Oct 2010 - Feb 2011

With sponsorship from the Government of Norway, OSAGI, now part of UN Women, collaborated with INSTRAW and ECLAC, to develop an online training course entitled Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) in Latin America and the Caribbean to be distributed by the Peace Operations Training Institute (POTI). A second course on the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) in Africa, is being finalised for distribution.

The main objectives of the UNDP “Access to Justice Program” in the Democratic Republic of Congo are to promote legal awareness; strengthen judicial response; and increase access to justice. In 2010, 213 local and traditional leaders benefited from sensitization campaigns, and 20 military officers in charge of training and communication were trained to provide awareness-raising amongst military forces on sexual gender-based violence, command, leadership and disciplinary measures. These officers have further sensitized high-ranking officers and soldiers.

In Liberia, through its programme on Strengthening the Rule of Law and Administration in Liberia, UNDP supports the capacity of national institutions to address sexual gender-based violence crimes; to implement the recommendations of CEDAW and the Action Plans on SCR 1325 and the National Gender Policy to promote gender equality. The programme continued with financial and technical support to the sexual gender-based violence Crimes Unit.

In Sri Lanka, UNDP’s “Equal Access to Justice” project has undertaken a series of workshops targeting community-based organizations in plantation areas, in order to strengthen the support networks for survivors of gender-based violence at the local level. In these workshops several issues related sexual gender-based and domestic violence were discussed.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia, UNDP supported the development of curricula and the training of judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies on how to approach cases of sexual gender-based violence: capacity-building for monitoring trials related to sexual gender-based violence, in Bosnia and Herzegovina by targeting NGOs, and in Kyrgyzstan through the Ombudsman Institute.

Human Rights Sections of Peace Keeping Operations continue to implement activities related to sexual gender-based violence.

In Nepal, informal legal aid desks, operating in police stations, were supported by UNDP. Mobile legal aid clinics in three districts provided free legal services and information to 1524 people (80% were women). The paralegal programme, at the community level, was expanded in 2010 and the paralegal committees received training on gender-based vioelnce and justice, helping to mainstream a national awareness initiative on sexual gender-absed violence.

In Somalia (Somaliland), a referral system, facilitated by UNDP, was established in 2010 through which clan elders refer cases involving serious violations of gender violence to the formal courts. As a result of the new referral system, and the work of the Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Hargeisa (SARC), there has been a 44% increase of sexual violence cases referred to the formal courts, compared to 2009.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, UNDP supported NGOs to establish eight paralegal centers at the community level; two in North Kivu and six in South Kivu. The paralegal centers have assisted with more than 183 cases by providing information and orientation to victims and ultimately positively influencing national peace processes and contributing to post-crisis recovery and peace-building. In partnership with Avocats Sans Frontieres, UNDP supported the South Kivu Bar Association to launch a pro bono office providing legal aid, now serving Bukavu.

In Sierra Leone, UNDP continued to support six civil society organizations to provide legal aid to sexual gender-based violence survivors, resulting in 19 convictions bringing the total to 45 convictions in 2010 (compared to zero in 2009, according to GoSiL). UNDP will continue to build the capacity of the Sierra Leone Bar Association to ensure institutional sustainability of legal service provision on sexual gender-based violence.