United Nations Children’s Fund
Background
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) is mandated to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children.
Policy framework
UNICEF is guided by the Mid-Term Strategic Plan 2006-2009, extended until the end of 2011, which prioritizes promotion of gender equality and programming to protect children from violence.
Areas of Focus
UNICEF works on different manifestations of gender-based violence, depending on the particular country or context. These include: female genital mutilation/cutting, early marriage, trafficking, sexual exploitation, sexual violence, domestic violence, and violence in schools. UNICEF has been particularly focused on violence against women and girls in armed conflict. UNICEF engages in capacity building and development of holistic strategies to end gender-based violence, as well as the training of staff and partners. UNICEF’s strategy to end gender-based violence includes continuous support to the strengthening of law enforcement on violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking of children; work with judicial systems to prevent re-victimization of children and adolescents victims; strengthening of child protection systems at national and local levels to prevent, protect and care for children victims of violence, abuse and exploitation and work with education and health sectors to raise awareness on how to detect and report violence, exploitation and abuse of children.
Resources
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2016
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2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development(Commitment)
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Luxembourg Guidelines(Guidelines)
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2017
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UASC Tool Kit(Guidance/tool)
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INSPIRE Handbook and Indicators Compendium(Guidance/tool)
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In 2015, the Central African Republic saw an increase in the number of reported cases of sexual exploitation and abuse involving children by United Nations personnel or by foreign military personnel associated with a United Nations mandate, rising to 28 cases from 9 reported cases in 2014. 1)In response, UNICEF implemented a Notification Alert to senior management to strengthen the reporting of child rights allegations and incidents, this contributed to improving timely reporting and monitoring of cases. 2)UNICEF increased the scale up assistance and support to victims, through medical care, psychosocial support, and legal assistance, complemented with provision of food, clothing and hygiene kits. UNICEF also provided training to partners from the Ministry of Social Affairs and the NGOs providing care to victims, an important step in expanding response capacity within the country. 3)In order to avoid stigma and media attention and in the best interest of the child, UNICEF worked with NGOs to relocate the victims to different neighborhoods. This work has been critical not only for providing support to child victims of sexual exploitation and abuse, but also as an entry point for strengthening a broader programmatic approach to prevention and response to gender-based violence in emergencies.
UNESCO’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report (EFA GMR) co-organized a rally to end school-related gender-based violence, together with the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), UNICEF and the UN Global Education First Initiative(GEFI).
UNICEF contributed significantly to building the global evidence base, leading or co-leading on major research, studies and publications. In 2014, UNICEF published the largest-ever compilation of data on violence against children – “Hidden in Plain Sight: A Statistical Analysis of Violence against Children”, followed by a dedicated statistical report on violence against adolescents’ girls - “A Statistical Snapshot of Violence against Adolescent Girls”. In 2015, UNICEF released an analysis of current levels, trends and projections of child marriage in Africa. Despite persistent challenges, an increase in the quality and rigor of data around violence against children, including sexual violence was noted in 2015, with 32 data-driven studies produced globally. In addition, a “Diagnostic Review and the Study on the Structural Determinants of violence against children and women” was completed by UNICEF in 2015 by the University of Cape Town. Jointly with WHO, Center for Disease Control and other partners, a multi-sectoral package of evidence-based interventions to prevent and respond to violence against children was developed.
In 2014, UNICEF collective provided timely emergency response such as food, water, shelter, latrines, health care and psychosocial support for millions of women and girls affected by conflict. In Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria, Syria and Nigeria, UNICEF helped in protecting the dignity of women and girls in camps for the internally displaced people. In 2015, almost 10,000 children were released from armed forces or armed groups, with at least 70 per cent receiving reintegration assistance.
In March 2014, during the 25th session of the Human Rights Council, OHCHR partnered with UNFPA, UNICEF and others to bring the award winning exhibition, “Too Young to Wed” to the Palais des Nations in Geneva on the issue of child marriage.
UNHCR is a founding member of the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System and sits on its Steering Committee along with UNFPA, IRC, IMC and UNICEF. UNHCR is working to strengthen and harmonize data collection on SGBV by implementing the GBVIMS in selected operations. In 2015, UNHCR provided technical support in data collection and analysis to 22 countries.