Measures
No estás Sola or "You are not alone" in English is an intervention of the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP) and UNDP, with the support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation that was born in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to generate synergies between the public and private sectors, through the strengthening of a community sensitized and committed to the prevention of violence against women, gender equality and positive masculinities. The objective of the intervention is to bring care services closer to women victims of gender-based violence, or at risk of being so; as well as to promote a culture of equality and positive masculinities, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, through the dissemination of prevention messages against this type of violence.
UNDP Country Offices in Lao PDR, Bhutan, Myanmar, Ukraine and many others are cooperating with local governments, UN agencies and others in communications and community outreach efforts to ensure that accurate information on COVID-19 and its disproportionate impacts on women are disseminated and that women are aware of the various support services available should they require assistance
In response to the UN Secretary General’s Campaign for ending violence against women, UNDP country offices organized a series of awareness raising events, such as webinars and discussions, as well as publishing Op-Eds.
UNDP with other UN agencies actively participated in the global campaign for the ’16 Days of Activism against violence against women and girls’ 2020. A video and thematic sheets were produced to raise awareness against violence against women and girls. The thematic sheets covered the impact of COVID-19 on violence, childhood, migration, refugees, health, rural women and access to employment.
Under the lead of UN Women and in partnership with other UN agencies, UNDP participated in the celebration of International Women's Day 2021. A number of inspiring women were interviewed to share their journeys and success stories while raising awareness on a number of issues, including gender-based violence.
Under the UN/EU Spotlight initiatives, UNDP in partnership with local governments and communities have strengthened national programmes and increased policy coordination and multi-stakeholder cooperation to address violence against women and girls.
UNDP is supporting national government to develop policies, strategies and action plans on gender mainstreaming. In Kyrgyzstan, under the Spotlight initiative, UNDP assisted the Ministry of Justice within legal inventory process to conduct gender expertise of prioritized laws in the area of SGBV and GEWE, including the key legal acts concerning domestic violence and ensuring equal rights and opportunities for women and men.
In Moldova, UNDP has piloted the development and implementation of a Local Action Plan on preventing and combating GBV, developed in a participatory manner, which matches the provisions of the National Strategy on Prevention and Combatting Violence Against Women and Girls 2018-2023.
UNDP, in partnership with the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services and key stakeholders, has developed the five-year Gender Equality Action Plan which focused on five key areas/ policy goals in Maldives.
UNDP has supported the Cambodian Ministry of Women’s Affairs in drafting National Policy on Gender Equality and Neary Rattanak V (five-year strategic plan) covering GBV, in multi-stakeholder partnerships.
Similarly, UNDP Country Offices in Serbia, Montenegro, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh supported the national authority in preventing and combatting against GBV and DV, as well as enhancing gender equality.
UNDP is participating in the Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Arrangements (MARA) Working Group whereby the UN System as a whole works together to combat Conflict-related Sexual Violence (CRSV).
The purpose of MARA is to ensure the systematic gathering of reliable and objective information on CRSV that will be used to promote action to prevent and respond to incidents of sexual violence. The information collected should inform strategic advocacy, enhance prevention and programmatic responses for survivors and serve as the basis for Security Council action, including imposing sanctions and other targeted measures. UNDP as part of the MARA working group, contributes inputs for the quarterly reports that are sent to the OSRSG and other relevant stakeholders on CRSV. UNDP also contributes to the SG thematic reports on CRSV.Additionally, UNDP Pakistan, through its Community Stabilization Programme, has established referral mechanisms for women in post-conflict (Swat) and fragile situations (Multan). In both locations, a mobile Gender Desk Officer reached out to community women to collect their grievances and link them with existing social services – including to medical or psycho-social support as well to protection mechanisms in cases of sexual violence and more broadly gender-based violence.
UNDP is working closely with national partners to support their legislative development to address gender-based violence, and to support national capacities on access to justice and protection through multi-sectoral support and services.
In Myanmar, UNDP and UN Women have made headways in linking legal aid services to women in villages and IDP camps. UNDP supported with technical inputs for the Prevention of violence against women Bill (PoVAW).
The Malaysian office is implementing a gender mainstreaming project with the Ministry of Women and drafting the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill.
UNDP is in close cooperation with the National Parliament to strengthen the legislation related to GBV and EVAWG in Timor- Leste.
In Peru, UNDP in cooperation with national ministries, is strengthening national system of justice for protection and punishment around VAW.
UNDP Maldives, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Argentina, Ecuador and many other country offices are working with national authorities in reviewing the existing law and drafting the necessary amendments or supporting new act to enhance gender responsiveness of legislation.
