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UNICEF and WHO, supported by UN Action funds, organized a technical meeting on Responding to the Psychosocial and Mental Health Needs of Sexual Violence Survivors in Conflict-Affected Settings from 28 to 30 November 2011. Hide

WHO supported Mahidol University in Thailand to develop and implement a regional adaptation of a one-week training course based on the manual “Researching violence against women-A practical guide for researchers and activists”. The course addresses the conduct of quantitative and qualitative research and the use of research findings for advocacy and programme development. Hide

With the support of UN Action, WHO organized, in collaboration with UNICEF and UNFPA, a technical meeting on responding to the psychosocial and mental health needs of survivors of sexual violence. The meeting in November 2011 reviewed the evidence and experiences from the field and made programmatic, policy and research recommendations. Hide

WHO also, with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), has been calculating global and regional prevalence estimates of intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, and childhood sexual abuse for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Final prevalence estimates will be released in 2012. Likewise, systematic reviews have been completed on the associations between violence against women and a range of health effects related to mental health, sexual and reproductive health, injuries and death to be included as risk factors in the Global Burden of Disease Study. These estimates will provide sound evidence of the global health burden of violence against women. Hide

WHO is currently finalizing a systematic review of evidence on effective interventions to address violence against women and HIV for peer-reviewed publication. A systematic review of evidence on the links between violence against sex workers and risk of STI and HIV infection as well as of effective interventions to reduce violence against sex workers is being finalized for peer-reviewed publication. In addition, grey literature is being reviewed and a technical consultation is being convened to document "good practices" in preventing and addressing violence against sex workers in the context of HIV/AIDS in Montreux on January 30-31 2012. The outcomes of the systematic review and the technical consultation will be the basis for developing a section on addressing violence against sex workers in the WHO Guidelines on HIV prevention, treatment and care among sex workers. Hide

WHO provided technical support to an interagency convened process led by UN Women, PEPFAR and MEASURE Evaluation to identify one global indicator on gender equality for inclusion in the revised UNGASS list of core indicators. Based on the evidence, technical inputs and advocacy, the indicator "Prevalence of recent intimate partner violence among ever partnered women 15-49" was included. This will require 193 Member States to report data on prevalence of intimate partner violence to UNAIDS as part of Global AIDS Progress Reporting. It is expected that this will serve for countries not only to identify the problem of violence against women, but also put in place prevention interventions in order to show progress over time. Hide

WHO also provided technical support and capacity building as part of an interagency workshop on integrating gender-based violence and engaging men and boys for gender equality in national AIDS programmes in Istanbul in which more than 25 country teams comprising of national AIDS programme managers, civil society groups working on violence against women or representing women living or affected by HIV and UN partners participated. WHO is also exploring additional opportunities for capacity development through new e-learning technologies. Hide

WHO is finalizing clinical and policy guidelines for the health sector response to intimate partner and sexual violence. The Guidelines Development Group (GDG), bringing together researchers, practitioners and policy makers, met in September 2011 to review the evidence and develop evidence-based recommendations for the health sector response to these forms of violence. A draft is being reviewed by the GDG and will be finalized by June 2012. A Programming Guide on Addressing violence against women in the context of HIV is also being finalized. Hide

WHO, in collaboration with Partners for Prevention and the Medical Research Council/South Africa, supported capacity-building initiatives on research and developing interventions to prevent gender-based violence in Bangkok, in July 2012. Hide

WHO reported that the 5th Milestones of a Global Campaign for Violence Prevention Meeting was held in Cape Town, South Africa. Under the theme "Joining forces, empowering prevention" almost 300 experts from more than 60 countries discussed progress in WHO's Global Campaign for Violence Prevention and strategized the way ahead by developing a global plan of action for 2012-2020. A special session during the meeting was dedicated to new research and effective interventions to address intimate partner and sexual violence. Details on the session can be found at:http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/5th_milestones_meeting/en/index.html Hide