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In Bolivia with UN-Women’s technical assistance, the Office of the Ombudsman commissioned an analysis of the level of compliance with the legislation on VAWP at sub-national levels. The research findings concluded that only 19% of Municipal Autonomous Governments and 5 out of 9 Departmental Autonomous Governments have internal regulations in line with Law 243. The publication titled "Regulatory Package, for the Prevention and Sanctioning of Harassment and Political Violence against Women, in Departmental Autonomous Governments and Municipal Autonomous Governments",[1] aims to assist Municipal and Departmental Autonomous Governments to tackle key barriers to address VAWP providing tools to develop and implement regulations and procedures in line with the national law including: i) a model proposal for General Rules of Procedures of the Departmental Assembly or the Municipal Council; ii) draft Rules of Procedure of Ethics Commissions; iii) internal staff regulations and iv) a model proposal for the disciplinary regime
An institutional protocol to monitor and address Violence Against Women in Elections was developed by the National Electoral Commission in Liberia. UN Women provided technical support .
UN Women ESARO supported the development of a model law for establishment of special mechanisms to fast track SGBV cases by International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) with UN Women support. This had been one of the articles of the Kampala Declaration (2011) and provides a comprehensive framework to facilitate development of national instruments to fast track prosecution of SGBV cases.
In Kenya, UN Women provided both financial and technical support in the development of the GBV policy for Migori County. This was done through a participatory, multi-sectoral workshop attended by state and non-state GBV actors in the county.
In South Africa, UN Women as the lead UN agency has significantly made financial and technical contributions to the Coordination stream of the work of the Interim Steering Committee to ensure that the structure and legislation are drafted and the drafting of the Nation Strategic Plan. Other UN agencies have contributed in other streams of work.
Funding intersectional violence against women and girls (VAWG) services
This policy brief highlights the value that ‘by and for’ organizations bring to the fight to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) and examines how the current funding landscape jeopardizes the existence and autonomy of these organizations. It provides key recommendations on improving the nature of funding frameworks to support organizations that address the specific needs of minoritized women and girls.
Good Practices in Responding to Domestic Violence : A Comparative Study
With the aim of assisting the Agency for Gender Equality of Bosnia and Herzegovina in supporting responsible government bodies to advance minimum standards in ensuring response and assistance to victims of gender-based violence, good practices were analyzed across four countries, two EU Member States (Austria and Spain), and two non-EU States within the Western Balkan region (Albania and Serbia). This document provides a detailed, technical description of national programmes and initiatives that have been recognized internationally as good practice. It provides comparative information from the four selected countries in order to demonstrate distinct approaches and models. The aim is to provide diverse options to assist relevant actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina in selecting the best approach tailored to their current needs and circumstances in line with international standards. For each practice, after setting forth the relevant international standards based on the Istanbul Convention, the UN Guidelines on Essential Services Package, jurisprudence from the European Court of Human Rights and Council of Europe Guidelines, the flagship best-practice initiatives are described, comparing like models, where good practice exists in more than one country. Challenges to implementing each good practice model are also noted, including deviations from international standards as well as practical barriers to implementation.
UN Women Analysis of the Capacities for the Implementation of Council of Europe Convention of Preventing and Combating Domestic Violence and Violence against Women in Police and Free Legal Aid Sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina
With this analysis, UN Women seeks to support the Agency for Gender Equality of the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees Bosnia and Herzegovina to establish minimum standards for service provision to survivors of gender-based violence in several sectors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The analysis examines the two sectors' capacity to implement the standards derived from the Istanbul Convention including state obligations and due diligence, integrated policies and data collection, prevention, protection and support, substantive law, investigation, prosecution, and procedural law. In addition to the detailed assessment of legal, operational and institutional framework, the analysis further examines the capacities of responsible sectoral governmental institutions and service providers at the local level, including relevant NGOs. Detailed information from institutions and service providers were collected from interviews, representing the opportunity for identifying a new way of understanding the topic at hand. The analysis will add to the evidence-based support to the activities of institutions in the country with a view of meeting the obligations that stem from the Istanbul Convention, and ultimately providing adequate support to victims of gender-based violence and domestic violence, as well as processing of perpetrators.
