Mar 2011 - Jan 2012

In partnership with DPKO and the Office of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, UN Women developed scenario-based pre-deployment training for military peacekeepers to prevent and respond to sexual violence, which were tested in several troop contributing countries, such as Nepal where 466 army personnel were trained. Both the Security Council, in resolution 1960, and the Secretary-General, in his annual report on conflict-related sexual violence, have encouraged member states to incorporate these modules into their regular training for peace operations.

UNFPA supported the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders to develop capacities of grassroots women’s activists in Burundi and Nepal to enable them to monitor and advocate at the policy level on Security Council resolution 1325 implementation, with a special focus on sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence. Workshops were held over 2011 in both these countries and results of the monitoring and advocacy initiatives were presented at a high-level meeting held in New York in October 2011, along the sidelines of the 11th anniversary of the resolution.

In Senegal, OHCHR has been involved in a government training directed at the police and the armed forces on Security Council resolution 1325. OHCHR is also actively involved in the training for women high-level mediators developed by UNOWA.

In Sudan, the Human Rights Section of UNAMID organized workshops addressing sexual gender-based violence in West Darfur; it has developed and install billboards related to sexual gender-based violence around South Darfur; it has produced leaflets on the mandate, role and services of the Family and Child Protection Units; and it has trained State actors on human rights and criminal investigation procedures.

UNFPA continued to provide support to the Kofi Annan Peace Institute in Ghana to develop capacities of grassroots women to implement Security Council resolution 1325 components in select African countries. The training curriculum on women, peace and security for the African region was developed over 2011 and will be rolled out over 2012.

The development of an e-learning course to address gender-based violence issues in humanitarian settings was developed and rolled out; the course covers a broad swath of other issues under the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) agenda. To access the e-learning course, visit: https://extranet.unfpa.org/Apps/GBVinEmergencies/index.html

In September 2011 ECLAC, together with UNFPA, organized a regional dialogue on violence and safety of women in conflict and post-conflict environment in efforts to promote the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325.

In its fifth year, the Ghent Gender-based Violence Course in humanitarian settings conducted by UNFPA in collaboration with Ghent University attracted 120 participants. The course was designed to improve knowledge, understanding, and communication skills to effectively prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV) in humanitarian settings, and to build capacity to coordinate multi-sectoral responses to GBV in humanitarian settings.

In collaboration with ECLAC, UNFPA hosted a multi-stakeholder workshop in Santiago, Chile, in September 2011. The workshop focused on strategies for developing a Women, Peace and Security Curriculum for the Latin American and Caribbean region over 2012, with a focus on gender-based violence.

In September 2011, UNODA’s Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) co-organised a seminar for women working in civil society organisations in South America. The seminar enhanced their knowledge of linkages between sexual and gender-based violence, small arms control and armed violence prevention and reduction.