UNICEF and the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women launch the updated version of SafeYOU mobile app

YEREVAN, 6 December, 2021 – On the occasion of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence annual international campaign, UNICEF and the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women presented the newly updated version of the "SafeYOU" mobile app. The app was created in 2019 by Impact Innovation Institute with the support of the World Bank and has had over 500 downloads since then.

“This partnership is important for UNICEF in terms of its contribution to preventing violence against women and children, as well as eliminating related risk factors. In the coming years, we will continue working with our partners to use innovative and multidisciplinary approaches to prevent violence against women and children. UNICEF is proud to be working with so many organizations to make the SafeYOU mobile application accessible, inclusive, child-friendly, age-appropriate and safe for thousands of women and girls,” noted Ms. Armenuhi Hovakimyan, UNICEF Social Policy Specialist.

The purpose of the SafeYOU application is to create a safe environment online for women and adolescent girls, where they can get information about their rights, their health and employment, receive professional advice upon need, as well as alert appropriate services about violence and get support.

“With the support of UNICEF, Coalition member organizations have committed to regularly produce and upload age appropriate content for women and adolescent girls that is human rights and evidence based. Our purpose is to raise awareness about gender-based violence among women and adolescent girls in Armenia, encourage them to ask for support in case of issues, as well as in order to minimize potential risks and prevent violence,” stated Ms. Stella Chandiryan, Project Coordinator of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women.

The mobile app features a network of GBV prevention and protection specialized organizations that provide services. Through the support of UNICEF, age appropriate articles for women and adolescent girls are being included in the mobile app to raise the awareness on GBV prevention and protection related matters. Work is under way to strengthen the security provisions of the app, as well as to further improve and enrich its contents, including introduction of new features, such as forums for thematic discussions. The application can be downloaded from Google or Apple stores.

The event was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Labor and Social Affairs, Education, Science, Culture and Sports, and of Emergency Situations, the Republic of Armenia Police and the Human Rights Defender’s office staff, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations working on gender issues and child rights.

This partnership was established within the framework of the “Accelerating women’s empowerment for economic resilience and renewal: the post COVID-19 reboot in Armenia” project, made possible thanks to the contributions to UN Response and Recovery Fund by the governments of Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Republic of Korea, Finland, New Zealand, Croatia, Iceland, Thailand, Slovak Republic and Cambodia.