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ESCWA, in partnership with UNFPA, UNHCR, OCHA, and the International Committee for the Red Cross, participated in a Consultation Meeting for the Committee on Protection of Arab Women during Armed Conflicts organized by the League of Arab States and UN Women. During the meeting, participants agreed on establishing an Arab Emergency Committee. ESCWA discussed the role of institutions working for women’s rights in times of stability and conflict and advocated for a wider adoption of a National Action Plan on women, peace and security in the Arab region.
UN Volunteers are an important component of capacity on the ground in the global pursuit of gender equality. The gender ratio of UN Volunteers improved from 43% female in 2015 to 47% female in 2017.
In 2016 and 2017 FAO continued its work on energy access and environment with an emphasis on protracted displacement. For example, in Syria, thanks to an EU-funded FAO project on strengthening the resilience to food insecurity, crisis-affected households can now benefit from the installation of biogas digesters. These digesters provide vulnerable household with an affordable and eco-friendly fuel source and help improve women's livelihoods by relieving them of the chore of collecting fuelwood. Through Danish funding, FAO provided direct and time-sensitive support to crisis-affected populations in the form of emergency livelihood kits in South Sudan. As of 2017, FAO has distributed more than 30 000 fuel-efficient stoves in camps, improvised settlements and host communities. The project also included training to ease the pressure on natural resources as well as to help protect women from the risk of sexual and Gender Based Violence (GBV) associated with woodfuel collection. In Nigeria, FAO is implementing a project funded by Norway where the host community and internally displaced people (IDPs) work together to produce fuel-efficient stoves to be distributed to the communities, which again helps to reduce the need for firewood collection.
The ILO launched on March 2018 an Office-wide campaign to combat all forms of sexual harassment and misconduct within the ILO.
The revised version of the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation (No. 205) was adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2017. In its Article 15, the Recommendation establishes that “In responding to discrimination arising from or exacerbated by conflicts or disasters and when taking measures for promoting peace, preventing crises, enabling recovery and building resilience, Members should…prevent and punish all forms of gender-based violence, including rape, sexual exploitation and harassment, and protect and support victims”
View MoreThe revised version of the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation (No. 205) was adopted by the International Labour Conference in June 2017.
In its Article 15, the Recommendation establishes that “In responding to discrimination arising from or exacerbated by conflicts or disasters and when taking measures for promoting peace, preventing crises, enabling recovery and building resilience, Members should…prevent and punish all forms of gender-based violence, including rape, sexual exploitation and harassment, and protect and support victims”
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.
UNRWA developed and finalized the new Gender Equality Strategy (2016-2021), 'Integrating Gender, Improving Services, Impacting Lives.' The new strategy consolidates gender mainstreaming in the Agency’s organizational processes and programmes and aims at improving service delivery and reducing vulnerabilities among Palestine refugee women, men, boys, and girls. In this light, it serves to guide and frame all gender-related work by the Agency, including work on GBV.
UN Women organized an international seminar on Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the Gaza Strip in September 2016 with 350 participants representing local and international actors working on GBV including governmental actors, INGOs, UN agencies, humanitarian sectors and clusters, NGOs (from the West bank and Gaza), donors and academics. During two days, participants shared current challenges and opportunities with regards to integrated response to GBV in Gaza, and exchanged national and international experiences around GBV prevention and response in humanitarian settings with the aim of developing concrete, context-specific recommendations for GBV programming in Palestine. The seminar generated very important recommendations including the need to have better inclusion of GBV prevention and response in all stages of humanitarian action in Palestine and the importance of increasing the accountability of different actors to prioritize GBV prevention and response during and after emergencies.
UNHCR deploys Senior Protection Officers (SPOs) with expertise in SGBV to UNHCR operations around the world. These UNHCR staff work for an average of six months per deployment to prioritize SGBV prevention and response at the onset of emergencies. To evaluate the deployment scheme, UNHCR developed a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework around a set of 47 essential actions across sectors that – when fully implemented – are deemed most effective at preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) during humanitarian emergencies.
UNHCR's Guidelines on International Protection No. 12 on Claims for Refugee Status Related to Situations of Armed Conflicts and Violence, issued in December 2016, provide substantive guidance for assessing claims to refugee status related to situations of armed conflict and violence in accordance with the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol as well as the broader regional refugee criteria. Specific reference is made to refugee protection from sexual and gender-based violence as this common is a form of persecution in many situations of armed conflict and violence. (http://www.refworld.org/docid/583595ff4.html)