As part of the 16-Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, the US Embassy is displaying a banner outside the Embassy building in Maharajgunj from November 25-December 10, 2014, the official duration of the 16 Days program.

According to a press release issued by U.S.Embassy,16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence is an international campaign launched in 1991 by the Center for Women's Global Leadership.  The start date of November 25 (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) and the closing date of December 10 (International Human Rights Day) were chosen to symbolically link violence against women and human rights to one another, and to emphasize that violence against women is also a violation of human rights. This 16-day period also highlights other significant dates including December 2, International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, December 3 International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and December 5, International Anti-Corruption Day.

During the 16 Days campaign, US Embassy Kathmandu will be actively engaging with a wide variety of Nepali audiences on the rights of women and girls, focusing on the important issues of anti-trafficking, women's citizenship rights and girls' education,  as well as the launch of a new program, "Girls’ Empowerment Training: Overcoming Adolescent Challenges in Rural Nepal."

On September 22, 2014, Secretary of State, John Kerry, spoke at the Call to Action Ministerial on Protection from Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies in New York.  He stated: "Gender-based violence plagues every country and it perpetuates conflict. It creates instability that can flow from generation to generation, and it tears apart the ability of states to hold together as states in some cases. It makes all nations that experience it less secure, less prosperous, and clearly less free."