Measures

The UN Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) conducted a training course for female judicial and law enforcement officials in El Salvador on Combating the Illicit Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition and Explosives aimed also at addressing the rise in femicides, which are further exacerbated by illicit arms trafficking. UNREC, the regional centre of UNODA for Africa, co-organised with OHCHR, a training of police and other law enforcement agencies on the use of force during elections in Madagascar, also addressing GBV and the need for gender sensitive responses. Hide

In celebration of the International Day of Peace, UNREC, the regional centre of UNODA for Africa, participated in training sessions for young women in Togo on “Citizenship education of young women, guaranteeing a fairer society”, which also addressed the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the need for increased representation of women at all levels of decision-making, especially in the prevention, management, and peaceful settlement of conflicts. Hide

UN Women continues to manage the Secretary-General’s Database on Violence against Women, the first-ever, central repository on government measures to addres the issue. As of 31st December 2012, the Secretary-General's Database contained information on over 180 countries with 132 Member States having made formal submissions. Hide

The Violence Against Children Survey part of the Together for Girls Initiative (including UNICEF, UN Women, UNFPA, UNAIDS and WHO as partners) has collected prevalence of and circumstances surrounding violence, targeting females and males aged 13-24, and has already been completed in Kenya, Haiti and Zimbambwe. Results were released in Zimbabwe and Kenya, in May and Novemer 2012, respectively. The results will be released in Haiti, in early 2013. Hide

The UN Gender Theme Group for the Pacific, co-chaired by UN Women and UNFPA, revised its Terms of Reference to include responses to gender-based violence in emergencies, including the development of Surge Capacity for immediate response in humanitarian emergencies, as well as the development of government-NGO Communities of Practice on gender-based to facilitate capacity-building and prepraredness. Hide

UN Women’s flagship programme, Safe Cities for Women, is operating in 13 countries to develop models of urban spaces free from violence against women and girls. Five cities (Cairo, Delhi, Kigali, Port Moresby and Quito) are applying an impact evaluation methodology to contribute a solid evidence basis for what works. Cities are using various data collection methods, for example: multi-media and smart phone technology in Rio’s favelas; engendering of existing survey instruments in the Municipal Observatories of Quito; and institutionalization of safety audits in Cario. Hide

In 2012 UN Women supported data collection efforts in Uruguay, Lao PDR, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mexico, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Timor Leste, and Viet Nam – looking at causes, prevalence, and specific types of violence that require tailored interventions. For example, in Bosnia and Herzegovina UN Women, UNFPA, the Gender Equality Agency and BiH Statistics Agency conducted a first ever Prevalence Survey on domestic violence and violence against women. In Mexico, the study Femicide Violence: Characteristics, Trends and New Expressions at the state level 1985-2010, in collaboration with INMUJERES, the Congress and Academia was produced. In Viet Nam, UN Women commissioned a costing study estimating the economic impact of domestic violence against women at the household and macroeconomic levels and a report on Masculinities and GBV in collaboration with UNFPA. In Nepal, UN Women with UNFPA and the Enabling State Programme/ Department for International Development (ESP/ DFID) commissioned a study to track GBV cases to gain a better understanding of how the country’s systems respond to reported cases. Hide

WHO, PEPFAR, UNFPA, UN Women and the University of British Columbia convened a panel on “GBV and HIV linkages: Taking stock of the evidence and setting an implementation research agenda” at the International AIDS Conference in Washington DC in July 2012. Hide

UNICEF is continuing work on secondary analyses of MICS and DHS data on FGM/C and child marriage to be published in separate publications in 2013. UNICEF is undertaking global evaluations of its work in emergency and development contexts to address violence, as well as providing technical and financial support to an interagency action research project on the functioning and effectiveness of community based child protection mechanisms. Under the Child Protection Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group, UNICEF leads a technical working group that is developing guidelines for data collection on violence against children. Focused support is also being provided to countries in East and Southern Africa to improve M&E systems related to violence prevention and response in collaboration with governments. At the global level, data analysis (drawing largely on MICS and DHS) is being undertaken with the Population Council to determine the markers of vulnerability that make children more susceptible to various forms of violence. UNICEF has also contributed to the following publications: Ethical principles, dilemmas and risks in collecting data on violence against children: a review of available literature (http://www.childinfo.org/files/Childprotection_EPDRCLitReview_final_lowres.pdf); Inter-Agency Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Response; (http://cpwg.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Minimum-standards-for-child-protection-in-humanitarian-action.pdf; Protection of children of children from violence: a synthesis of evaluation findings (http://www.unicef.org/evaldatabase/index_66192.html). Hide

UNFPA and UNHCR are in the process of supporting the Ministry of Gender in Liberia to develop a GBV Information Management System. The GBV IMS will be modelled on the global GBV IMS which is already being piloted in several countries. The work will be supported by the Global IMS surge team and locally by the Liberia Institute for Geo- Statics and Information (LISGIS). The system aims to harmonise all existing data sources on GBV and strengthen systems for storage and dissemination. Hide