Inter-Agency Mechanisms and Activities

UNHCR is a signatory of the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-based Violence in Emergencies and has made 10 commitments aimed at changing UNHCR’s internal institutional policies and implementing SGBV prevention, mitigation and response programmes from the onset of emergencies. 

As lead for the Global Protection Cluster, the UNHCR promotes protection as central to the humanitarian response and as a core member of the IASC’s GBV Area of Responsibility, UNHCR works with UN agencies, NGOs and governments to ensure coverage and quality of prevention and response mechanisms in addressing SGBV. 

UNHCR is member of the Real Time Accountability Partnership and serves as member of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, an interagency collation aimed at galvanizing coordinated UN effort to address sexual violence in conflict-related settings.

UNHCR co-chairs the IASC Task Team on Accountability to Affected Populations and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (AAP/PSEA).

UNHCR is also a member of the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict Network of Focal Points who support the work of the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. 

7.  “Safe & Fair” delivers technical assistance and support with the overall objective of making labour migration safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region. This project is part of the multi-year EU-UN Spotlight Initiative to Eliminate Violence against Women and Girls and is implemented by the ILO and UN Women.
See: ILO. 2018. “Safe&Fair: Realizing women migrant worker’s rights and opportunities in the ASEAN region”. Available at:  https://www.ilo.org/asia/media-centre/multimedia/WCMS_634369/lang--en/index.htm 


8. MESAGEN Peru (Mesa de Género de la Cooperación Internacional) supports the Peruvian Government and civil society in the development of strategies and action to promote gender equality, women empowerment and equal opportunities between women and men in Peru. Together with the EU and actors in the United Nations System, the ILO has worked on promoting the prevention of violence against women, especially in the private sector. 

ELIMINATING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP –  programme led by UN Women and including UNFPA, UN Habitat and UNODC. The partnership aims at reducing vulnerability of women and girls in West Bank & Gaza to all forms of violence against women and from the threat of such violence.

DPKO is  one of the members in the UN ACTION and contributed to supporting the ongoing initiative to implement a  Scoping Study on the Causes and Consequences of sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) from a Gender Perspective

Available resources on SEA :

http://www.pseataskforce.org/
https://iseek-newyork.un.org/department/office-special-coordinator-improving-un-response-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse

UNMAS, housed in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations Office of Rule of Law and Security Institutions, is the coordinator for mine action and chairs the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Mine Action (IACG-MA). The IACG-MA develops and revises policies and strategies, sets priorities among UN actors and shares information related to mine action. The IACG-MA applies a needs driven and people centred approach to mine action, taking into consideration the differing roles and vulnerabilities of girls, women, boys and men.  Mine action also supports all tiers of the DPKO Concept of Operations for Protection of Civilians.

Justice and Corrections Service(JCS): DPKO rule of law work, through the Global Focal Point (GFP) for the Police, Justice and Corrections Areas in the Rule of Law in Post-conflict and other Crisis Situations continues to benefit from UN Women expertise as well as strengthened coordination with the Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict. The GFP arrangement ensures that partners at HQ systematically include a women, peace and security/gender perspective into all key aspects of GFP work, including assessments, planning, programming, advocacy, annual work plans, budgets, projects, missions, and deployments. As an example, in the context of Liberia, GFP partners teamed up to implement a joint rule of law programme that focused on strengthening gender responsiveness of justice, security and legislative actors, including in regard to violence against women.

2. OCHA participate in the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality: Task Force on Violence against Women. 
3. OCHA is an active member of the United Nations Actions against Sexual Violence in Conflict network. 
5. OCHA actively supports the roll-out of the IASC Gender Handbook in Humanitarian Action, and supports the development and roll-out of inter-agency tools, such as the IASC Gender Handbook. OCHA initiated and continues to guide the IASC Gender Standby Capacity Project (GenCap). 
6. OCHA actively supports the IASC processes related to PSEA. OCHA participates in the network of IASC Senior Focal Points on PSEA and is also part of the IASC Task Team on Accountability to Affected Populations and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. 

As in previous years, UN Women held the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women under the banner of the Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women in November 2016. The commemoration placed a spotlight on the critical need for sustainable financing for efforts to end violence against women and girls across the globe within the particular framework of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The event began with remarks from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Karel van Oosterom of the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the UN, and UN Trust Fund programme participant Aiturgan Djoldoshbekova. It also included a musical performance from The Color Purple, Tony Award winner for Best Musical Revival, and a panel discussion on sustainable financing to end violence against women and girls.

In 2016, a new record number of at least 105 countries joined the UNiTE campaign’s “Orange the World” movement in support of the 16 Days of Activism. From marches in Uganda, Serbia, and Timor-Leste, a public rally on motorbikes in Pakistan, orange bike rides in India and the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, and the lighting of symbolic buildings in orange across the globe.

In 2016, WFP campaign took place from Friday 25 November 25 to 10 December 2017, focusing on the importance of resources to prevent and eliminate violence against women, men, girls and boys. Importance was given to the financial, technical, and human resources necessary to support concrete activities to end gender based-violence (GBV), and how WFP contributes in each of these categories, and how it could be doing more. During the first week of the campaign, WFP highlighted its internal resources, policies, tools and training materials that contribute to reducing gender based violence; in the second week it looked at partnerships and how they contribute to eliminating gender-based violence (in line with SDG #17 about partnership).

UNHCR supported the annual 16 Days of Activism against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in its country operations across the globe in 2016. From November 25 until December 10, UNHCR staff in country and field operations engaged in a number of awareness-raising activities to end sexual and gender-based violence. Activities included the participation of refugees, internally displaced people, stateless people, host-communities, women, men, boys and girls, community leaders, partners and governments representatives in a global effort to promote healthy relationships so that young people can feel safe at home, in their schools and in their communities.

On occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women - 25 November 2016, UNESCO set up an Orange Zone at Headquarters and conducted a rich social media campaign on the effects of climate change in exacerbating violence against women and girls - a key theme for this year’s campaign on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Throughout the day, badges, informative postcards, posters and UNESCO publications were made available to all staff and visitors. Four visually striking factographs were released, highlighting the links between climate change and violence against women. The campaign disseminated via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram reached over 758,000 people around the world. Broadcasting live from the Orange Zone via Facebook Live, the Director of the Division of Gender Equality discussed the significance of this Day as the UNESCO Globe was lit in orange. The Director also highlighted the importance of raising awareness on violence against women in the context of climate change, noting the myriad of ways in which climate change disproportionately affects women, whether via natural disasters or climate-induced displacement causing heightened sexual trafficking, or the search for water and firewood resulting in increased rapes. Over 1,300 people have watched the video.