Ghada Waly: COVID-19 doubled women’s vulnerability to violence

CAIRO – 9 February 2021: Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Ghada Waly tweeted Tuesday saying that Coronavirus pandemic has doubled the vulnerability of women to be subjected to violence.

تُضاعف الجائحة من تعرض النساء إلى العنف.
فخورة بعمل مكتب الأمم المتحدة المعني بالمخدرات والجريمة في المملكة العربية السعودية، في إطار مبادرة مشتركة بين الأمم المتحدة وبرنامج الأمان الأسري الوطني التابع لوزارة الحرس الوطني، لتوعية أكثر من 1400 مشارك بشأن دعم ضحايا العنف ضد النساء pic.twitter.com/wE0OFEGFib

— GhadaFathiWaly (@GhadaFathiWaly) February 9, 2021

“I am proud of the work of the United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime in Saudi Arabia Kingdom,” she said, adding that this work comes as part of the joint initiative between the UN and the National Family Safety Program of the Saudi Arabian National Guard.

According to Waly, the initiative aims to raise awareness of more than 1,400 participants on supporting victims of violence against women.

Ghada Waly served as Minister of Social Solidarity of Egypt from March 2014 until December 2019.  She has been serving as the Director-General/ Executive Director of the United Nations Office at Vienna / United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as since 2020, following her appointment by Secretary-General António Guterres.