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Under the Spotlight Initiative join programmes for Mexico and Kyrgyzstan, UNODC promoted protection, support and services for victims and survivors of gender-based violence.
In Viet Nam, UNODC continued technical support to Domestic Violence Rapid Response Teams, composed of police officers, Women’s Union leaders and volunteers, providing immediate support and options to survivors, facilitating prosecution of perpetrators and supporting a zero tolerance culture towards gender-based violence in the community.
In the framework of the EU-funded GLO.ACT project, UNODC launched the UNODC Toolkit for Mainstreaming Human Rights and Gender Equality into Criminal Justice Interventions to Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants.
In Iraq, UNODC supported the Women’s Network Advisory Board and a webinar on the ‘control methods of traffickers', which discussed how perpetrators engage in sexual violence and exploitation.
UNODC continued providing capacity building support to Nigeria and launched support to Mozambique to address sexual and gender-based violence committed by terrorist groups, providing training during the period to Nigerian and Mozambican investigators, prosecutors, and judges to support them to bring perpetrators to justice while respecting human rights. These activities were carried out in cooperation with the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict.
Protection and assistance for victims of trafficking and victims of aggravated smuggling are issues addressed in all training and capacity building work concerning trafficking in persons that UNODC undertakes. All UNODC responses, activities and publications on trafficking in persons are gender- and age-responsive, human-rights-based and victim-centred.
UNODC manages the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking, which financially supports grass-roots NGOs who provide direct and immediate assistance to victims of trafficking. 90% of projects support victims who are women or girls. Donations are collected from 31 States and 32 private companies. So far, USD 3.5 million have been distributed to 60 NGOs world-wide. Currently, a fourth round of applications is being evaluated by the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section (HTMSS) with over 330 NGOs applying for grants between USD 5,000-60,000 each.
In Guatemala, as part of the Office’s support to National Civil Police under the Joint UN Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls subject to Violence, UNODC supported the attribution of additional functions to citizen service offices to help better support victims of gender-based violence.
In resolutions 2331 (2016) and 2388 (2017) on trafficking in persons in conflict situations, the Security Council requested the Secretary-General to increase the capacity of relevant personnel of UN field missions to identify, respond to and report on situations of trafficking in persons. The Security Council has also underlined the need for Member States to combat crimes, such as the smuggling of migrants and related forms of organized crime, in areas affected by armed conflict. In response, UNODC, through its Global Programme against Trafficking in Persons, engaged with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPO) and developed a training module covering trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants, with a strong gender dimension, for the in-mission induction training of United Nations Police Personnel (UNPOL). A tailored version of the training module was piloted with the Multi-dimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and then later integrated into their induction training session for new officers. In addition to training of MINUSMA UNPOL trainers, UNODC supported the delivery of a specialized training to Malian Law enforcement officers in Gao.
In Myanmar, UNODC strengthened the capacity of the police to provide survivor-centered responses, effective investigation and inter-agency coordination among the criminal justice system to better respond to gender-based violence. The Office supported the Union Attorney General’s Office in the prosecution of cases involving violence against women and children through a training curriculum and accompanying materials piloted at two initial trainings of trainers.
In Nepal, UNODC undertook a study about women in the criminal justice system, with a focus on women criminal justice professionals, violence against women and women alleged offenders and prisoners.
In the State of Palestine, UNODC and other UN agencies launched a joint project to support the forensic science laboratory in analyzing evidence on sexual and gender-based violence cases, to sensitize criminal justice personnel and improve cooperation among the stakeholders involved in handling SGBV cases.
Half of the projects funded by the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in 2018 explicitly provided direct protection and assistance to victims trafficked in a situation of armed conflict or fleeing conflict identified within mass refugee and migration movements.
UNODC published a thematic paper on countering trafficking in persons, including the exploitation of women and girls, in conflict situations.
Mandated by a UN Security Council resolution, UNODC has developed a “Thematic paper on countering trafficking in persons in conflict situations” (to be published in the first half of 2018). In this context, it organized an expert group meeting at its headquarters in Vienna on 20 and 21 September 2017.
In Somalia, UNODC collaborated with UNDP and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia to train 200 public prosecutors, 20 judges and 150 police officers on criminal and civil procedures, sexual and gender-based violence, investigation techniques and traditional dispute resolution. UNODC is implementing a joint medico-legal response pilot project for timely and effective provision of services to respond to sexual and gender-based violence, together with UNFPA and in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice of Somaliland.
Protection and assistance for victims of trafficking in persons are cross-cutting issues addressed in all training and capacity building work concerning trafficking in persons that UNODC undertakes.
UNODC manages the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking, that financially supports grass-roots NGO who provide direct assistance to victims/survivors of human trafficking. During the reporting period the Trust Fund provided grants to 21 projects across the globe, mainly focusing on women and girls, particularly those trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Further, in 2017, the Trust Fund launched a call for proposals for its third grant cycle starting in 2018, prioritising projects assisting women and girl victims coming out of a context of armed conflict, as well as refugee and migration flows.
In the State of Palestine, UNODC supported six doctors in completing their four-year training programme in foresing medicine, which helped them to examine cases of sexual and gender based violence in West Bank forensic medicine clinics.
UNODC is working together with UN Women, UNFPA, UNDP and WHO to implement the UN Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls subject to Violence in pilot countries, including Egypt, Guatemala, Peru, Pakistan, Tunisia and Viet Nam.
In Somalia, UNODC is implementing a project funded by UN ACTION to pilot the UNODC/WHO tool on strengthening the medico-legal response to sexual violence. Police officers were trained on criminal justice response to gender-based violence in conflict.
UNODC was involved in the work of the global focal point for police, justice and corrections in post-conflict and other crisis situations, in relation to joint field missions, planning and programming, and in strategic and operational discussions at headquarters. Led by UNDP and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, in partnership with Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UN-Women and UNODC, the global focal point supports UN country presences in mission and non-mission settings.