Training and Capacity Building

In September 2009, the NGO “Centre for the Protection of Constitutional Rights”, and UNHCR partner in Georgia, conducted 16 training sessions on the Georgian Law on Domestic Violence, in which 332 police officers and social workers were trained. UNRWA Syria Field Office trained midwifes in detecting women victims of violence. Hide

UNHCR published a Guidance Note on Refugee Claims relating to Female Genital Mutilation. The note affirms that Female Genital Mutilation is a form of gender-based persecution and can constitute grounds for asylum according to the 1951 Refugee Convention. The guidance will be used by states and UNHCR to facilitate asylum. Hide

In Nigeria, UNICRI provided the NGO Coalition against Human Trafficking training on “Providing Services to and Case Management of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings in Nigeria”. Hide

UNECE conducted a workshop on measuring violence against women for users and producers of statistics in the Kyrgyz Republic. The workshop included participants from the national statistical system, crisis centres and gender machineries. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported the financing of domestic violence courts with senior African judges and, gender-responsive budgeting work that resulted in the earmarking of funds for gender-justice courts and women's prisons in Venezuela. Hide

In partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported: a police training on violence against women and human trafficking in Nigeria; a training on sexual and gender-based violence for all police recruits in Uganda; the establishment of gender coordinating desks within the Defense Forces in Sudan and Burundi; trainings of Gacaca judges in Rwanda dealing with sexual and gender-based violence cases; training of 100 Vietnamese National Assembly deputies on the implementation of the Family Violence Prevention Law. It also provided technical inputs to the African Union’s Committee of Inquiry in Allegations of Sexual Misconduct in Sudan. Hide

In Turkey, more than 2 million soldiers were trained by UNFPA-supported initiatives on gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health. Also in Turkey, by the end of 2008, 250 police facilitators were trained on domestic violence prevention who, in turn, trained 40,000 of their peers. Hide

OHCHR organised training activities on women’s rights and violence against women for Arab-speaking NGOs; Iraqi NGOs; judges from the United Arab Emirates; NGOs and parliamentarians from Bahrain. Gender-based violence in Sudan was also covered. Hide

UNHCR supported the training of community and health services staff to improve their response to sexual violence and exploitation, to ensure safe access to services and to develop peer HIV prevention programmes for vulnerable groups. Hide

In November 2008, ESCWA held the second regional workshop on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against women for Judges and Parliamentarians, with a special focus on the role of judges and parliamentarians in preventing and responding to violence against women. Hide