Training and Capacity Building

In Liberia: UNDP supported the SGBV Crimes Unit to design and conduct a specialized trainings for 95 Judges, Magistrates, Prosecutors and Public Defence lawyers, on the rape law; UNFPA supported THINK (local NGO) and the Ministry of Health and social Welfare to train 120 health service providers and 90 general community health volunteers in Clinical management of Rape; WHO supported the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to establish a pool of 52 trainers for the programme on psychosocial counselling; UNICEF supported the Judicial Training Institute in partnership with the Ghana Judicial training institute to train around 100 Judges, Magistrates, County Attorneys and Public Defenders on national and international standards for violence against women and children cases; and UNMIL provided capacity-building support to the Liberian National Police which has included the provision of refresher courses for 212 police officers of the Women and Children Protection Service and other officers, focusing on the management and handling of sexual violence cases reported to the police. Hide

UNDP supported the following initiatives: in Sierra Leone the training of State Counsels on the new Sexual Offences Act and Criminal Procedure Bill, the training of journalists and civil society organizations to report and publicize SGBV cases in a gender-sensitive manner and published the ‘Handbook for the Media on Reporting SGBV Cases in Sierra Leone’; in Kyrgyzstan the first gender training of border officers; in Serbia, the strengthening of capacities of various health and law enforcement officials; in Afghanistan, various workshops to raise awareness on rights of women and strengthen the capacity of the justice sector to provide better services to victims; in Nepal, training of law enforcement officials and lawyers, including on investigations process and sexual harassment at work; in Colombia, awareness-raising about gender-based violence and training on justice, peace; processes related to truth and reconciliation processes, including reparations; in Chile, with the Women’s National Service (SERNAM), a training program for service providers on the National Plan of Domestic Violence; in Panama training to justice sector officials to implement Criminal Accusatory System. Hide

Former UNIFEM now part of UN Women supported ongoing training of judges, lawyers, police and other “duty bearers” in various countries, such as in the Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Haiti and Indonesia. Hide

In partnership with NGOs, UNFPA community-based work on the abandonment of FGM/C (under the joint programme with UNICEF) has produced capacity-building trainings and guidance documents that are vital to the programme. Under programme support by UNFPA to the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), the Institute developed capacities of stakeholders in India, Kenya and Uganda to engage men and boys to combat violence against women in institutional settings. Hide

The OHCHR Regional Office for the Pacific, in partnership with the Regional Rights Resource Team and the International Services for Human Rights, held a regional training and consultation workshop for civil society representatives,(6-10 September) presenting, among other issues, a topic on violence against women. The meeting focused on raising human rights issues through local and international mechanisms. Human Rights & Rule of Law Section of UNIOSIL in Sierra Leone organised in October 2010 an interactive forum for Traditional Women Leaders in the northern region and Family Support Units and Local Court officials in Kenema district respectively, addressing human rights, child’s rights and gender-based violence with emphasis on harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation(FGM). Participants resolved to collaborate with human rights institutions to monitor, prevent and prosecute gender-based violence in their communities. Within the joint UN MDG gender programme on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the oPt and in coordination with other specialized organizations, Hide

The OHCHR Regional Office for Central America continues participation in the inter-agency group on gender by providing input to a regional project by the SG “UNiTE” Campaign, which focuses on strengthening the capacity of States in the region to improve investigation, prosecution and reparation in cases of of gender-based violence. Hide

In November 2010, UNODC in collaboration with the Southern African Development Community and the Southern African Regional Police Chief Council Organisation, organized in Pretoria a regional training workshop on effective law enforcement responses to violence against women in the Southern African region, involving trainers from six countries (South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe). The training tested the UNODC Handbook on effective police responses to violence against women and a related training curriculum, adapting them into the specific needs of the Southern African region. In Panama, within the framework of the MDG project “Improving citizen's security in Panama-contributing to the social construction of peace”, UNODC organized a training workshop for justice and law enforcement officers, based also on the UNODC Handbook and on national and international regulation framework (17-18 November). Hide

With the US-based Educational Development Center (EDC), WHO has developed a three-day training course on the primary prevention of intimate partner and sexual violence. Hide

WHO/PAHO organized a workshop on preventing intimate partner and sexual violence, with participants from four Latin American countries, aimed at introducing the concept of primary prevention, reviewing the evidence and encouraging development of prevention initiatives in these countries. Hide

The workshop “Tackling legal empowerment: the Farmer Life School approach” in which rural Farmer Field Schools (FFS) communities include as topics gender-based violence prevention and support to victims/survivors in Kenya is published at: http://www.fao.org/dimitra/dimitra-workshops/workshop-reports/en/ Hide