https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2019/05/bosnia-police-and-free-legal-aid
National Action Plan on Anti-Trafficking in Persons (2021-2025) in Malaysia
The National Action Plan on Anti-Trafficking in Persons (2021-2025) or “NAPTIP 3.0” was successfully launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 31 March. The new NAPTIP provides the policy and implementation directions for Malaysia’s anti-trafficking efforts in the next five years. The NAPTIP 3.0 was developed through a collaborative process among the Malaysian Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons, UN Women, ILO, UNODC (as the implementing agencies of the Safe and Fair Programme) and civil society organizations. The inputs from UN Women and ILO mainly focused on enhancing the prevention of trafficking in persons by addressing risk factors, protection through legal remedies and provision of services to survivors, including increased prosecution of TIP.
A Guidance Note to Develop Migrant-Sensitive National Action Plans on Violence against Women
This guidance on inclusion of women migrant workers’ rights and realities related to VAW builds on the UN Women resource, “Handbook for National Action Plans on Violence Against Women”. The Guidance note provides specific recommendations to ensure the concerns and interests of women migrant workers are incorporated into National Action Plans on Ending Violence Against Women.
UN Women Albania:
1- Supported the Albanian State Police to develop policy and procedures against harassment and sexual harassment to protect women and men among the police forces.
2- Supported the Albanian State Police (ASP) to develop an E-Learning Course on the Policy against Harassment, including Sexual Harassment in the Workplace.
3- Supported five municipalities (Durres, Korce, Tirane, Elbasan, Lezhe) to effectively apply gender responsive planning and budgeting in the local MTBP, with a focus on budgeting in VAWG
With UN Women support, Ministry of Interior of Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina has improved standardization of police response to violence against women and domestic violence in Federation of BiH (FBiH). A Framework policy and 10 proposals for improved cantonal policies for internal division of tasks in response to cases of domestic violence was developed to standardize roles within the police force. In place are also a Manual for in-service training of police officers on the response to cases of domestic violence and recommendations for changes in the FBiH Police Academy curriculum for improved knowledge of police cadets on legal and institutional response to DV and VAW.
In Ukraine, with the aim of strengthening the local gender machinery and enabling local governments to develop, implement, monitor and coordinate gender-responsive policies, UN Women successfully advocated with local public authorities the establishment of 13 Local Gender Coordination Councils[ with an extended mandate focusing on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Safe Cities for Women and Girls. Furthermore, because of UN Women advocacy efforts 5 Deputy Heads of communities were appointed as Commissioners on Gender Equality and Prevention and Combating of Domestic and Gender-based Violence delegated with the promotion of equal rights and equal opportunities for women and men at the community level. In Ukraine, women, and girls from 12 communities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts benefit now from socio-economic development programs and target programs inclusive of measures on preventing and combating violence against women and girls. UN Women provided expert support to local authorities and tailored capacity development for Self-Help Groups on preventing gender-based violence and participation in decision-making processes.
In Ukraine, 3 conflict-affected communities adopted Safe Cities for Women and Girls Programs using evidence generated by the UN Women Multi-site Scoping Study on the risks and experiences of sexual violence encountered by women in public spaces in conflict-affected East of Ukraine.
In Moldova, with UN Women CO support, The Ministry of Health Labor and Social Protection co-created/developed with all relevant institutions (Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, NGOs, Probation, and women's survivors of violence) the Intersectoral protocols and referral mechanisms on EVAW, which are awaiting approval by the Government in 2021. As well, UN Women CO supported the development of intermediary analysis of EVAW Strategy and as a result a new Plan for 1,5 year was developed and awaiting approval by the Government.
UN Women Kosovo, supported development of the Kosovo Programme for Gender Equality (2020-2024) and the Action Plan (2020-2022), which was approved by the Kosovo government on 23 May 2020. The decision obliges the institutions of Kosovo to implement this Programme according to the activities foreseen in the Action Plan, while the Agency for Gender Equality within the Office of the Prime Minister is obliged to monitor the implementation and to annually report on the implementation of the program. Provisions from the UNSCR 1325, gender sensitive transitional justice activities and support for mainstreaming gender into the security sector were also included in the Kosovo Gender Programme 2020-2024, with direct support of UN Women.
