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''We Men, stand for Gender Equality'' is a movement started in Nov 2015 by a group of men employees in WFP pledging their support for gender equality and ending violence against women and girls. By March 2016, over 200 men within the Organisation joined the movement, hence over 1% of the total of staff worldwide.
Capacity-building of UNRWA staff, including trainings, has been a focus for UNRWA in ensuring that addressing Gender Based Violence is embedded into the work done by the different Agency’s programmes. To that effect, UNRWA has started training staff on identifying and addressing GBV through different levels of trainings. Trainings have served a dual purpose to not only in increasing staff capacity to respond to GBV, but also raise awareness and change perceptions of UNRWA staff. To support the training of staff, UNRWA developed a GBV manual which was developed in 2012. In order to monitor to what extent staff understand and acknowledge their roles and responsibilities to address GBV, UNRWA carried out biannual readiness assessment questionnaires in all core programmes. Further, by looking at the return on trainings through identification, it is clear that even within programmes which have received high levels of trainings there have been persistent obstacles to reporting the identification of GBV survivors and referring them to appropriate services. This shows that while trainings have been crucial, it has not been sufficient on its own. Supporting mechanisms, such as revisions to staff terms of references, accountability frameworks and reference tools and guidelines to support staff in implementation, are necessary to improve the effectiveness and efficacy of the response and to ensure sustainability. UNRWA has been able to target staff from all its different programmes, including health, relief, and education with more than 4000 trainings in the period 2014-2015.
In 2014, OHCHR continued to undertake efforts to strengthen capacities of human rights components of peace missions and fact-finding bodies to investigate sexual and gender-based violence. OHCHR's three-day training on investigating conflict-related sexual violence was delivered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan (Darfur), and Mali.
Many of IOM’s overseas pre-departure cultural orientation programmes specifically address domestic violence, female genital mutilation and other such practices that are both harmful to women and against the prevailing rule of law. IOM is working on improving the way this is reflected in curriculum and key priority messages, in training manuals and in supporting activities. IOM is also exploring how to best adopt more effective learning methodologies in order for participants to understand the underlying reasons why these practices are illegal and may have serious consequences, including the removal of children from families by child protective services.
OHCHR advised states on reforming laws and supported the formulation and implementation of laws to ensure compliance with international human rights standards. In 2015, OHCHR supported the elaboration and implementation of laws on sexual violence (in Afghanistan, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Nigeria), promoting victims’ and witnesses’ participation in peace processes and reconciliation (in Sudan, Darfur and the Central African Republic), and assisting victims of sexual violence (in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Sudan, Tunisia). In Moldova, OHCHR assisted in the development and implementation of a project seeking to revise the prosecutorial guidance for rape investigations to ensure they are free from harmful stereotypes and in line with international standards.Through joint United Nations programming, OHCHR supported the development of a draft regulation in Kosovo on the verification of status of victims of sexual violence that occurred during the conflict. Also, technical advice was provided in Guatemala on reparations for victims of sexual violence with a view to influence the new national reparation scheme.OHCHR further assisted States in developing or revising family laws and legislation on issues such as violence against women (in Belarus, the Gambia, Myanmar, Senegal, Tunisia and Yemen).
WHO is one of the 13 UN entities of UN Action, leading knowledge pillar by contributing to improved evidence for understanding the scale of sexual violence in conflict and how to respond effectively. In 2015, WHO together with UNODC published a toolkit on 'strengthening the medico-legal response to sexual violence', which aims to support service provision and coordination in low-resource settings, available in English and French. It is being field tested in several countries with the aim of improving coordination across the multiple stakeholders involved.
Throughout the period 2014 to 2016, ESCWA has delivered relevant advisory services on VAW legislation to three Member States. In June 2014, ESCWA provided support to the adoption of new legislation on violence against women in Egypt. ESCWA supported national efforts to enact legislation on VAW in Egypt by co-organizing a workshop to present the UN Model Law on Violence against Women and related international instruments. This workshop targeted senior officials from the Egyptian Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior and members of the National Council for Women, as well as service providers and practitioners. The workshop allowed participants to share experiences and lessons learned. In December 2014, ESCWA provided advisory services to Tunisia to discuss the draft law to combat Violence against Women and Girls.
In 2015 FAO hired a consultant, Gender Expert (Gender-based violence and food security), to develop an FAO-specific Guidance on addressing gender-based violence. The aim of the Guidance titled, 'Protection from gender-based violence in food security and agriculture interventions: A Guide for FAO and partner staff' is to assist FAO country offices in designing and delivering food security and nutrition interventions in ways that prevent and mitigate gender-based violence and contributes to the protection of survivors and those most at risk.
Some 3000 WFP staff and partners have been trained on integrating protection in WFP's operations. The training covers gender-based violence and aims at building people's capacities for the integration of protection measures in food assistance programs, including Gender based violence related measures.
In March 2016 a webinar on Protection from Gender-based Violence in Food Security and Nutrition interventions was delivered, available to all staff, as part of the roll-out of the new corporate guidelines. Tailored guidance will be provided to staff working on projects in decentralized offices during 2016 and 2017.