Measures

DAW, now part of UN  Women, finalized the report of the expert group meeting on legislation to address harmful practices. The report sets out recommendations for legislation to address harmful practices against women, with particular attention to female genital mutilation, so called “honour” crimes, acid throwing, stove burning, and harmful practices related to marriage.

DAW, in cooperation with ECA, convened two multi-stakeholder workshops at sub-regional level, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in December 2009, bringing together representatives from 12 countries to support and accelerate legislative reform on violence against women.

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UNIFEM’s, (now part of UN Women) continued support for advancing legislation on violence against women, in collaboration with national institutions, included: domestic violence legislation in Kazakhstan, Mozambique and Nepal; law reform and harmonization in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Georgia, Mexico, Senegal and the Solomon Islands; legal measures against sexual harassment in Bolivia and Pakistan. Hide

The Secretary-General’s campaign “UNiTE to End Violence against Women” has increased UN system-wide efforts to develop regional and country-level activities in support to Member States and civil society. The campaign’s Latin American component was launched in Guatemala City on 25 November 2009, while the African component was launched in Addis Ababa on 30 January 2010. In November 2009, the Secretary-General announced his Network of Men Leaders which will contribute to social mobilization and transformational change to promote a society that is free of violence against women. Hide

Through UN Action, UNICEF is leading a consultative process to develop indicators to measure progress in implementing Security Council resolution 1820; and to generate proposals on monitoring and reporting gaps in the UN’s response to conflict-related sexual violence, as requested by the Security Council. Hide

The project “Strengthening prevention of sexual violence in conflict with parties to armed conflict (phase I)” was submitted for funding to UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict in December 2009. The project, in which UNICEF, UNFPA, DPA and OCHA have partnered up, aims to develop a set of tools and approaches for engaging parties to conflict, and calling on them to respect international law and to stop using rape and other forms of sexual violence as a weapon of warfare. Hide

UNFPA, in collaboration with UNIFEM HQ and UNFPA and UNIFEM country offices, and key government and civil society organization stakeholders, held capacity development workshops, in Uganda and in Sierra Leone, to develop key indicators under the National Action Plans on Security Council resolution (SCR) 1325. Hide

UNFPA carried out advocacy activities that link up with the Secretary-General’s campaign, such as hosting an exhibition on “Congo Women” and “Women in the Frontline” in October 2009, at the UN Secretariat in New York, in which the Secretary-General’s Campaign featured; supported the launch of the Secretary-General’s network of men leaders to combat violence against women and a photo-exhibition on the theme of men and boys in this event; it was a key partner in the launch of the Secretary-General’s campaign in Latin America and Africa; and initiated country-level efforts on the campaign in Africa and Latin America. Hide

In November 2009, UNFPA hosted a consultation in Dakar, Senegal, on engaging men and boys in gender equality and preventing HIV, aimed at sharing promising practices among UNFPA staff and partners, while identifying ways of strengthening and institutionalizing this work, particularly at the policy level. Hide

In November 2009, UNFPA participated and was a key note speaker in the international conference on monitoring implementation of Security Council resolutions 1325 and 1820, held in Oslo, Norway. Hide

In December 2009, UNFPA held a training in Mauritius for staff working in regional and country offices to improve their capacity to effectively prevent and respond to GBV in humanitarian settings and to coordinate multi-sectoral responses to GBV in humanitarian settings. In November 2009, UNFPA, in collaboration with the International Center for Reproductive Health at Ghent University in Belgium, organized a 2-week training for humanitarian professionals in Ghent, Belgium, on addressing gender-based violence in humanitarian settings. Hide