Responses and Services

UNHCR continued its work, in partnership with with civil society, to ensure a holistic response for survivors of SGBV, including through establishment of safe spaces in centres in Lebanon, which are not specifically created for services provision to SGBV survivors, in order to avoid stigmatization of SGBV survivors seeking support; establishment of “centres d’écoute” for counselling services to SGBV survivors in Mali; establishment of family counselling mechanisms and community protection committees in Yemen to address domestic violence among Somali refugees; training in Burkina Faso for its s

UNDP supported the provision and improvement of multi-sectoral services through the establishment of referral systems in Somalia; a UN Trust Fund to End VAW project as well as development of guidelines and training in Serbia; increased access to justice for survivors in Sierra-Leone as well as in Somalia with the expansion of mobile courts to remote areas; enhanced legal aid in LAC, Montenegro, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sri Lanka; capacity development of shelters in Albania; development of minimum standards for SOS hotline services provision and capacity development of service providers in Serbia

OHCHR in collaboration with WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA has developed a Technical Guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to implementation of policies and programmes for the reduction of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity in a variety of contexts and intends to pilot it also in partnership with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

In 2013, the El Salvador Protocol for the Investigation of Feminicide which was developed with the support of OHCHR was adopted by the General Prosecutor Office and has been incorporated into the regular training curriculum of Salvadorian prosecutors. OHCHR organized an expert meeting on victims and witness protection in May 2013 to contribute to the development of a related tool, with a special focus on the protection of victims of sexual and gender-based violence.

During the reporting period, OHCHR, in cooperation with UN Women, convened three validation workshops for the finalization of the Model Protocol for the investigation of femicide in Latin America. The tool aims at strengthening capacities to take gender aspects into account in analyzing the crime scenes and in identifying necessary expert evidence.

UNRWA’s GBV referral system underwent significant expansion by building/consolidating new partnerships and by introducing the referral systems to new regions and areas. This resulted in 1,217 new survivors being detected by frontline staff working in UNRWA’s main programmes (ie. Education, Health, and Relief and Social Services) and 2,0858 survivors accessing services. The services comprised psychological and social support, legal aid, and medical care, and were provided both internally, through UNRWA’s programmes, and externally, via external partners.

The ESCWA Centre for Women (ECW) completed a regional study and policy brief on “Multi-sectoral efforts and partnerships to address violence against women in the ESCWA Region”, in partnership with ABAAD, to examine services provided by the State and civil society institutions and enhance their role in protecting and rehabilitating survivors of VAW. Another study in 2013 focused on “Trafficking of women and children in the Arab Region: A regional perspective” to analyze State responses to trafficking in persons as manifested in national laws, action plans and strategies.

The ILO Better Work programme has continued developing tools to prevent and address sexual harassment in garment factories following surveys with workers which revealed this issue being of significant concern. A factory kit with different awareness raising material directed to management, supervisors and garment workers has been developed and disseminated and piloting of factory-level training in has been conducted in Jordan. More information is available at: http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/features/WCMS_216898/lang--en/index.htm

UNFPA responded to crises under the GBV cluster coordination mechanism focusing on GBV and health needs of women and girls, including essential medical supplies for post-rape care. The countries include Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Georgia, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria and Uganda.

At the 57th CSW, WHO along with Governments of Norway and Zambia co-hosted a high level panel side event on the health sector response to violence against women. A high level panel side event on violence against women was organized by the Governments of Belgium, USA, India, Zambia, Mexico, Norway and Netherlands at the World Health Assembly in May 2013, during which Ministers of Health proposed an agenda item on violence against women for the 2014 World Health Assembly.