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UNDP implemented various activities for raising awareness and advocacy to prevent VAWG at both national and local level throughout the year. Through massive events, sessions and campaigns held in cooperation with national authorities and civil societies around the world, thousands of participants were provided with information on types of violence, prevention measures, as well as current laws and state programmes to prevent domestic violence.
UNDP Libya Co-organized a webinar on the topic of Violence Against Women in Elections aimed at bringing together the Libyan High National Election Commission (HNEC), civil society organizations and other stakeholders around a discussion on violence against women in elections and efforts to enhance women’s electoral participation. The webinar was an opportunity to raise awareness and interest in the efforts of election stakeholders to protect women’s electoral participation and discuss avenues for effective cooperation and collaboration between government and non-government entities towards accelerating progress for violence against women in elections.
UNDP India organised dialogues with civil society organisations to better understand ground reality from the context of different population groups. Along similar lines, the office advocated for the inclusion of Redress to GBV as an essential service.
UNDP is working closely with national partners to support their legislative development to address gender-based violence, and to support national capacities on access to justice and protection through multi-sectoral support and services.
In Myanmar, UNDP and UN Women have made headways in linking legal aid services to women in villages and IDP camps. UNDP supported with technical inputs for the Prevention of violence against women Bill (PoVAW).
The Malaysian office is implementing a gender mainstreaming project with the Ministry of Women and drafting the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill.
UNDP is in close cooperation with the National Parliament to strengthen the legislation related to GBV and EVAWG in Timor- Leste.
In Peru, UNDP in cooperation with national ministries, is strengthening national system of justice for protection and punishment around VAW.
UNDP Maldives, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Argentina, Ecuador and many other country offices are working with national authorities in reviewing the existing law and drafting the necessary amendments or supporting new act to enhance gender responsiveness of legislation.
UNDP has organized a series of trainings on gender and GBV for local government officials including police and judiciary, CSOs, and survivors.
In Azerbaijan, UNDP trained local women-activists to provide rapid psychosocial support, safety plans, case management and referrals to assist GBV survivors of all genders.
With the support of the Johns Hopkins University, the Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA), a trans-diagnostic mental health intervention developed for delivery by non-professionals, is being implemented in Moldova. CETA is also an evidence-based programme demonstrated to significantly prevent intimate partner violence.
UNDP Iraq , Fiji, Maldives, Serbia, Ukraine, Brazil, Peru and others also provided training on GBV prevention for judges, prosecutors and police officers to end gender-based violence.
The office in Somalia supported a SGBV programme in Mogadishu and Puntland starting in 2020. A fully functional SGBV Unit was established and staffed in Mogadishu. UNDP also worked with Office of the Attorney General in Puntland, with the aim of providing technical support and building the capacity of the institution to promote access to justice for survivors/victims of sexual and gender-based violence
A three days’ workshop, providing Libya law enforcement with information related to offenses that constitute gender-based violence (GBV), was organized by UNDP Libya.
In 2017, UNDP launched the “Ending Gender-based Violence (GBV) and Achieving the SDGs” global project. This project aims to take violence prevention to scale by bringing new partners, strategies and sources of financing to the table. Over three years, it will: design, test and evaluate initiatives that will reduce GBV in select pilot sites; and develop new knowledge, skills and tools to reduce GBV in other contexts. Pilots will integrate GBV into broader UNDP sectoral programming (such as environment and livelihoods) and/or will focus around the principle of leaving no one behind. All pilots will be implemented at the local level, but their lessons will be global. The project will translate evidence from the pilots into policy and advocacy tools, along with instruments such as new financing modalities.
In Latin America, OHCHR in coordination with UNDP Regional Virtual School, finalized the design of a self-learning on-line course on the Latin American Protocol for the investigation of gender-related killings of women. The virtual course was successfully tested by 28 participants from the region (academia, Judiciary, Public-Attorney’s Offices, forensics, psychologists and OHCHR staff). Related traning courses have been organised by OHCHR RGA in Panama, in Bolivia, and other countries from the region.
The UNiTE Group for the Americas and the Caribbean, including 9 agencies -PAHO, UNDP, OHCHR, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNHCR, ECLAC, WFP and UN Women- and the IDB and the OAS, developed 12 Key Messages to Eradicate Violence Against Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean. This unprecedented effort led by UN Women, systematized the lessons learned from all the publications and knowledge produced in the context of the UNiTE Campaign in the last 7 years. These messages were launched in the framework of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, which took place in Montevideo in October of 2016. Thereafter, the messages were the basis for the celebrations of November 25th at regional and country level.
In Croatia, UNDP supported the Government with evidence and legal analysis to draft the law, which entered into force in June 2015, on the rights of victims of sexual violence during the conflict of the 1990s. “Law on Rights of Victims of Sexual Violence During the Armed Aggression on the Republic of Croatia During the Homeland War.” This is the first law in the region that provides civilian victims of sexual violence in armed conflict with a comprehensive set of reparation measures: medical and psychosocial rehabilitation, financial compensation, legal aid and symbolic acts of reparation. UNDP supports the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs in the implementation of mechanisms assessing the eligibility criteria for the status of survivors of sexual violence in armed conflict.
In Viet Nam in 2016, UN Women supports Legal Aid Department of Ministry of Justice to build a legal aid system sensitive to the needs of VAW survivors. This includes 1) technical assistance to legal drafters of the amended Legal Aid Law and to develop joint UN recommendations together with UNDP, UNICEF, UNODC, UNAIDS, highlighting gaps with international normative frameworks; and 2) support to develop a guideline for legal aid providers, reflecting the legislative changes of the criminal laws in 2015 and promoting gender-sensitive and survivor-centred response based on international standards. Materials developed through the support to Judicial Academy and UNODC's handbook for legal aid providers on domestic violence cases will be utilized for this purpose.
In Fiji, Training workshops for Markets for Change Projects (M4C) are held in marketplaces to ensure that marketplaces are gender friendly and safe places for women. The successfully piloted mobile service delivery by Fiji REACH for community education on economic, social and legal rights, in which 1,994 people participated (69% women; 5% children) and provided advisory services to 394 people (75% women) for issues including prevention and support for Sexual and Gender Based Violence.
In Nepal, UNDP has supported studies on engaging men and boys to prevent Gender Based Violence and the linkages between masculinities and GBV. This has led to the drafting of a GBV Prevention Peer Education Manual.