Measures

In Paraguay, UNFPA supported the institutional strengthening of the Gender Unit of the Human Rights Division of the Supreme Court, which is responsible for the monitoring of the violence against women policy. In Rwanda, WFP supported the establishment of two Gender Desks: one in the National Police and one in the Ministry of Defence. The primary task of these units is to assist Concerned National Institutions and other stakeholders to address issues related to gender-based violence. Hide

UNFPA country programmes, working with a number of partners, undertook various technical assistance and training activities, including: (i) development of manuals, protocols, guidelines and curriculum on gender based violence in Rwanda, Botswana, Uganda, Albania, and China; (ii) training of service providers in Cote D’Ivoire, Mongolia, Nepal, South Africa, and Zambia. Other training and capacity development initiatives in gender-based violence were supported by UNFPA in several countries such as Swaziland, Cambodia, Sudan, Turkey, Romania and Nicaragua. Hide

UNFPA – via its Country Offices - was involved in implementing various components of Security Council resolutions 1325 and 1820 in humanitarian settings, including programming to address the needs of survivors of gender-based violence. Hide

UNFPA and WHO jointly hosted a meeting on “Prenatal Sex Selection for Non-Health Reasons” in June 2009 in order to build a common understanding that will lead to the issuance of a joint UN inter-agency statement on the subject. Hide

UNFPA participated in the March 2009 Rio Global Symposium on Engaging Men and Boys in Achieving Gender Equality; developed a toolkit on Engaging Men and Boys in Gender Equality and sexual and reproductive health (with Instituto Promundo); developed case studies of Engaging Men and Boys in Gender, Sexuality and reproductive health in Asia and Africa (with ICOMP); and, documented good practices on Engaging Men and Boys in Gender Equality and HIV and AIDS. UNFPA represented the UN Team in the drafting committee of the Rio Call to Action and continues the collaboration with the “Men Engage Alliance” as well as respective partners.UNFPA continued its advocacy work on elimination of violence, abuse and discrimination against women and girls, with a special focus on vulnerable and marginalized groups of women and girls. It collaborated with Help Age International, the Global Action on Aging and the NGO Committee on Ageing in advocating for the implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, and contributed to UNAIDS’s guidance note on HIV and sex work. Other instances of work with such groups includes the new UNFPA-AECID Latin America initiative - “Strengthening Indigenous Women’s Organizations and Health Systems to Promote Maternal Health, with an Intercultural and Human Rights-Based Approach”. In Jamaica, in partnership with the government, UNFPA support the launching of the campaign “Sister to Sister”, using popular icons and messages.During the Commission on the Status of Women, UNFPA hosted various events on the inter-sectionality of HIV/AIDS and violence against women. Hide

In Viet Nam and the Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic, UNFPA has worked at the policy level with the Ministries of Health and relevant partners to advocate for appropriate health care policies and resources for ethnic minority regions.In Bolivia, UNFPA’s advocacy efforts led to the inclusion of sexual and reproductive health and rights and the elimination of violence against women in the five-year Plan for Women’s Equality. In Jordan, UNFPA undertook advocacy and policy dialogues on the importance of integrating gender-based violence issues in health plans and programmes. Hide

UNFPA Madagascar supported centers and legal advice for victims of violence. UNFPA country programmes supported the strengthening of the health sector response to gender-based violence, and reported a higher percentage rate of inclusion of gender-based violence issues in pre- and in-service training of health service providers as compared to 64 per cent in 2007. Working with a number of partners, initiatives included the development of medical kits to treat survivors of gender-based violence in Guatemala. In Honduras, a model of integrated care for gender-based violence victims was developed and implemented in 26 centers. Hide

UN Action continued to finance the Programme Manager for the Joint Government-UN Programme on Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Liberia. The Programme Manager worked to develop management and coordination systems as well as to establish benchmarks to monitor the implementation and impact of the Joint Programme.The recruitment specialist continued to develop a roster of senior and mid-level professionals specialized on gender-based violence and who are available for rapid deployment to conflict-affected countries.The Comprehensive Strategy to Combat Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) developed by UN Action’s Senior Adviser on Sexual Violence in MONUC, DRC, was launched by the UN and the Government of DRC in March 2009 and formally presented to the UN Security Council on 9 April 2009. The Comprehensive Strategy provides a clear framework for addressing sexual violence in the DRC. The Strategy is based on four interlocking pillars: 1) combating impunity for cases of sexual violence; 2) prevention of sexual violence; 3) security sector reform; and 4) multi-sectoral response to improve access of survivors of sexual violence to a wide range of services.In April 2009, UN Action undertook an assessment of the effectiveness of its strategic support to addressing sexual violence in the DRC. The assessment concluded that the UN Action network should continue to provide strategic support to MONUC and the UNCT to help operationalize the Comprehensive Strategy.UN Action continued to develop the Stop Rape Now website (www.stoprapenow.org). New web features were developed, including an Updates from the Field page, which showcases UN Action efforts to combat sexual violence in Liberia and the DRC. Significant support was garnered following the posting of a photo of UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman at the StopRapeNow site. UN Action is encouraging all UN member entities to contribute photos of their respective Goodwill Ambassadors. UN Action also created a “Fans of SCR1820” page on Facebook, and a UN Action Twitter page, with links from both sites to the News hub on the StopRapeNow website. As at September 2009, there were over 1,380 fans of SCR 1820 on Facebook.As part of the StopRapeNow campaign, and in conjunction with the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, UN Action developed tools on Security Council Resolution 1820, including a poster, notebooks, pins and banner-pens. In order to improve collaboration with NGO partners, UN Action chaired a session on sexual violence during the Consultation with Civil Society on the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign in March 2009.UN Action undertook a number of advocacy events throughout September 2009 to coincide with the presentation of Security Council resolution 1888 on sexual violence in armed conflict, which was adopted unanimously by the Security Council on 30 September 2009.Under the aegis of UN Action, WHO was spearheading efforts to develop a standardized instrument and methodology to collect data on conflict-related sexual violence. UNICEF and WHO were leading a process to develop programmatic benchmarks for measuring progress in preventing and responding to sexual violence. Hide

OHCHR’s country office in Uganda spearheaded discussions with regard to reviewing the current policy in relation to the Police Form 3 (PF3). The law requires “a competent/qualified health professional” to collect and document evidence of sexual violence as per PF3. This has generally been interpreted to mean that only a doctor can carry out this process, while doctors are scarce in most health centers and districts. Hide

In 2009, OHCHR in Colombia, in coordination with the OHCHR’s Women ‘s Rights and Gender Unit, undertook several training sessions to strengthen the capacity of the Attorney General’s Office, as well as specialized NGOs, to prosecute crimes of sexual violence in the context of the armed conflict. The project foresees the elaboration of recommendations for a prosecution strategy. Hide