With UN Women Kosovo support, in November 2020, Policy against Sexual Harassment in Public Administration in Kosovo, was adopted by the government. The aim of the policy is to serve as an instrument and in creating a workplace environment free from of any form of sexual harassment and sanction such action. A new Kosovo Strategy and Action Plan on Protection from Domestic Violence (2022-2026) is currently in drafting process, with the support of UN Women.
In Tajikistan, UN Women assisted the GoT in developing localized integrated referral system for survivors of violence.
UN-Women completed the implementation of the recommendations of the independent, victim-centered review of its policies and procedures on tackling SEA and SH in June 2021. Through targeted actions, UN Women was able to maximize the clarity and cohesion of its policy and governance framework, strengthen its prevention and communication efforts, establish sufficient field capacity and proper operationalization, and ensure accountable and transparent investigations.
In coordination with the UN Electoral Assistance Division (EAD/DPPA) UN Women contributed to enhanced UN staff capacities on addressing violence against women in elections (VAWE) through a dedicated sessions delivered during the EAD-UN Staff College course on: A Political Approach to Preventing and Responding to Electoral Violence (7-16 June 2021), with 39 participants from around the world from UNDP, DPPA, OHCHR, UNMISS and UN Women).
UN Women capacities at the regional and national level have enhanced through its triple mandate and technical leadership on EVAW in Africa region. This is evidenced through the leadership on Africa Spotlight Initiative at both regional and country levels, steep increase in the mobilization of resources, strengthening of partnerships with AUC, regional and national CSOs, government and other partners. UN Women in Africa also by leveraging on the Africa Strategy and harnessing the technical capacities of the team through establishment of a regional EVAW Community of Practice (COP) and sharing of innovation and technical knowledge through South-South learning. This helped immensely in initiating, strengthening and upscaling programs on ‘safe markets and safe public spaces’ in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe; addressing tech violence against girls in education institutions through a research and advocacy document; partnerships with regional traditional leaders in establishing a movement of “Council of Traditional Leaders in Africa (COTLA)” and its launch in the sidelines of the African Union Summit in February 2019 through the President of Zambia in grassroot advocacy and prevention of child marriage, FGM and other harmful practices. Strengthened partnerships with the government and CSOs also helped in technical support in legislative reform, strengthening institutions, establishment of referral pathways and multi-sectoral responses in EVAW in the region.
Technical Support to Country Offices and Partners
ROAP has supported country offices to strengthen capacities on EVAW through dedicated technical support on VAW prevention and Essential Services, webinars, introduction of knowledge products and guidance developed, efforts to establish anti-sexual harassment policies at universities, and providing technical inputs in national EVAWG strategies.
As a response to a social (media) movement against sexual harassment in public space, especially in relation to young actresses and women in the entertainment business, which was started by several actresses in the region of Western Balkans, UN Women Bosnia and Herzegovina mobilized UN agencies to create a joint response to the movement. This initiative gathered relevant portfolios from different UN agencies (UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA) putting forward a mapping of actions against domestic violence, violence against women and children, gender-based violence and a plan for joint action together with the government for a large-scale systemic response to sexual violence.
UN Women Kosovo, jointly with UNFPA initiated a multi-sectoral dialogue involving actors such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Agency for Gender Equality/Prime Minister's Office. Through this dialogue, the establishment of provisional quarantine facilities was made possible. UN Women and UNFPA delivered hygiene packages, clothes, PPE and other items to provisional quarantine facilities for gender-based violence and domestic violence survivor cases prior to admission in the shelters.- UN Women Kosovo jointly with UNFPA assisted the Ministry of Justice in developing an emergency protocol for handling cases of domestic violence during the pandemic.
- UN Women Kosovo liaised with donors to respond to the needs of survivors from non-majority communities: liaised with Embassy of UK to support the shelter in North Mitrovica; with Swiss Embassy to support a women's organization providing essential services in North Mitrovica.
In Tajikistan, UN Women led the process of institutionalizing PSEA and development the UNCT PSEA plan. Currently PSEA Country Risk Assessment is being developed.
Number of activities to enhance Capacity of UN Entities in Relation to Violence Against Women, including recent GALS training for several UN agencies have been implemented to date.