United Nations Population Fund
Background
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is the leading UN agency dedicated to advancing a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
UNFPA works tirelessly to further gender equality and women’s empowerment, while addressing the causes and consequences of violence against women and girls, with a particular focus on its impact on women’s sexual and reproductive health.
Policy framework
UNFPA is guided by and promotes the principles of the groundbreaking Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (1994), which includes the commitment that advancing gender equality and equity and the empowerment of women, and the elimination of all kinds of violence against women, and ensuring women’s ability to control their own fertility are cornerstones of population and development-related programmes.
Areas of Focus
It remains a strategic priority for UNFPA to prevent and respond to gender-based violence across humanitarian, peace and development settings, including eliminating harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, child marriage and gender-biased sex slection. UNFPA supports comprehensive, survivor-centred responses in humanitarian, development, and peace-responsive actions across more than 150 countries. In 2023, UNFPA invested $505 million in initiatives to eliminate GBV and harmful practices.
UNFPA’s Work on GBV:
Advocacy/Policy:
UNFPA collaborates with national and international stakeholders to address gaps in legislation and law enforcement related to GBV and harmful practices. It supports the development of culturally sensitive, rights-based policies and plans for GBV prevention and response, with a strong emphasis on integrating these efforts into the health sector. UNFPA also works to align national frameworks with international agreements such as the SDGs, CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action.
Capacity Development:
UNFPA partners with women’s and youth feminist organizations, civil society, governments, and other stakeholders to transform harmful gender and social norms to promote gender equality in families, communities and institutions. . It focuses on building the capacity of governments, civil society, and service providers to respond and prevent GBV, across the social services, health, legal and justice and education sectors.
Data and Evidence Generation:
UNFPA plays a critical role in collecting, analyzing, and utilizing data to understand the prevalence, incidence, and impact of GBV worldwide. It partners with national statistics offices and relevant ministries to strengthen national data systems and ensure the ethical collection of GBV-related data. Through initiatives like kNOwVAWdata UNFPA provides technical support and capacity building for evidence-based policymaking in several regions and languages.
In humanitarian settings, UNFPA co-leads the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS), which harmonizes data collection across 25 crisis contexts. An adapted version of GBVIMS is also used in development settings to safely collect, store, analyze, and share survivor-reported data. These efforts ensure that data informs decision-making, resource allocation, and the development of effective GBV prevention and response programmes.
Service Delivery:
UNFPA promotes a survivor-centred integrated approach to addressing GBV through dynamic systems of prevention, protection, and response, including through sexual and reproductive health services. It strengthens survivors’ access to quality health care, social services, and legal and justice support, guided by the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence and the Interagency Minimum Standards on Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies Programming. UNFPA also leads the Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility (GBV AoR) under the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, coordinating global and national efforts to address GBV interventions in humanitarian settings.
From 2023 to 2026, with the support of Takeda, UNFPA is implementing the Women at the Center programme, which strengthens case management and professional social-service workforce capacities in Azerbaijan, El Salvador, Indonesia, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe.
Preventing GBV:
UNFPA works to dismantle harmful social and gender norms that perpetuate inequality and violence. It implements prevention programming as outlined in the RESPECT framework, partnering with UN Women, WHO, and UNDP. UNFPA also promotes comprehensive sexuality education as a primary prevention tool, fostering gender-equitable attitudes among adolescents to reduce violence and promote healthier relationships.UNFPA also engages communities, including men and boys in advancing gender equality and ending harmful practices, while remaining accountable to feminist movements.
Responding to GBV Across Contexts:
UNFPA supports comprehensive, survivor-centred responses in both humanitarian and development settings, ensuring access to health care, social services, and legal support. Its initiatives are guided by the Flourish: UNFPA Gender-Based Violence Operational Plan and the UNFPA Strategy and Operational Plan to Scale Up and Strengthen Interventions on Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies 2023–2025. UNFPA also addresses the growing intersections between GBV, climate change, protracted crises, and population movements, working across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus to strengthen preparedness, resilience, and long-term development.
Addressing Technology-Facilitated GBV (TFGBV):
UNFPA has been leading work on addressing TFGBV since 2021 with publication of Making All Spaces Safe: Technology-facilitated GBV and have now launched the Making All Spaces Safe global programme (2024–2027), with the support of Global Affairs Canada, to tackle this issue. This initiative focuses on addressing TFGBV through comprehensive, survivor-centred programming. It integrates digital literacy into prevention and response mechanisms, advocates for rights-based law reform, and promotes safety-by-design standards to mitigate harm. The programme is being implemented globally, with a focus on Kenya and Benin, to address the evolving nature of GBV in digital spaces. UNFPA are also leading the Safety Showcase: Re-imagining Gender in Technology with the support the United Kingdom to highlight tech products, policies and features that represent gender at the centre of design and deployment.
Global Initiatives and Partnerships:
UNFPA is a key partner in the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, supporting civil society initiatives worldwide. It also actively participates in the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, advocating for increased activism to ensure women and girls can live free from violence and coercion. Through its global programmes and partnerships, UNFPA continues to set standards for survivor-centred care and drive transformative change to end GBV in all its forms.
