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The United Nations Trust Fund in support of actions to eliminate violence against women is a global, multilateral grant-making mechanism that supports efforts to prevent and end violence against women and girls. The Trust Fund, which was established in 1996 by the General Assembly in its resolution 50/166, is administered by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) on behalf of the United Nations system. With the strong institutional support of UN Women and its regional, multi-country and country offices, and working closely with the rest of the United Nations system through its inter-agency Programme Advisory Committee, the Trust Fund plays a vital role in driving forward collective efforts to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls.

The OHCHR supported the work of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women during the first week of CSW63 in March 2019. In particular, support was provided for three side-events:

1. Side-event on 25 years of the mandate and the femicide watch initiative, co-sponsored by the Republic of Croatia;
2. Side-event on the mandate of the SRVAW and CEDAW General Recommendation 35, co-sponsored by Timor-Leste;
3. Side-event on online violence against women and the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, organized jointly with Facebook.

The OHCHR also supported the Special Rapporteur on violence against women in the organization of a working level meeting with the members of the institutional platform of international and regional women’s rights mechanisms created in March 2018.

ESCAP and UN Women co-chair the Asia-Pacific Regional Coordination Mechanism Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (TWG-GEEW), which has formally integrated the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign into the development and implementation of its regional interagency workplan. Under the auspices of the TWG-GEEW, ESCAP and UN Women co-organized the Regional Commemoration for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women under the umbrella of UNiTE and #HearMeToo on 23 November 2018. The Ted-talk style event named E.Quality Talks: My Story of Ending Violence against Women, involved survivors of violence, survivor advocates, women’s movements representatives and women’s human rights defenders. Hearing directly from those who have endured violence, fought against it, or helped to prevent it happening to others added credibility, and helped put ‘a human face’ on facts and statistics that can provoke the public to take action. Feedback for the event was unanimously positive from both storytellers and listeners.

The event was attended by the diplomatic community, civil society organizations and UN staff. At the Regional Commemoration, the #DontTellMeHowToDress exhibition, which is a Thai version of the #MeToo movement, was launched at the UN compound. The exhibition displayed the clothing victims wore at the time of the assault to challenge the misconception around sexual violence. 

From this year's experience, the UNITE Worknig Group learnt that it is very important to provide those who are not usually heard with an opportunity to speak, and platforms to share their messages. 

IOM continues to host a Training Specialist from the IASC GBV Guidelines Implementation Support Team. The Specialist has, among other things, co-facilitated GBV Guidelines Rollout Trainings in Guatemala and El Salvador, and helped develop guidance for non-GBV specialists on how to respond supportively to a GBV disclosure in field locations where no direct GBV services are available. In addition, IOM continues to strengthen its partnership with the GBV AoR, particularly in the areas of rapid response capacities and information management. IOM is supporting interagency NORCAP, Regional GBV in Emergency Advisors to enhance regional rapid response and capacity building capabilities of the GBV AoR.

UNHCR is a signatory of the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-based Violence in Emergencies and has made 10 commitments aimed at changing UNHCR’s internal institutional policies and implementing SGBV prevention, mitigation and response programmes from the onset of emergencies. 

As lead for the Global Protection Cluster, the UNHCR promotes protection as central to the humanitarian response and as a core member of the IASC’s GBV Area of Responsibility, UNHCR works with UN agencies, NGOs and governments to ensure coverage and quality of prevention and response mechanisms in addressing SGBV. 

UNHCR is member of the Real Time Accountability Partnership and serves as member of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, an interagency collation aimed at galvanizing coordinated UN effort to address sexual violence in conflict-related settings.

UNHCR co-chairs the IASC Task Team on Accountability to Affected Populations and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (AAP/PSEA).

UNHCR is also a member of the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict Network of Focal Points who support the work of the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. 

7.  “Safe & Fair” delivers technical assistance and support with the overall objective of making labour migration safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region. This project is part of the multi-year EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to Eliminate Violence against Women and Girls and is implemented by the ILO and UN Women.
See: ILO. 2018. “Safe&Fair: Realizing women migrant worker’s rights and opportunities in the ASEAN region”. Available at:  https://www.ilo.org/asia/media-centre/multimedia/WCMS_634369/lang--en/index.htm 


8. MESAGEN Peru (Mesa de Género de la Cooperación Internacional) supports the Peruvian Government and civil society in the development of strategies and action to promote gender equality, women empowerment and equal opportunities between women and men in Peru. Together with the EU and actors in the United Nations System, the ILO has worked on promoting the prevention of violence against women, especially in the private sector. 

ELIMINATING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP –  programme led by UN Women and including UNFPA, UN Habitat and UNODC. The partnership aims at reducing vulnerability of women and girls in West Bank & Gaza to all forms of violence against women and from the threat of such violence.

1. WHO participates in the Joint UN Programme on Essential services for women subject to violence . Specifically WHO has contributed its guidelines and tools for the health component of this initiative and led on the health component during the multi-agency regional and global workshops on the initiative. 2. WHO implements UNiTE activities for the 16 Days of Activism 3. In humanitarian settings, WHO is strengthening its work on gender-based violence in emergencies with a focus on strengthening the integration of GBV in the work of the health cluster. It has contributed to the plan of action and partners meeting of the GBV AoR and the Call to Action to end Violence in Emergencies and has supported the roll out of the IASC Guidelines. WHO is also a member of UNAction-

During IANWGE’s Annual Meeting, violence against women is regularly included during the session on Thematic areas of System-wide Relevance. Members are briefed on updates related to the prevention of violence against women, the availability of essential services for survivors, and violence against women data collection.