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Algeria PP
In Algeria, UN Women was the only UN agency invited to participate in a 2 days inter-ministerial workshop in February 2018, to design a new strategy on preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls. During the workshop attended by members from the National Commission on violence against women, UNW's technical contribution was vital to provide a framework for effective action and gather inputs from all the relevant sectors (Justice, Police, Health, Education, Social and Religious affairs etc.). The workshop resulted in the elaboration of a National Plan of Action currently awaiting final validation from the Ministry of National Solidarity, Family and Women's condition (MSNFCF). Building on the workshop's result, UN Women and the MSNFCF will join forces to elaborate in a collaborative manner, Algeria's 2019-2022 strategy on promoting, protecting and empowering women and girls in Algeria. The strategy's first pillar will be entirely dedicated to eliminating violence against women and girls in Algeria.
In early 2018, UN Women Algeria played a strong coordinating role within the UN System in Algeria, by being the driving force behind the re-establishment of the Gender Themed Group (GTG). UNW currently shares the GTG presidency with UNFPA. An annual plan of action has been adopted by GTG members, with several actions implemented during Q1. Most notably, UNW partenered with UNICEF to host a documentary screening on the violence and discriminations faced by women in public spaces. The documentary entitled "HNA BARRA" was presented on the occasion of the IWD, and attended by the documentary director, Bahia Bencheikh El Fegoun.Palestine CO
As part of UN Women Palestine office efforts to institutionalize the work of the Specialized Public Prosecutors on VAW, UN Women provided technical support to the Public Prosecution to devleop responsive SoPs on investigating and litigating VAW, inluding the referral of cases to other service providers. The SOPs were revised and discussed with CSOs and Government partners and have been finalized and approved by the Attorney General. The SoPs aim at enhancing protection for women survivors and accountability for perpetrators of crimes against them. UN Women Palestine office initiated the creation of a joint platform for the Family and Juvenille Protection Unit (FJPU) at the police and at the Specialised Public Prosecution on VAW to discuss challenging issues and enhance cooperation between the two institutions when addressing VAW cases. Four successful monthly dialogue meetings were held during the reporting period and addressed highly contested issues by both institutions. UNW is following up closely with both instituions to facilitate the implementation of the dialogue meetings recommendations.
Jordan was part of the second group of Member States presenting its Voluntary National Review (VNR) to the High Level Political Forum in July 2017. In preparation of Jordan’s VNR, and within the framework of the coordinated action of the dedicated inter-agency focused group, UN Women provided technical support to the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) and the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC) in order to mainstream gender in the process. A dedicated policy paper has been prepared by JNCW outlining contextual trends on GEWE (including issues related to GBV) to be considered as well as presenting needs, opportunities and gaps in terms of legislative reforms and policy development. As a result of UN Women advocacy efforts, three additional action points in the Government-led road map for the SDGs were added, namely strengthening gender mainstreaming in the 2030 Agenda landing process, finalize the SDGs mapping in terms of national indicators (especially Goal 5), and enhance institutions’ capacity development. The VNR also included references to the needed amendements to Jordan's Penal Code provisions related to distriminatory provisions against women and girls.
UN Women organized two consultations on Gender Justice under the patronages of the Department for Women Empowerment and the High Council for Women Affairs in Baghdad and Erbil and in partnership with UNDP and UNFPA. The objective of the consultations was to discuss the law and its implementation to enhance gender justice and more equality between men and women. The consultations took place in Baghdad in November 2017 and December 2017 in Erbil, both attended by high level Governmental stakeholders, Non-Governmental stakeholders, legal aid providers and women activists.
Egypt CO
UN Women Egypt supported the National Council for Women to develop the National Strategy for Women’s Empowerment (NSWE). The NSWE complements Egypt’s Sustainable Development Strategy and is aligned with the goals and targets of the SDGs. It is based on an analysis of existing data regarding gender equality and informed by extensive consultations with diverse groups to understand the critical gaps and inequities that will be addressed under each of its pillars. The main pillars of the strategy focus on: (a) women’s leadership and political participation, (b) economic empowerment, (c) social empowerment, and (d) protection. Violence against Women and Girls is addressed in a comprehensive manner under the social empowerment pillar with indicators, baselines, and targets for the year 2020 and 2030. The NSWE was endorsed by the President of Egypt.
