UNFPA has been actively involved in advancing, implementing, and operationalizing the Belem do Para Convention’s agenda to prevent violence against women through the:
- General Recommendation 5 on GBV and afrodescendant women.
- IV Hemispheric report on the accomplishments of the Belem do Pará Convention
UNFPA ASRO, in partnership with ESCWA, UNDP, and UN Women, strengthened the availability and use of evidence for gender equality advocacy through the Gender Justice and the Law Initiative (GJI)[1]. In 2025, the initiative delivered an updated, comprehensive legal mapping across 16 Arab States, reflecting recent legislative reforms and alignment with international human rights standards.
- The issuance of a Fatwa in Djibouti condemning FGM was a key outcome of UNFPA ASRO’s sustained technical and programmatic support, which strengthened religious engagement and created conditions for faith-based leadership to publicly reject the practice. Key efforts included operating the Shamekhat network, capacity-building for Al-Azhar students, and a South-South cooperation study tour. The tour brought senior religious leaders from Djibouti to Cairo to engage with scholars from Al-Azhar and Dar al-Ifta. This peer-to-peer dialogue and exposure built trust and religious ownership, leading to the national dialogue and the subsequent Fatwa.
UNFPA has been actively involved in advancing, implementing, and operationalizing the Belem do Para Convention’s agenda to prevent violence against women through the:
- General Recommendation 5 on GBV and afrodescendant women.
- IV Hemispheric report on the accomplishments of the Belem do Pará Convention
UNFPA ASRO, in partnership with ESCWA, UNDP, and UN Women, strengthened the availability and use of evidence for gender equality advocacy through the Gender Justice and the Law Initiative (GJI)[1]. In 2025, the initiative delivered an updated, comprehensive legal mapping across 16 Arab States, reflecting recent legislative reforms and alignment with international human rights standards.