Jul 2007

As part of its work on women, peace and security, OSAGI, now part of UN Women, carries out research and analysis on gender-based violence against women in armed conflict, especially with a view to preparing reports for the Security Council. In collaboration with the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE), OSAGI coordinated the preparation of the Secretary-General's Study on Women, Peace and Security (2002), which also covers violence against women.

UNICEF has played a major role in the new initiative UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict, as co-chair of the advocacy working group. UNICEF also supports the provision of care and support for survivors of rape, especially in conflict situations. UNIFEM and UNFPA jointly hosted an expert meeting on sexual violence in humanitarian situations to strengthen inter-agency collaborative action to combat sexual violence in crisis. UNFPA also supports the Global Call to Action to End Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict.

UNDP’s 2006-2007 Plan of action for mainstreaming gender perspectives in crisis prevention and recovery addresses violence against women in the context of conflict and post-conflict situations.

DPKO works to ensure that adequate policies are in place to prevent and respond to gender-based violence against women in armed conflict, and to protect women against sexual abuse and exploitation.

UNICEF hosted a region-wide workshop on best practices to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in South Africa which brought together representatives from more than 20 UNICEF offices in Africa, along with government partners to learn from the South African experience of addressing gender-based violence and share experiences to prevent and respond to it.

WHO developed a Handbook for the documentation of interpersonal violence prevention programmes, which provides guidance on how to document violence programmes, as a basis for monitoring and evaluation of interventions to prevent and reduce violence.

UNFPA employs a wide range of operational strategies to address violence against women, including the development of guidelines and tools, capacity-building and training. As such, UNFPA has supported sensitivity training of medical professionals to meet the health needs of women affected by violence. Pilot interventions have been tested in 10 countries—Cape Verde, Ecuador, Guatemala, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mozambique, Nepal, Romania, Russia and Sri Lanka. It has also supported an international consultation on programming to address gender-based violence.

UNHCR formulated Guidelines for the Protection of Refugee Women in 1991. In 2003, it released Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees, and Internally Displaced Persons: Guidelines for Prevention and Response, which was an update of its existing 1995 guidelines. The guidelines have been published in the six United Nations languages and in 13 other languages, and have been distributed to persons of concern, government counterparts, and implementing and operational partners. In addition, a Handbook on the Protection of Women and Girls was provisionally released in 2006.

WHO has developed various training programmes, such as Teach-VIP that includes modules on intimate partner and sexual violence; a virtual course on comprehensive care for sexual and domestic violence victims (PAHO). WHO, with PATH, has developed Researching violence against women: A practical guide for researchers and activists that will be used as the basis of regional training courses. It also developed training packages on management of childbirth for women with FGM.

ILO’s Labour Standards Department, in cooperation with ILO’s field offices, provides technical advice on policy and legislation, and conducts training on sexual harassment legislation and policies for constituents. Recently work has been undertaken in this area in the Asian region, in particular Malaysia, China and Pakistan, as well as in the context of the annual training at the ILO training centre in Turin on international Labour standards and gender equality.