Measures to Address Sexual Violence in Conflict Situations

In Timor-Leste, UNDP, in collaboration with UN Women and the Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), continued to support the Open Day Dialogue events as recommendations to the Government oand the UN system regarding women, peace and security and GBV. UNDP and UNFPA, supported the Secretary of State for Promotion of Equality to complete the National Action Plan on GBV in East-Timor. Hide

ECLAC, with the support of the UNFPA, has finalized a proposal for a regional training curriculum on gender and security and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security. The proposal incorporates regional ECLAC research findings on the progress achieved in relation to the topic, as well as on the training needs of different governmental institutions. The proposal was presented in a workshop at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago (27-28 November 2012). Hide

UNAIDS and DPKO collaborate in implementing the SRC 1983, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo. AIDS programmes are helping address sexual and gender-based violence, sensitise perpetrators, and promote integration of human rights standards in national legal and policy frameworks. http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2012/september/20120926hivandsecurity/ Hide

UNAIDS, together with UN Peacekeepers, distributed inflatable solar-powered lights to women and families, in Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and South Sudan, and raised the issue of sexual and gender-based violence against women and HIV. http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2012/november/20121127prshinealight/ Hide

During the reporting period, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) has conducted three cources of Inter-institutional Training Course on Combating Illicit Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition and Explosives (IITC), which contributes to enhancing the capacity of law enforcement and legal practitioners to prevent armed violence, including against women. Participants came from across the Caribbean, as well as Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. In addition, UNLIREC launched in New York the publication “Forces of Change: Profiles of Latin American and Caribbean Women in Combating Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms”, at a First Committee side event “Women Disarmament, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control”, hosted by the Honorable Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Hide

The World Bank continues to support various initiatives in post-conflict and emergency settings, including: the Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls in Haiti’s Reconstruction project, through institutional strengthening, enhancement of women’s civi participation,and project coordination, monitoring and evaluation; the Knowledge Exchange Program on Women’s Access in Fragile Contexts, by developing tools to strengthen the operational competence and capacity of client country partners and Bank Staff to design interventions that address the needs of women in fragile and conflict-affected settings and support knowledge exchange among clients and practitioners; the Learning for Equality, Access and Peace Program: Conflict-Post-Conflict and Gender (Africa), through a number of inter-linked components, including a LOGiCA and Promundo project to increase operational knowledge on effective engagement of men and boys in SGBV post-conflict programming in sub-Saharan Africa; and the Protection from GBV in Cote d’Ivoire project improving commitment and capacity of local authorities and community members to prevent and respond to GBV, improving access to multi-sectoral services for victims and improving coordination and capacity of local organizations and key stakeholders. Hide

UN Women organized for community-led programming at the country level, such as in Liberia with its continued support to women’s peace huts, where women volunteers refer survivors of gender-based violence to medical, psychosocial and justice services, carry out grassroots mediation to prevent conflict, and have even investigated cases of sexual violence and referred them to police stations; the development of referral pathways for survivors in Timor-Leste, in collaboration with other UN entities, local women’s organizations, and local succo chiefs; and the organization of neighborhood safety patrols near Haiti’s IDP camps along the same routes as the women use to go to school, the market, or water pumps, in order to mark out areas for improved lighting or police presence and encourage women and girls to report any instances of gender-based violence. Hide

UN Women supported the Afghanistan Ministry of Women’s Affairs to collect data on violence against women (VAW) and set up a web-based database and coding system on VAW. UN Women and UNDP supported an assessment of gender-based violence (GBV) Prevalence, Trends, Legal Recourse, Impact Focusing on Conflict and Transitional Period in ten selected districts of Terai, Nepal. GBV was found to be widely prevalent during the conflict and the transition phase. Recommendations were made to various government and development agencies and non-governmental organizations. Hide

In Colombia, prior to the adoption of the Victim and Land Restitution Law, UN Women provided technical assistance to the government to incorporate a gender perspective and promoted regional consultations with women`s organizations and a public hearing at the National Congress. This law recognizes that women are among the most vulnerable victims and therefore they need to receive special attention in the provision of medical and physiological services, access to education and restitution of their properties. Hide

UN Women developed, as requested by the Secretary-General and in collaboration with DPKO and UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, early warning indicators of conflict-related sexual violence, to be adapted to relevant country-based contexts, integrated into existing and emerging early warning systems, and used by a broad range of protection actors. These indicators were endorsed by the UN Action Steering Committee and will be rolled out in 2012. Hide