. Dear Madam, With assurances of the highest consideration of this office, please find attached a letter from Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, the WHO Regional Director for Europe inviting you to nominate one participant to represent your country in the high-level meeting “I believe you”: Building Survivor-Centred Health Systems for Women and Girls which will be held in Madrid, Spain, on 20–21 November 2025. We would be grateful if you would respond by 10 October 2025. Yours sincerely, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe UN City, Marmorvej 51, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark Phone: +45 4533 6675 Web: www.euro.who.int <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.euro.who.int/__;!!DOxrgLBm!CX-uLoPz OsrQxlbukfbnJWsrs9xM2MVjiZTd74uJ8Gx0tioowEpEeRpH_0WV5kPTDHxId18hnlr9TNe1b5 iALw9ZAWMzzT6P90ruX5hl$>