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UNFPA leads the GBV Area of responsibility under the global protection cluster which is part of the IASC established coordination mechanism/architecture in humanitarian settings. As of 2021, UNFPA coordinates GBV response and prevention programmes in 35 humanitarian settings.
UNFPA contributed to Inter-Agency Humanitarian Evaluation (IAHE) Steering Group Review of Progress on Mainstreaming Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls into the Humanitarian, Development, and Peace Nexus Agenda and in the work going forward to promote strengthened mainstreaming in the triple nexus process.
UNFPA actively engages with the 16 Days of Activism with concerted efforts to move from activism to accountability. To reinforce accountability frameworks, we support training for health workers, police and judges to help them respond sensitively and appropriately to GBV survivors; and support the creation of laws and protocols that ensure the protection of survivors.
Since 2008 UNFPA, jointly with UNICEF, leads the largest global programme to accelerate the elimination of female genital mutilation (FGM) in 17 countries.
Since 2016 UNFPA, jointly with UNICEF, has been implementing the Global Programme to End Child Marriage across Africa, the Middle East and South Asia in 12 of the highest-prevalence and/or high-burden countries.
UNFPA is implementing with the The European Union and other UN Agencies the Spotlight initiative, focused on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls in 26 countries. UNFPA leads or co-leads a number of programmes related to prevention, strengthened provision of comprehensive GBV and SRHR services,collection and use of data, as well as contributing to interventions across all pillars of the initiative.
On 12 March 2021, as part of the 65th session on the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), UNFPA, in collaboration with the European Commission and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), held a virtual inter-ministerial dialogue that resulted in countries committing to 10 points to action towards ending GBSS.
GBV is increasingly a characteristic of conflict and is often perpetrated against women and girls; and, in some instances, has been used as a tactic of war, UNFPA collaborates with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and is a member of the Steering Committee as well as the Expert Advisory Group. UNFPA contributions are to ensure the particular needs of adolescent girls and women as a result of sexual violence are factored in efforts of the Special Representative to address reintegration. UNFPA contributed to the development of high-level papers and to the SG Reports.
UNFPA works in partnerships with governments to develop legislation that is responsive to the needs of survivors and that is aligned with international laws and human rights standards. UNFPA provides technical, human and financial resources to support the development of national laws and largely engages with governments. By the end of 2020, as much as 96% of UNFPA Country Offices were involved in strengthening national legislation and policy. For example, in Kyrgyzstan, UNFPA contributed to the review of gaps in legislation resulting in expanded and improved services for survivors, increased awareness on gender-based violence and the utilization of new technologies during the pandemic. In the Gambia, UNFPA contributed to the approval of a law criminalizing FGM. And, in Nigeria the Violence Against Persons’ Prohibition Act has been adopted in 20 States in 2020 (bringing the total to 25 States).
UNFPA is uniquely positioned to promote an integrated approach to the provision of sexual and reproductive health services and GBV response in emergency settings, including through ensuring implementation of the Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP), the set of actions required to respond to reproductive health needs at the onset of every humanitarian crisis. UNFPA is working to ensure that the MISP is systematically implemented in all new emergencies and as a minimum standard in ongoing emergency settings. Access to health services for rape survivors has been identified as a major gap in humanitarian response; there is a critical need to ensure that established protocols for the clinical management of rape are implemented. As co-lead of the GBV Area of Responsiblity, UNFPA is mandated to build the capacity of national authorities and health providers in the clinical management of rape and facilitate distribution of reproductive health kits, including medical supplies for post-rape treatment such as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to reduce HIV transmission. UNFPA also supports data collection and analysis on sexual violence incidents in emergency settings.
UNFPA works with key stakeholders to address inadquacies in national legislation in the vast majority of its 124 Country and Sub-Regional Offices. As much as 93 percent of UNFPA Country Offices are involved in the drafting of national legislation on VAW. In 2015, the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGM/C) succeeded in assisting the governments and parliaments of Nigeria and Gambia on enacting specific national legislations on FGM/C. The “Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act” was adopted in Nigeria and an amendment was made to the “Women’s Act of 2010” in The Gambia.
UNFPA, in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), has developed a Regional Training Programme on Gender and Security and the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security for government officials, military and civilian peacekeeping personnel, professionals and academics, and NGOs and civil society organizations (CSOs). The purpose of the training programme is to promote greater knowledge of UNSCR 1325 in the Latin America and Caribbean region, so that the goal of mainstreaming gender in the area of peace and security becomes a critical function of peace-keeping forces sending nations. Originally developed for the Latin America and Caribbean Region, the curriculum has now been designed in a manner that can be adapted to suit local contexts in other regions and countries that have a peace-keeping and peace-building role. The programme has been piloted in a few countries in the region over 2014 and 2015 and will be globally rolled out in 2016.
In 2015, together with UNFPA, ESCWA produced a regional study on “Child Marriage in Humanitarian Settings in the Arab region: Dynamics, Challenges and Policy Options”. The study examined the root structural causes of child marriage in the Arab region, including the national, social, institutional, legal, and cultural frameworks that facilitate the perpetuation of child marriage. It analyzed the factors that drive child marriage in humanitarian and conflict settings, including physical vulnerabilities, shifts in family relations, gender roles, economic conditions, availability of community support, and demographic profiles. It also investigated the socio-economic and health implications of child marriage for young brides, their children, and their communities, particularly in post-conflict contexts.
UN Women, UN ECLAC and UNFPA held a sub-regional capacity development workshop in Paraguay – targeting mainly defense forces and civil society - on SCR 1325, with a focus on GVC and sexual and reproductive health. The workshop was based on the curriculum that was developed on the issues for the Latin American and Caribbean region in 2012.