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In Viet Nam in 2015, UN Women provided technical support to the Ministry of Education and Training to develop a circular that will provide guidance to schools nationwide to introduce counseling services to help students deal with issues such as school-related gender based violence (SRGBV) and difficulties in gender relations. This is in response to growing evidence that SRGBV, especially cyber harassment has become common and increasingly complicated recently. The circular is currently being reviewed by the Government and is expected to be approved by the Prime Minister in August 2016.
As part of the Phase II of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on FGM/C, to strengthen the inter-linkages between VAWG and harmful practices such as FGM/C, and address the root causes of such violence, UN Women has developed is developing policy document on essential elements to end FGM/C as a form of VAWG, in addition to a training module on gender and FGM/C, to accompany the UNFPA-UNICEF Manual on Social Norms and Change.
In Jordan, UN Women implemented a program to enhance Syrian Women’s Empowerment in Camp Settings. Within the framework of the Jordan Response Plan to the Syria Crisis 2016-18, UN Women operates safe spaces for Syrian women in Za’atari refugee camp. UN Women has been operating in Za’atari camp since early 2013 and in these settings provides a range of services. Among other services, UN Women provides awareness raising sessions on domestic violence and early marriage.
UNODC was involved in the work of the global focal point for police, justice and corrections in post-conflict and other crisis situations, in relation to joint field missions, planning and programming, and in strategic and operational discussions at headquarters. Led by UNDP and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, in partnership with Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UN-Women and UNODC, the global focal point supports UN country presences in mission and non-mission settings.
Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality organized a session on Ending Violence againt Women during the 15th Annual session of the IANWGE with panelists from UN Women and UNODC in March 2016.
In June, 2016, UN Women held Results-Sharing Meeting on Leveraging Technical Tools, Evidence and Community Engagement to Advance the Implementation of Laws and Provision of Services to Women Experiencing Violence in South-East Asia. Over 40 government officials, UN Women officers and Civil Society Organizations across South-East Asia region shared results from EVAW work, affirming the importance of a two-tier approach, where policy-level interventions are undertaken in parallel to interventions at the community level.
In Jordan, through the support of the Governments of Norway, UN Women - in partnership with UNFPA and UNICEF - implements the second phase of the joint project “Hemayati: Promoting Women and Girls’ Health and Well-being”. The project is also implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), Ministry of Health (MoH) and partner NGOs including the Jordanian Women Union and Un Ponte Per (UPP). The project’s overall aim is to increase sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) survivors’ access to comprehensive lifesaving protection services, including health, psychosocial and legal services. Building on a successful first phase (2013-2014), the second phase of the project is being implemented in five governorates of Jordan (Amman, Irbid, Zarqa, Mafraq and Maan) benefiting from the expertise of all participating UN agencies and partners. The objective is to bring all the services necessary for women and girls who have experienced violence in a one-stop shop to ensure that they receive quality, survivor-centered support when they need it most.
With the Sustainable Development Agenda committed to ending all forms of violence against women and girls, UN Women has led an initiative involving six other UN entities to create the Framework to Underpin Action to Prevent Violence against Women. It maps evidence-based and emerging practices in preventing violence, with a focus on addressing root causes, risk and protective factors.
The Global Study on resolution 1325 is a review of 15 years of effort on the part of Member States, Civil Society, UN agencies and the international community to implement this groundbreaking resolution and move the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda forward. The Study was led by independent expert Radhika Coomaraswamy, and was developed based on a series of regional consultations with Civil Society Organizations as well as in-depth research commissioned by leading experts in the WPS field. The Study represents the most comprehensive and updated compilation of the growing evidence that women’s empowerment contributes to the success of peace talks and the achievement of sustainable peace, accelerates economic recovery, strengthens our peace operations, improves our humanitarian assistance, and can help counter violent extremism. According to the Global Study, the main reason for the gap between the robustness of our normative frameworks and the weakness of our implementation on the ground is lack of political will, accountability and resources, and institutional and attittudinal barriers. In the last 15 years, there have been long lists of recommendations but few sticks and carrots to induce compliance, and the Global Study provides key findings and concrete recommendations for implementing 1325, and subsequent WPS resolutions, across a number of areas.
The programme of work to develop the Essential Services Package has been a partnership between UN Women, UNFPA, WHO, UNDP and UNODC. The 5 modules comprising the package, identify the essential services to be provided by the health, social services, police and justice sectors as well as guidelines for the coordination of Essential Services and the governance of coordination processes and mechanisms. Service delivery guidelines for the core elements of each essential service have also been identified to ensure the delivery of high quality services, particularly for low and middle income countries for women and girls experiencing violence. This is being supported by the development of other tools including an implementation manual and a monitoring and evaluation framework for the implementation of the guidelines in different contexts. Negotiations are underway for the formalization of a UN Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence by the five agencies for Phase II of the work to implement the guidelines in up to ten countries.