UNDP has implemented various actions to improve access to justice for women who suffered violence especially during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The Tunisian office supported coordination between the designated emergency “hotline” and specialized police units responding to alerts of domestic violence and provided the specialized units with adequate protection gear and training.
The pilot initiative "Rukni", started by UNDP Jordan, provided digital phone booth for GBV survivors and women at risk to ensure them to have a better understanding of how to reach hotline services, COVID-19 applications and e-services.
UNDP Maldives supported civil society organizations to provide pro bono legal aid services to DV/GBV survivors. In Bangladesh, UNDP facilitated the process to create linkage between the victim/survivors and National Human Rights Commission to ensure better protection, support and services. unit of NHRC.
In Moldova, with the support of the Republic of Korea, UNDP responded positively to the Executive Committee of ATU Gagauzia and provided help to set-up a service for the survivors of domestic violence in the region. Based on the cooperation with the Executive Committee of Gagauzia, the first regional Center for survivors of domestic violence was created and is functional as of November 2020.
In June 2020, DPO launched the first Handbook to support UN Field Missions in preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), building on the publication of the first UN Policy on this same topic a few months earlier. Both these documents were developed by DPO jointly with the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict (OSRSG-SVC) and in consultation with representatives from the United Nations Action Network on Sexual Violence in Conflict and partners at United Nations Headquarters. These documents provide guidance for civilian, military, and police personnel deployed in UN Field Missions on how to prevent and respond to conflict-related sexual violence with a coordinated and survivor-centred approach. Since the release of the CRSV Policy and Handbook, DPO has been supporting their dissemination and implementation in the field.
With the support and advice from Senior/Women’s Protection Advisers, personnel in peacekeeping operations facilitate victims/survivors’ access to protection and support services notably through information-sharing about services, referrals and special assistance projects. For instance, as part of an engagement process with armed groups who had abducted hundreds of women and girls in 2018 in Western Equatoria, UNMISS worked with a local faith-based organization to ensure access to medical care, trauma-healing support and livelihood trainings for 80 women and girls in order to support their recovery and transition into civilian life. Building on this initiative, UNMISS/OHCHR supported an additional 40 former abductees in accessing livelihood opportunities, leadership programs and psycho-social support tailored to their needs. Dialogues were also held with their families, communities and local authorities on stigma prevention and prevention and response to sexual violence. UNMISS adopted a survivor-centered approach throughout these efforts by ensuring respect to survivors’ views and decisions and working to enhance availability of assistance services as well as effective rehabilitation programs to empower survivors to start gaining greater control over their lives. MINUSMA partnered with a local women’s rights organization to implement a project in Bamako and Mopti that helped to prevent risks of gender-based and sexual violence related to the pandemic through sensitization sessions and provided dozens of survivors with access to a safe shelter and care services.
Peacekeeping missions ensured that COVID-19 related re-orienting of mandate implementation, including contingency planning and programme criticality mapping, as well as support to national authorities and collaboration with UN Country Teams and AFP’s, is gender responsive.
Given the increasing levels of violence against women, especially domestic violence, all missions have expanded mitigation and prevention measures through awareness raising, collaboration with GBV sub-clusters and tracking and monitoring of GBV incidence. In Cyprus, the mission supported awareness raising on GBV, while in Darfur and Abyei, UNAMID and UNISFA respectively, supported women’s protection networks to disseminate protection and GBV related information to IDP settings as well as the community at large. UNIFIL increased awareness on GBV, including dissemination of referral guidelines. UNMIK with other partners increased GBV awareness and issued statements, and key messages including in women’s correction facilities. In DRC, the mission raised awareness on GBV and access to referral services.
Missions developed gender-responsive frameworks to inform Community Violence Reduction (CVR) programming and incorporate emerging threats to security related to COVID-19. UNMISS, MINUSCA, UNAMID mapped gender specific CVR priorities, including as a component of DDR/CVR programming. For example, MINUSCA expanded women’s economic options through innovative income generation activities. UNMISS and UNISFA focused on gender inclusive PoC responses.
The Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Arrangements (MARA) Working Groups in peacekeeping settings served as collaborative platforms to document the impact of the pandemic and find solutions to ensure accessibility of services for survivors of sexual violence. In collaboration with the UNCT/HCT, to reduce reporting barriers for survivors, telephone hotlines were established in the DRC and South Sudan. For instance, in the DRC, the hotline enables information collection, the remote provision of psychosocial and legal support and referrals to appropriate legal and medical services.