NGO calls for end to crimes against women

Dakar- Senegal (PANA) – A non--governmental organization has reiterated calls for an end to crimes against women as the world celebrates International Women's Da y on Saturday.
"Today, we reiterate a call for governments to ensure justice for women at the n ational and international levels," a press communiqué from the Coalition on Inte r national Criminal Court (ICC) received in Dakar on Thursday said.
It said the day marked an important opportunity to assess how far governments ha d come in fulfilling the promise of the Rome Statute's gender provisions and how far they had to go.
"The day brings into sharper focus the urgency of the ICC's work to end impunity for crimes against women," the communiqué said.
March 8 every year is marked as International Women's Day and the coalition, which is a global network of more than 2,500 organizations in 150 countries advo cating for a fair, effective and independent ICC, is reminding governments, espe c ially those in Africa, to do more towards ending crimes against women.
"In this tenth anniversary year of the Rome Statute, full implementation of the Statute's robust protections for women is paramount," said Tanya Karanasios, Pro gramme Director for the coalition.
The convenor of the coalition, William Pace, said the day also served as "a remi nder that we need to push state parties to the Rome Statute, the legal document c reating the ICC, to continually move forward with effective and comprehensive im p lementation so that protections for women's rights are guaranteed at both the in t ernational and national level.
" "The full implementation of the Rome Statute into national laws is an important step toward making certain that the landmark standards and protections for women set out in the Statute are enforced for women and girls everywhere," Pace said.