Oct 2010 - Feb 2011

In Guinea Conakry, UNDP partnered with several stakeholders and coordinated the development of “Standard Operational Procedures” on assistance for survivors of sexual violence and of a referral system. UNDP supports a women’s network to provide legal aid, and information to survivors of gender-based violence.

In Sri Lanka, UNDP’s “Equal Access to Justice” project launched its “Community Legal Empowerment for Women” project in November 2010. The project targets also men and includes initiatives, such as legal awareness workshops, which address prevention and response mechanisms related to sexual gender-based violence; benefits of formally registering marriages. The workshops also seek to build effective referral pathways for those who are interested in accessing the projects. Two programs of training of trainers have already been conducted.

Following the report of the “Panel on Reparations for Sexual Violence in the democratic Republic of Congo”, in December 2010, the OHCHR undertook a follow-up mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo to discuss the findings and recommendations of the report with all stakeholders.

The Human Rights Section of MINUSTAH in Haiti participated in a workshop organized by the Direction départementale du Ministère à la condition feminine et aux droits de la femme, aimed at sensitizing the local population on sexual gender- based violence. The Human Rights Section together with the UNIFEM and IOM organized training for 20 UNPOL team leaders concerning the protection and response to the widespread occurrence of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) within IDP camps.

UNICEF and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) launched a joint initiative to improve programs to address gender-based violence in emergencies and support child survivors. A course “Protecting Women and Child Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies through Improved Coordination” has been developed and the first one will be provided in February, in New York.

UNICEF led the development of the Handbook for Coordinating Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings, which is a quick-reference tool that provides practical guidance on leadership roles, key responsibilities and specific actions to be taken when establishing and maintaining a gender-based violence coordination mechanism in a humanitarian setting. It is disseminated in English, French and Arabic.Trainings were conducted for coordination partners in Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Ethiopia on utilizing the Handbook.

UNICEF has been leading a mapping exercise on the activities of different actors at the field level to increase the safety and security of women and children, girls especially, and to prevent gender-based violence related to conflict and disasters. This information will be used to inform an overall gender-based violence prevention framework.

With the support of UNESCO’s Research and Documentation Centre for Women, based in Kinshasa (the Democratic Republic of Congo), a three-day workshop on “Sociocultural Approaches to Combating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence” was organised in Kinshasa from 9 to 11 December 2010. Several stakeholders discussed about the root causes of sexual violence and the role of stakeholders to combat it. Socio-cultural messages, strategies and activities to prevent violence against women were elaborated and stakeholders to implement those were identified.

In its efforts to address the protection concerns of its beneficiaries, WFP has started a project which will enhance the prevention and response to sexual- and gender-based violence (SGBV) in displacement settings. The project period is from September 2010 to September 2011, and aims to:a. conduct a mapping exercise of the extent of SGBV in relation to food assistance in displacement settings;b. collect and compile good practices on prevention and response to SGBV in food assistance to guide WFP staff and partners;c.

Since October 2010, FAO is the new Chair of the Regional Inter-Agency working Group on HIV and gender-based violence in emergency settings. The Regional IAWG ensures that HIV and gender-based violence prevention and protection, AIDS treatment, care and impact mitigation are prioritized and scaled up in humanitarian emergency work in Eastern Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes Regions.