Resources
An Infographic Guide on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/infographic-guide-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-tfgbv)
A Framework for TFGBV Programming (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/framework-tfgbv-programming)
Our Bodies, Our Rights! Addressing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Gender-based Violence for Women and Young People with Disabilities (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/our-bodies-our-rights-addressing-sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-rights-and-gender)
UNFPA Strategy and Operational Plan to Scale-up and Strengthen Interventions on Gender-based Violence in Emergencies, 2023-2025: Executive Summary (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/unfpa-strategy-and-operational-plan-scale-and-strengthen-interventions-gender-based)
Flourish. UNFPA Gender-Based Violence Operational Plan: Summary (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/flourish-unfpa-gender-based-violence-operational-plan-summary)
Guidance on the Safe and Ethical Use of Technology to Address Gender-based Violence and Harmful Practices: Implementation Summary (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/implementation-summary-safe-ethical-use-technology-gbv-harmful-practices)
A Guide to Better Understanding and Using Violence Against Women Prevalence Data (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/guide-better-understanding-and-using-violence-against-women-prevalence-data)
2022 Global Symposium on Technology-facilitated Gender-based Violence Results: Building a Common Pathway (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/2022-global-symposium-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-results-building)
Measuring technology-facilitated gender-based violence. A discussion paper (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/measuring-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-discussion-paper)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Feminist Design (https://www.unfpa.org/resources/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-feminist-design)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Rights-Based Regulation (https://www.unfpa.org/resources/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-rights-based-regulation)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Data and Measurement (https://www.unfpa.org/resources/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-data-and-measurement)
Addressing Gender-Based Violence Across Contexts: Gender-Based Violence Interagency (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/addressing-gender-based-violence-across-contexts-gender-based-violence-interagency)
Addressing Gender-Based Violence Across Contexts: Gender-Based Violence Interagency Minimum Standards and the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/unfpa-implementation-essential-services-package-women-and-girls-subject-violence)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Making All Spaces Safe (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-making-all-spaces-safe)
Getting to Zero: Mapping UNFPA Leadership on Ending Gender-based Violence (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/getting-to-zero)
Reporting on Gender-Based Violence in Humanitarian Settings: A Journalist’s Handbook (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/reporting-gender-based-violence-humanitarian-settings-journalists-handbook)
The RESPECT framework: https://respect-prevent-vaw.org/
The Inter-Agency Minimum Standards for Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies Programming (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/inter-agency-minimum-standards-gender-based-violence-emergencies-programming)
Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/essential-services-package-women-and-girls-subject-violence)
Minimum Standards for Prevention and Response to Gender-based Violence in Emergencies (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/minimum-standards-prevention-and-response-gender-based-violence-emergencies-0)
UNFPA plays a pivotal role in data collection, analysis, and research to enhance understanding and response to VAW.
View MoreUNFPA plays a pivotal role in data collection, analysis, and research to enhance understanding and response to VAW.
One of its flagship initiatives, kNOwVAWdata, provides technical support and capacity-building for ethical and robust VAW prevalence studies. Launched in 2016 in Asia-Pacific, it has since expanded to Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The initiative helps countries collect and use data to inform programming and monitor SDG 5 on gender equality.
In humanitarian settings, UNFPA leads GBV administrative data collection through the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS), ensuring ethical handling of sensitive data to improve response efforts. In 2024, the UNFPA Humanitarian Response Division conducted an external review of GBVIMS, assessing progress and UNFPA’s role as a lead agency.
Regional Data and Research Efforts
- West & East Africa: In partnership with UNICEF and the Innocenti Center, UNFPA launched an operational study in 2024 to develop technical guidance for FGM and child marriage programming in humanitarian settings.
- Arab States: Published "Voices from Syria" and "Voices from Sudan," providing qualitative insights into GBV in crisis settings.
- Asia-Pacific: Supports VAW prevalence studies, ensuring ethical and robust methodologies. From 2021-2024, APRO supported national surveys in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, and Vanuatu—with 32 out of 36 countries having conducted at least one study, and 12 with comparable data to track changes over time. In 2024, APRO and the University of Melbourne published research on technology-facilitated GBV in Asia, including in-depth studies in three countries. UNFPA also ran GBV data learning sessions in four countries in the Pacific under the Spotlight Initiative, hosted a GBV data course in Fiji, and developed the GBV Administrative Data Toolkit for the Pacific.
- Latin America & Caribbean: Conducted the first regional qualitative research on child marriage and early unions (CMEU) in eight countries, in collaboration with Plan International, making the issue more visible. Based on this research, UNFPA and UNICEF launched an inter-agency strategy to eliminate CMEU, including the Allies for Children and Adolescents Free of Harmful Practices regional platform.
Through these initiatives, UNFPA strengthens evidence-based policies and interventions, ensuring accountability in the global fight against GBV and harmful practices.
GBV is increasingly a characteristic of conflict and is often perpetrated against women and girls; and, in some instances, has been used as a tactic of war, UNFPA collaborates with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and is a member of the Steering Committee as well as the Expert Advisory Group. UNFPA contributions are to ensure the particular needs of adolescent girls and women as a result of sexual violence are factored in efforts of the Special Representative to address reintegration. UNFPA contributed to the development of high-level papers and to the SG Reports.
