Supporting legislative and policy development is a core strategic priority of the UN Trust Fund, and one of the three outcome areas in its Strategic Plan 2021-2025, reflecting the critical importance of effective legislation, policies, national action plans and accountability systems to ensure survivors of violence have access to justice services and protection under fully implemented laws and policies.
Complementing strong and comprehensive legal frameworks, UN Women supports the development and implementation of national action plans (NAPs) for EVAWG that are critical for a coordinated approach to implementing national laws. The Handbook on multisectoral national action plans68 and the Handbook on Multisectoral National Action Plans to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls69 have been guiding UN Women’s work and supporting governments on developing responsive, evidence-based and well consulted NAPs to prevent violence against women and girls.
UNFPA provides direct technical assistance to governments in developing, strengthening, and implementing policies for GBV prevention, response, and survivor support. This includes legal frameworks, national action plans, standard operating procedures (SOPs), emergency preparedness and response plans, and gender-sensitive policies across humanitarian, peace, and development contexts.
In 2022, FAO published the Practical guide on how to eliminate gender-based violence and protect rural communities through food security and agriculture interventions. This guide is designed to support country offices, FAO staff and strategic partners in the fight against any form of gender-based violence
In Panama, UNODC developed a gender-responsive litigation manual for public defenders and delivered training to judiciary members on handling gender-based violence cases.
UNODC provided advisory support to the government of Mauritania on implementing gender-responsive policing practices.
IOM has significantly scaled up advocacy efforts around addressing Gender based violence, the safety of migrant women and girls, alongside enhanced risk mitigation of women and girls affected by conflict and displacement across the contexts we operate. As one example, in 2024 IOM co-authored a joint advocacy report with UNHCR and UNFPA on the risks facing women and girls at risk of being repatriated which outlined clear and actionable policy recommendations for the respective Governments involved and other stakeholders.
In 2022, FAO published the Practical guide on how to eliminate gender-based violence and protect rural communities through food security and agriculture interventions. This guide is designed to support country offices, FAO staff and strategic partners in the fight against any form of gender-based violence
To mark the 75th anniversary of the Declaration on Human Rights, OHCHR launched a campaign to encourage meaningful actions by Member States, with the dedicated aim to show commitment towards improving communities, nations, everyone’s human rights. As a result, 56 States have pledged on women’s rights and gender equality, with a strong focus on the elimination of gender-based violence.
With the Initiative’s support, 50 countries strengthened their National Action Plans to eliminate violence against women and girls. National Action Plans can help ensure that policies are adequately funded and importantly implemented, leading to increased accountability, including in vulnerable and marginalized communities. Additionally, since Spotlight Initiative’s inception, 311 new sectoral strategies, plans, and programmes addressing VAWG have been developed across 13 countries.
In June 2020, DPO launched the first Handbook to support UN Field Missions in preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), building on the publication of the first UN Policy on this same topic a few months earlier.