DRC
Support granted to the government for the elaboration of the National Strategic Development Plan 2017-2021. United Nations agencies are engaged in the process of developing UNDAF 2019-2022.
SENEGAL
UN Women through the Ministry of Women, Family and Gender supports the Government of Senegal to reduce gender-based violence and to care for GBV victims for social reintegration, through the implementation of a multisectoral approach to violence prevention.
CABO VERDE
Strengthened capacities of civil society organization and men alliances for the implementation of the GBV Law and gender equality initiatives was another important component of UNW support to contribute to better an approach in fighting GBV. Cabo Verde has been witnessing the increasing of men’s engagement on fighting gender-based violence, by promoting a positive masculinity. White Ribbon Association – Cabo Verde has been the leader in promoting gender equality through positive masculinity focus on fighting to end violence against women and girls in Cabo Verde many of their members are part of the Government Rehabilitation Program for Men Offenders of GBV (created in 2012 with UN Women’s support). In the same line, UNW has also provided technical and financial support to the assessment of the implementation status of the programme, contributing to the systematization of lessons learned and good practices of the programme, and to the formulation of concrete recommendations for the elaboration of the next phase of the programme.
CAMEROON
Unwomen Cameroon work alongside with the ministry of gender and more than 300 stakeholders in different worshop to developed and adopte the GBV national Strategy, and the National plan on FGM). And the ministry of justice to train magistrate and to look into gender aspect in the new penal code previously adopted.
LIBERIA
UN Women Liberia is supporting the Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection in the development of a revised National Plan of Action for the Prevention and Management of Gender Based Violence. The initial plan covered the period 2006 – 2011 Gender Based Violence National Action Plan.
The Revised National Gender Policy is undergoing some minor review for adoption.
NIGER
With the support of the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and Child Protection UN Women, the UN office implements activities within the framework of the National gender policy, the national strategy to combat GBV, for the promotion of women's rights, gender equality and better management of GBV survivors.
Lebanon PP
In 2017, UN Women Lebanon in consultation with the Ministry of Social Affairs, supported 13 centers within 5 regions (Akkar, Tripoli, Beirut, Maten and Bekaa) to conduct GBV awareness sessions. 4 of these centersl also provided access to GBV multi-sectoral services to women and girls including legal, health and psycho-social support advisory services. Furthermroe, UN Women in partnerhsip with UN-Habitat & UNICEF finalized the establishment of a Referral Center in Bab Tibaneh/Tripoli, which will be providing PSS and multi-sectoral services center for GBV victims. The Referral Center will be luanched in June 2018.
UN Women Palestine office supported MA’AN to provide legal aid and psychosocial support to Westbanker and Gazan women living in the negev. Those women face challenging issues related to their legal status with the Israeli authorities (they hold a palestinian ID and live in Israel) and many of them suffer from family and intimate partner violence. During the reporting period UN Women Palestine office supported Maan center to provide legal aid to 110 women from the West bank and Gaza who live in the Negev (inside Israel). The cases evolved around issues related to personal status matters : (divorce, child custody, alimonies), issues related to their legal status inside Israel (citizenship and family reunification), residency, eligibility to social and health services, national insurance and cases of VAW. Additionally, 79 women from the Bedouin community in the Negev were provided with psychosocial support throughout Ma’an hotline, 30% of them are from the West Bank and Gaza. Topics covered included legal status inside Israel (citizenship related issues and family unification, residency, eligibility to social and health services, national insurance, etc… ) and on VAW cases. UNW Palestine in collaobration with the PBA- West Bank provided legal aid support and counselling to more than 100 female inmates in 3 CRCs in the West Bank . As a result of this support, many women have their cases proceeded in courts and some received mitigative sentences. On the other hand, through the support that lawyers provided to inmates, some cases witnessed progress in their relaiton with families, including spouses, as some cases managed to reach agreements with their families and spouses, particularly regarding children visitation matters.
