Training and Capacity Building

UNICRI also developed training courses for immigration and border police in Costa Rica to strengthen their capacity to address cases of trafficking in children for sexual exploitation. As a follow-up to the programme of action against trafficking in minors for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, UNICRI is currently carrying out in Costa Rica specialized training for judges and prosecutors and hotline operators, in collaboration with Fundaciòn Paniamor. Hide

Throughout 2003-04, technical cooperation activities (e.g. training of law enforcement officials and NGO staff, creation of National Monitoring Center on Trafficking in Human Beings, pilot police cooperation activities, signature of a Memorandum of Understanding, between the Italian National Anti-mafia Bureau and the Nigerian Attorney General, to establish and improve cooperation on trafficking in persons and other related organized crimes) were implemented within the framework of the UNICRI Programme of Action against trafficking, targeting the trafficking of women from Nigeria into Italy for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Hide

In 2004 UNICRI prepared and tested a training manual to combat trafficking in human beings in peace operations, which targeted peace support operations’ personnel deployed in the Balkans. In 2006, within the framework of the project “Trafficking in Human Beings (THB) and Peace-Support Operations (PSOs): Pre-Deployment/ In-Service Training Programme for International Law-Enforcement Personnel”, UNICRI updated the training manual and carried out three training sessions, targeting, in particular, police officers deployed or to be deployed in peace-support missions through the South-East European region. The courses involved a total of 35 participants from 17 countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and United Kingdom). Hide

The Department of Political Affairs (DPA) missions assist governments in preparation for reporting under the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. UNOGBIS assisted the Government of Guinea-Bissau with the preparation of, and advised on the content of, its initial report under the Convention. Hide

Successful collaboration between DPKO and civilian police advisers has resulted in the establishment of special units within police stations to deal with violence against women, provision of private spaces for women to report gender-based violence, and establishment of safe houses for women victims of violence. Drawing from the experience in Sierra Leone, family support units have been established in Liberia. UNIFEM also supports the creation of specialised institutions, such as police gender desks. Hide

DPKO gender units support regional and national initiatives to respond to gender-based violence, for example by working with national machineries for the advancement of women as is the case in Haiti, Timor-Leste, Kosovo and Burundi. DPKO civilian police advisers in missions assist local police in crime prevention and investigation. Hide

ECA supports Member States, at their request, and undertakes capacity-building activities for non-governmental organizations on women’s human rights. ECA supports training workshops on women’s human rights, with a focus also on violence against women, in collaboration with partners from governments, United Nations entities and civil society. Examples include a regional training workshop on women’s human rights in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in 2003; and a national training workshop on gender mainstreaming in Uganda, in 2004. Hide

ESCAP undertakes capacity-building activities for more effective programme planning by governments and civil society organizations for achieving gender equality and health promotion, including addressing HIV/AIDS issues, human trafficking, and combating commercial sexual exploitation of children in Asia and the Pacific. It promotes strengthening of women’s national machineries at the governmental level and serves as a facilitator in building linkages among government, civil society and development partners. ESCAP also undertakes training activities, such as the sub-regional training workshop on elimination of violence against women in partnership with men, New Delhi (2003). Hide