Measures
A global conference in New Delhi in 2015 brought together over 140 participants from 24 countries. Based on accumulating experiences and evidence-based strategies, they agreed on a series of recommendations, such as to include gender across all public safety and public transport policies, to broaden women’s access to technology as part of comprehensive approaches to prevent violence in public spaces, and to strengthen programmes with youth, schools and media that promote changes in attitudes and behaviours among men and boys.
UN Women, as one of the partners of the public-private partneship Together for Girls (TfG), has contributed to global discussions around improved coordination between VAW and violence against children (VAC) data collection initiatives. UN Women has also been a key TfG partner in the development of the Every Hour Matters Campaign, a global advocacy campaign to increase awareness about the critical importance of quickly accessing post-rape care. The partnership also includes other UN agencies, such as UNICEF, UNAIDS, WHO, PAHO and UNFPA.
In Jordan, through the support of the Governments of Norway, UN Women - in partnership with UNFPA and UNICEF - implements the second phase of the joint project “Hemayati: Promoting Women and Girls’ Health and Well-being”. The project is also implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), Ministry of Health (MoH) and partner NGOs including the Jordanian Women Union and Un Ponte Per (UPP). The project’s overall aim is to increase sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) survivors’ access to comprehensive lifesaving protection services, including health, psychosocial and legal services. Building on a successful first phase (2013-2014), the second phase of the project is being implemented in five governorates of Jordan (Amman, Irbid, Zarqa, Mafraq and Maan) benefiting from the expertise of all participating UN agencies and partners. The objective is to bring all the services necessary for women and girls who have experienced violence in a one-stop shop to ensure that they receive quality, survivor-centered support when they need it most.
The programme of work to develop the Essential Services Package has been a partnership between UN Women, UNFPA, WHO, UNDP and UNODC. The 5 modules comprising the package, identify the essential services to be provided by the health, social services, police and justice sectors as well as guidelines for the coordination of Essential Services and the governance of coordination processes and mechanisms. Service delivery guidelines for the core elements of each essential service have also been identified to ensure the delivery of high quality services, particularly for low and middle income countries for women and girls experiencing violence. This is being supported by the development of other tools including an implementation manual and a monitoring and evaluation framework for the implementation of the guidelines in different contexts. Negotiations are underway for the formalization of a UN Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence by the five agencies for Phase II of the work to implement the guidelines in up to ten countries.
In Afghanistan, in partnership with Civil Society Organizations and the Government, UN Women, supports 11 Women Protection Centers (WPCs) and 5 Family Guidance Centers (FGCs) in provinces of Bamiyan, Baghlan, Daikundi, Jawzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Kunar, Laghman, Nangarhar, Parwan, Samangan and Takhar. The WPCs provided 24-hour safe refuge, legal aid, health care, education (basic literacy), vocational training, psychosocial services and support for reunification with their families, while the FGCs provided mediation, family counselling, and referral to WPCs and legal aid services. The WPCs and FGCs support more than 2,500 VAW survivors annually.
In March 2015, the United Nations Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women (UNiTE) launched its call to action for the 16 Days of Activism, ‘Orange the World: End Violence against Women and Girls’. The theme of prevention of violence against women and girls was selected as a focus to provide opportunities to highlight the need for greater investment in ending violence against women and girls at global, regional and country level in the particular context of the new SDG framework with a focus on prevention as a long term solution.
In Africa, training sessions were organized in 2013 and 2015 under the auspices of the UNiTE campaign for representatives from the Defense Forces, Police institutions and Correctional Services. Participants received training to enhance the capacity of Africa Security Organs to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls in conflict and post-conflict situations.
Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality organized a session on Ending Violence againt Women during the 15th Annual session of the IANWGE with panelists from UN Women and UNODC in March 2016.
In 2014, Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality provided briefings and updates on the Secretary General's UNiTE Campaign during the 13th and 14th annual sessions of the IANWGE as well as inputs from participating agencies for the final report to the Campaign’s High Level Steering Committee.
UNICEF contributed significantly to building the global evidence base, leading or co-leading on major research, studies and publications. In 2014, UNICEF published the largest-ever compilation of data on violence against children – “Hidden in Plain Sight: A Statistical Analysis of Violence against Children”, followed by a dedicated statistical report on violence against adolescents’ girls - “A Statistical Snapshot of Violence against Adolescent Girls”. In 2015, UNICEF released an analysis of current levels, trends and projections of child marriage in Africa. Despite persistent challenges, an increase in the quality and rigor of data around violence against children, including sexual violence was noted in 2015, with 32 data-driven studies produced globally. In addition, a “Diagnostic Review and the Study on the Structural Determinants of violence against children and women” was completed by UNICEF in 2015 by the University of Cape Town. Jointly with WHO, Center for Disease Control and other partners, a multi-sectoral package of evidence-based interventions to prevent and respond to violence against children was developed.