In 2017, UN Women has contributed to enhance the capacity of the providers of essential services to Women Survivors of Violence to be able to effectively prevent and respond to VAW. It has been successfully done through Justice stakeholders training, South-South cooperation and the fostering of coordination. In partnership with the Ministry of Justice, a cycle of three workshops aimed at developing the capacities of a group of magistrates has been finalized. In fact, a third, and final, workshop has been organized and saw the participation of 14 magistrates on andragogy. Also in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, over 70 social workers from 56 cities participated in a week-long training on the implementation of the Family Code. Various topics were addressed, such as divorce procedures, the Family Support Fund, models and practical cases in the Family Code, and general skills management for social workers. Finally, both South-South cooperation and coordination were fostered thanks to a regional workshop organized in Cairo in December with the attendance of representatives of the relevant sectors (Justice, Police, Health, Civil society) to present the Essential Services Package and to engage the attendees’ departments towards the qualitative upgrading of services and their coordination.
By building the capacity of long term service providers, UN Women works to institutionalize efforts to respond to and prevent SGBV. This is done through service provision and awareness raising. In 2017 UN Women directly supported 4 centres in Amman, Ramtha, Khaldeya and Zarqa to provide service and referral options to meet the needs of both local vulnerable Jordanian women and Syrian refugees (alltogether the joint programme supports 11 centers). In the four centers UN Women supports directly, 1,515 beneficiaries have been able to reach safe spaces and receive quality services. 91 women survivors of violence were offered quality safe and confidential access to shelter through the Jordanian Women's Union's shelter for women. Throughout this reporting period, 36 women survivors of violence were offered quality safe and confidential access to shelter through the Jordanian Women's Union's shelter for women and rehabilitation of their facilities was undertaken. Through UN Women Oases in Zaatari Camp UN Women worked with UNHCR and all camp partners to provide referrals to women survivors of violence for legal and medical and other protection services. UN Women also accepted referrals in from other camp partners for vulnerable women in need of livelihoods opportunities. On average UN WOmen supports 10 refugee women protection cases per month per Oasis.
Regional Office for Arab States
"The Regional Workshop to Roll Out the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence in Arab States was organized by UN Women Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) and UNFPA ROAS on 11-12 December 2017 in Cairo, Egypt. The two-day workshop aimed at orienting country teams to the ESP and engaging them in a participatory development of a road map to roll out the ESP in their countries.
Tunisia PP
With the support by UN Women Tunisia, three new shelters in Jendouba, Kairouan and Gafsa and 2 daycare centers ( Zarzis and Sfax) for women victims of violence were opened in 2017 in different governorates bringing the total number of such specialized centers to six in Tunisia. Also, the hotline (1899) managed by the Ministry of women, family and childhood was reinforced and to date offers orientation during the administrative working hours.
Iraq CO
UN Women has been providing services to vulnerable women and survivors of sexual violence, including phsycosocial support and legal asssistance, as well as referals to health and social services. UN Women has supported 1328 women, including survivors of GBV, in livelihoods activities, empowering them to earn income, and in some cases return to their homes with their businesses, enabling them to restart their lives quickly, or build a more stable life in their new homes. In collarboration with UNDP, provided 935 survivors of gender based violence and conflict related sexual violence with psychosocial support, legal assistance, and referrals as part of the Stop Rape Now United Nations Against Sexual Violence and Conflict fund. Many of these women were survivors of violence perpetrated by ISIS, and were able to register their cases with the Genocide Committee based in Dohuk, Iraq, contributing to documentaion of ISIS's crimes and providing them with access to justice.
