Mar 2013 - Feb 2014

UNHCR carried several awareness-raising activities which culminated in the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, which focused on the theme Safety in School: Teachers and Students Unite to Make Schools SGBV-Free.

The Asia-Pacific Regional Coordination Mechanism Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (TWG-GEEW), co-chaired by ESCAP and UN WOMEN, continued its engagement in support of the women, peace and security (WPS) agenda. The Thematic Working Group convened the “Second Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Regional Advisory Group on Women, Peace and Security” on 1-2 August 2013.

UNODC supported the Cumbre de Mujeres y Paz (Summit of Women for Peace) in presenting in proposals from the perspective of women to the peace negotiations between the government and the FARC in Havana, Cuba.

OHCHR, as a member of the Team of Experts on rule of law, supported the Team and contributed to strengthening the capacity of national rule of law and justice actors to address impunity for conflict-related sexual violence, including in DRC, Cote d’Ivoire and Somalia.

ECLAC provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Woman of Paraguay on the elaboration of their National Action Plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security, which was the second one in the region to be published. A pilot course for the regional training curriculum on the implementation of UNSCR 1325 was carried out highlighting the need to involve women in conflict resolution processes and peacekeeping.

A regional Expert Group Meeting on “Identification of legislative gaps for the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security in the Arab Region”, was held by ESCWA, in partnership with ECA and IPU.

In Kosovo, OHCHR published a study on sexual gender-based violence related to the conflict and actively advocated towards the adoption of a law for reparations of survivors of sexual violence, which is still with the Kosovo Assembly for further discussion. To assist the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325, OHCHR provided countries with financial and technical support to implement national actions plans such as Kosovo, or develop such plans, such as Guinea, which eventually adopted a national action plan (2013-2017).

In December 2010, OHCHR and UN Women were tasked by the Secretary-General’s Policy Committee to develop a Guidance Note on reparations for victims of conflict-related sexual violence. The Guidance Note, which was informed by a study jointly commissioned by OHCHR and UN Women, provides policy and operational guidance for Member States, UN agencies, development actors, and civil society organizations on the topic, and will be finalized in the first quarter of 2014.

OHCHR continued its specialised course on monitoring and investigating conflict- related sexual violence (CRSV) for human rights officers which was translated into French and delivered to the Human Rights Components of MONUSCO.