With the Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, UNFPA convened an Expert Group Meeting to gather current and past research and information by leading media organizations, news entities and key women journalists on the status, consequences and causes of threats to women journalists worldwide. The findings and the submissions received following a call for input issued by the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women contributed to the report the Special Rapporteur presented at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council in June 2020.
The kNOwVAWdata initiative supports safe and ethical prevalence and administrative data collection, analysis and reporting through technical assistance as well as capacity development programmes. From 2018 to 2019, 65 UNFPA staff participated in the kNOwVAWdata curriculum course from 19 countries. In December 2020 the course was adjusted to an online format which enabled an additional 50 participants, from all regions, to undertake the course. Currently 32 UNFPA staff and close to 100 external participants are enrolled in the course curriculum from over 36 countries. Under the UNFPA flagship programme for disability inclusion, The We Decide Global Initiative, one key focus area is ending violence against women with disabilities and building UNFPA internal capacities accordingly. The UNFPA We Decide Disability Inclusion Guidelines have been implemented in 74 Country Offices. Within the scope of the Joint Programme for UN Partnership for Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) “Building Back Better for All”, UNFPA produced resources that strengthen disability inclusive COVID-19 response and recovery in connection to GBV and SRHR. UNFPA staff was trained on how to use these tools and resources.Under the UNFPA flagship programme for disability inclusion, The We Decide Global Initiative, one key focus area is ending violence against women with disabilities and building UNFPA internal capacities accordingly. The UNFPA We Decide Disability Inclusion Guidelines have been implemented in 74 Country Offices. Within the scope of the Joint Programme for UN Partnership for Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) “Building Back Better for All”, UNFPA produced resources that strengthen disability inclusive COVID-19 response and recovery in connection to GBV and SRHR. UNFPA staff was trained on how to use these tools and resources.
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.
Together with UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States launched the “Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence” in October 2016 in the United Arab Emirates. The package of services was introduced to the Arab States for the first time as the launch took place on the side of the second “Investing in the Future” conference organized in the UAE by UN Women and the UAE’s “The Big Heart Foundation” under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. The launch was an opportunity to emphasize the importance of coordination among various multi-sectoral responses for women and girls subject to violence and offered the space for over 100 participants from civil society, academia and governmental institutions to exchange experiences about violence against women in the region.
The UN Women Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean, in partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), hosted the meeting “Preventing and Responding to Violence Against Women and Girls in Latin-America and the Caribbean: Lessons learned across the globe”, which was held in Panama City from December 5 to 7 of 2016. This event provided a unique space, bringing together several UN agencies, government officials, diplomats, civil society organizations, global researchers and other experts in the field of preventing and responding to violence against women and girls to exchange experiences and explore ways to implement effective and promising practices to address violence against women. This approach sought to drive change in the region, which has been characterized by the lack of evidence-based interventions and rigorous evaluations. A total of 25 countries were represented in this meeting and UN women key guidance documents such as the UN prevention Framework to End Violence against Women and Girls as well as the Essential services guidelines were disseminated.
As part of UN Women’s collaboration with 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 form of violence, UN Women has finalized and published the policy paper titled “Female genital mutilation/cutting and violence against women and girls: Strengthening the policy linkages between different forms of violence”, with the support of a technical advisory group in February 2017. The paper – which is accompanied by an also published background paper - explores policy and programming interlinkages and considers entry points in the areas of (i) national legislation, (ii) prevention strategies, (iii) response for survivors, and (iv) data and evidence, for increased coordination and collaboration to advance the objectives of ending FGM/C and other forms of VAWG, in particular intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. It is intended for multiple audiences, including those directly involved in policy development, planning and implementing initiatives, those providing technical support, and advocates for ending all forms of VAWG, including FGM/C. A training module on gender and FGM/C, to accompany the UNFPA-UNICEF Manual on Social Norms and Change will be finished in March 2017.
UNFPA, in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), has developed a Regional Training Programme on Gender and Security and the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security for government officials, military and civilian peacekeeping personnel, professionals and academics, and NGOs and civil society organizations (CSOs). The purpose of the training programme is to promote greater knowledge of UNSCR 1325 in the Latin America and Caribbean region, so that the goal of mainstreaming gender in the area of peace and security becomes a critical function of peace-keeping forces sending nations. Originally developed for the Latin America and Caribbean Region, the curriculum has now been designed in a manner that can be adapted to suit local contexts in other regions and countries that have a peace-keeping and peace-building role. The programme has been piloted in a few countries in the region over 2014 and 2015 and will be globally rolled out in 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.
UNFPA works with key stakeholders to address inadquacies in national legislation in the vast majority of its 124 Country and Sub-Regional Offices. As much as 93 percent of UNFPA Country Offices are involved in the drafting of national legislation on VAW. In 2015, the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGM/C) succeeded in assisting the governments and parliaments of Nigeria and Gambia on enacting specific national legislations on FGM/C. The “Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act” was adopted in Nigeria and an amendment was made to the “Women’s Act of 2010” in The Gambia.