Measures

UNFPA convened an expert group on men and boys, masculinities and sexual and reproductive health issues in New York, in September, to better inform its work and 2014-2017 Strategic Plan. Hide

In 2013, UNFPA held a multi-stakeholder workshop in St Lucia on sexual violence in the region as well as gaps and challenges in terms of implementation and hosted a capacity development workshop on pre-natal sex selection for various stakeholders from the regions of Asia-Pacific as well as Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, in New Delhi, India, in November 2013. The workshop examined the sex ratio imbalances, their context and factors at birth as well as their consequences and considered communication strategies and policy options. Hide

UNFPA continued to document evidence-based practices to EVAW, including through the development of advocacy briefs such as “Addressing Gender-Based Violence” and “The Role of Data in Addressing Violence against Women and Girls” during the 2013 Commission for the Status of Women. Moreover, UNFPA and the Men Engage Alliance published global advocacy briefs on the role of men and boys in addressing GBV in conflict and on social norms, respectively. In the area of pre-natal sex selection, UNFPA supported the International Center for Research on Women to produce the research study on “Masculinity, Son Preference and Intimate Partner Violence in India” as well as the Research Institute for Development to produce a study entitled “Sex Imbalances at Birth in Armenia: Demographic Evidence and Analysis “on sex-at-birth (SRB) imbalances in Armenia. Hide

VAWG has been recognized as an integral area of UNFPA’s work and its Strategic Plan (2014-2017). UNFPA has also elaborated a GBV strategy in Africa which was launched during the GBV Regional Forum held in Rabat, Morocco, in November 2013 and resulted in the Rabat Declaration on Violence. Hide

UNFPA collaborated with UNFPA, ILO, UNICEF, UN-Women and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children on a joint study on violence against indigenous girls, adolescents and young women, entitled “Breaking the Silence on Violence against Indigenous Girls, Adolescents and Young Women: A call to action based on an overview of existing evidence from Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America”. Hide

As of end 2013, 12 out of the 15 countries, where the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilations/Cutting (FGM/C) operates, have developed a legislative framework which criminalizes FGM/C. Legislation has been recently adopted in Ethiopia, Kenya, Guinea and Guinea Bissau banning all forms of FGM/C. Hide

UNFPA responded to crises under the GBV cluster coordination mechanism focusing on GBV and health needs of women and girls, including essential medical supplies for post-rape care. The countries include Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Georgia, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria and Uganda. UNFPA also took the lead in ensuring that women and girls have full access to GBV and reproductive health services in the aftermath of the Philippines typhoon and in the Syrian refugee camps in Turkey and Jordan. Hide

In South Sudan, OHCHR provide support to the government to establish a high-level policy panel to improve women’s access to justice including the launching of mobile-courts to speed up legal proceedings, review of the criminal justice system.

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OHCHR supported the development of a training course on human rights for judges and prosecutors in the Dominican Republic's Judicial Academy, also focusing on the specificities of gender-based violence and the need for proper investigation, prosecution and redress, as well as a permanent discussion group on human rights composed by judges and prosecutors within the Judicial Academy. In Kenya, OHCHR elaborated two manuals “Human Rights, Gender Based Violence, Child Protection - A trainer's Guide for UPF” for the Ugandan Police Force and a manual on Human Rights Training of Trainers' for Uganda People’s Defence Force and for the Uganda Local Defence Forces. Hide

OHCHR has initiated a study on sorcery- related violence with a focus on PNG, the findings of which will be available in 2014. Hide