Oct 2010 - Feb 2011

Within the framework of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, UNESCO organized the following conferences and exhibitions:- ”Under the Wings of the Butterflies”;- "Voices on the rise: Afghan Women Making the News”, as well as the projection of the film "Girls on the air", both having a look into the lives of Afghan women;-“Water, women and sustainable development in Africa", organized in cooperation with the French association « Femmes de Demain » and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), addressing the challenges that women face and the role t

As part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign, UNRWA, in collaboration with various stakeholders, organised events in Gaza, Jordan, Syria, and West Bank, involving its health, education, relief and social services programmes. Activities included photograph exhibitions, mobile theatres, awareness events and poetry. UNRWA, in Gaza, held awareness-raising workshops on the role of the international instruments in fighting gender-based violence, where UNRWA teachers participated.

The UN News Centre of the Department of the Department of Public Information continued its coverage of the global campaign to end violence against women, particularly in English and French. In these two languages alone, a total of 62 stories were written, covering the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and reports prepared by human rights officials and experts.Several social media platforms managed by the Department of Public Information, including the UN Twitter account (twitter.com/un) regularly featured content on violence against women.

The former Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI, now part of UN Women) raised the question of violence against women and girls, including the crime of sexual violence in conflict situations, on various occasions; brought violations of women’s human rights to the attention of the Secretary-General of the United Nations; and the Special Adviser in her advocacy efforts urged various stakeholders to join the UNiTE campaign to end violence against women and to end impunity for perpetrators.

Issue # 9 of Words to Action, former DAW’s (now part of UN Women) now UN Women quarterly newsletter on violence against women, was issued, with a feature article on addressing violence against women and HIV/AIDS effectively.

In Argentina, UNDP collaborates with national women’s organizations to help the effective implementation of the new law on the prevention and elimination of violence against women, the launching of a VAW Observatory, the development of local centres, and the training of local women on issues related to violence against women.In Papua New Guinea, UNDP was engaged with three national women’s organizations to conduct capacity assessments of the organizations themselves, using the Capacity Assessment Framework for Gender Mainstreaming.

In West Bank and Gaza, UNRWA is involved in the UN Country Team gender taskforce, by implementing the component addressing gender-based violence in the joint UN MDG gender programme “gender equality and women’s empowerment in oPT”.

The OHCHR Regional Office for Central Africa, in partnership with the UN Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Cental Africa (CNUDHD) contributed to the elaboration of the Cameroon National Gender Policy, which includes activities to combat gender-based violence, by providing technical advice, sharing documentation, and supporting, with other UN system partners, the national validation workshop for the draft national gender policy.The OHCHR Regional Office for Europe provided advocacy and advice on the preparation of an EU strategy on Violence against Women in October 2010.

UNICEF has provided support to policy development addressing violence against girls including through the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme to Accelerate the Abandonment of FGM/C.

Since September 2010, FAO is implementing through United Nations Joint Program or with UN partners a regional project “Eastern Africa regional response to food insecurity, HIV and GBV” in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, reaching more than 80,000 beneficiaries. Within the regional project, gender-based violence and the needs of populations affected by gender-based violence and HIV are addressed through the Adult and Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools, at community, national and regional levels.