The UNTF and UN Women Egypt supported a local civil society organization to implement the first project in Egypt that addresses the intersection of violence against women and girls and HIV/AIDS. A Drop-In Center was established in the targeted low-income community that provides a comprehensive package of services for women and girls who are vulnerable to SGBV and STDs in an environment free of stigma and discrimination. The project has positively impacted over 1600 women and girls who accessed and benefited from free-of-charge legal, psychological, health, and listening services. Project interventions also engaged over 2100 men and boys to change their perceptions of gender roles and gender stereotypes and encourage positive behavioral change that is based on mutual respect. The project also produced a policy brief on the nexus between SGBV and HIV, with the aim of informing the design of national programmes and interventions in this important area.
UN Women Egypt in collaboration with the National Council for Women (NCW) and the Egyptian Ministry of Social Solidarity expanded the protection and support services for women victims/survivors of violence. In collaboration with the Women’s Complaints office of the NCW, over 3,700 women victims/survivors of violence and/or who had suffered from discrimination gained access to free-of-charge legal advice and legal assistance, through a lawyer, as well as referrals to credible organizations providing quality essential services, each based on their respective area of expertise. Furthermore, support was provided to strengthen the capacities of staff of 8 government-run women’s shelters, upgrade the physical infrastructure of two main shelters, and reform the by-laws of the shelter, to enhance women’s access to protection and support services. Over 3,700 women victims/survivors of violence were referred to essential support services at the shelters, ranging from psycho-social support, legal and health, and vocational training.
As part of the internal “Take a Stand to end violence initiative” UN Women has a range of internal mechanisms available to protect, support and provide service to victims/survivors focused on the UN Women internal workforce.
Support and Emergency Services
- Financial support in terms of flexible salary advances or staff association loan programmes are considered a source of fast extra funds on a case by case basis, by HR and Finance;
- Flexible leave and advance leave requests; reduce and re-assign workload to avoid additional stress and give them time to concentrate on their case;
- Information in an aide memoir which has available country resources and support services and it is provided to all UN Women personnel;
- Counselling, UN Women personnel can contact UN Staff Counsellor or the Critical Incident Stress Management Unit for psychosocial support and assistance. UN Women also assists personnel in gaining access to psychosocial support. Further information on support can be accessed here: https://hr.un.org/page/how-contact-your-staff-counsellor or https://hr.un.org/page/mental-wellbeing-psychosocial-support.
- Dedicated service provider at UN Women HQ: In cases in which UN Women personnel or dependents at Headquarters are affected by violence outside the workplace, affected person/s can contact a confidential and appropriate external specialized service provider directly. The service provider will arrange for referrals, as appropriate, to NYC-based services, including local hospitals that conduct sexual assault forensic examinations. Colleagues may also send an email to takeastand@unwomen.org.
- Awareness: UN Women has information briefs on gender based violence and support for personnel here. These briefs are shared with all UN Women personnel, spouses and dependents to raise awareness of internal support and response mechanisms available for personnel who may be affected by gender-based security incidents.
For NY HQ Colleagues
- In 2017, UN Women and Safe Horizon piloted a Gender Based Violence Hotline for its personnel which was available 24/7. After one year this pilot was discontinued, but UN women continues to inform the workforce on Safe Horizon’s general hotline number
- Dedicated intranet pages for personnel on Employee information and Understanding Violence: reporting internal misconduct; Guidance for Managers; Types of Violence; Recognizing the signs of Violence; and Supporting friends family and colleagues
- Multiple resources ranging from posters, cards and guidance materials for personnel.
DRC
Multisectoral assistance to over 30,000 victims of survivors of sexual violence by organizations supported by United Nations agencies (UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO, UN AIDS, UNJHRO, UNHCR).
SENEGAL
UN Women supported the women's collective for peace in Casamance (Senegal) to set up a centre for the care of victims of violence, by providing them with health, justice and security services. This same "one stop center" model is replicated in 2 health centers through the Muskoka project for the medical care of women and girls’ victims of violence.
CABO VERDE
Continued technical support in strengthening capacities of CAV and Rede Sol, as the main existing structures for the assistance of victims, in the context of the GBV Law implementation.
MALI
To facilitate access to services for women and girls’ survivors of GBV, two "one-stop" holistic care centres where all care services will be available were initiated.
The first Centre is initiated by UN Women through the Police Social Service on the left bank of Bamako and the second by UNFPA through the Commune V reference health centre on the right bank. These two centres will provide sufficient quality services to meet the specific needs of women and girls’ survivors of violence in and around Bamako District. In the light of the lessons learned from the previous programmes on care units, UN Women has begun to reflect on the functioning of victim care units in order to define a more practical content, which will increase the flow of functioning of these units and respond to recurrent difficulties encountered, such as conflicts of interest. To make the process of dealing with GBV victims effective and uniform, UN Women started the process of updating the Standard Operating Procedures with the involvement of all stakeholders
CAMEROON
UWN Cameroon, women and girls among refugees, IDPs, and host communities, including Boko Haram survivors know and use the protection mechanisms available to them through Un Women intervention in collaboration of others humanitarian actors. GBV survivors benefited from integrated services through different mechanisms: a) Women Cohesion Spaces, b) four GBV units in the Women Empowerment Centers c) Gender desks at police stations, and d) mobile clinics.
LIBERIA
In 2017, 1,685 GBV survivors accessed the referral pathway and obtained services based on need. A total of 1,225 survivors accessed health services, 1,028 reported case to the Women and Children Protection Section; 1,199 obtained psychosocial support with 88 provided legal aid. 120 were lodged in safe homes and 7 persons out of 1,225 were provided economic support.
NIGER
Through the gender and humanitarian action projects, the UN Office for Women in Niger provided important support to displaced women, refugees and returnees in 2015-16. This is how he developed a holistic approach with the Gender and Humanitarian Action programme in Diffa where violence reached its paroxysm with the intervention of Boko Harm through a holistic approach, prevention and care of women, girls.
The aim of the anti-violence component of this programme is to prevent violence through awareness-raising and the establishment of a system for dealing with victims of violence:
Activities implemented:
- The creation of cohesion spaces in Cablewa, Boudouri and Sayam Forage;
- The creation of gender units in the services of the National Guard, the Gendarmerie and the Police to care for survivors of GBV in Diffa;
- Training SDFs on gender, taking gender into account in their security actions;
- Awareness campaign on GBV with parliamentarians in Diffa;
The following results were achieved:
- More than 100,000 people were sensitized on women's rights and gender-based violence with parliamentarians in the Garin Wazam, Kablewa, Buduri, Tam, Mainie Soroa and Sayam Forage camps in the Diffa region;
- More than 400 police forces (police, gendarme, national guard) were trained on gender, GBV, GBV survivor care, etc;
- Three spaces of cohesion have been created in the camps (these spaces allow women to get together in a safe environment and discussed issues related to women's rights, GBV with the support of a psychologist) for discussions on GBV and GBV management.
- An alert system is created between the camps equipped health centres gender law enforcement units for a coordinated intervention between these different services for faster care;
- Five units were created to take charge within the FDS structure: 2 units in the gendarmerie; 2 units in the police and one unit in the National Guard;
- Five documentary films were made as part of this awareness campaign on women's rights, the fight against GBV and harmful practices.
All these achievements have contributed to raising awareness of women's rights, significantly reducing GBV, and taking care of survivors with great innovations through cohesion spaces and gender units.
NIGERIA
UN Women Nigeria during the reporting period continued its advocacy to end GBV at national and its programmes states levels. During the 16 Days of Activism, it organised a symposium titled; Mobilizing to Eradicate Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Institutions to discuss GBV in education, with particular reference to sexual harassment in tertiary institutions and to explore how leadership, advocacy and alliance-building can create an enabling environment for the eradication of sexual harassment in educational institutions. There were also several media advocacy by UN Women and her partners
Also UN Women supported the federal ministry of women affairs and partners to collate the Nigeria Periodic Report on CEDAW
106 Chiboks Girls rescued from Boko Haram returned to school following UN Women collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and other partners