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WFP attended 9 IASC meetings in 2015, in which WFP was playing a pivotal role as a member of the standing committee of the GenCap project & the co-chair of the IASC Gender Reference Group. Gender based violence is a key consideration in WFP's Policy on Humanitarian Protection (2012) that outlines the organisation's position on protection and provides a framework for implementation of its responsibilities in this regard. As part of its modus operandi, WFP seeks to implement food assistance programmes that take the interlinkages between hunger and gender-based violence into account. The objective is to ensure that programmes are safe and dignified, and to support an overall environment in which gender-based violence is reduced and the effects of violence on survivors are mitigated.
UN Women, in collaboration with UNFPA and the Turkish Government, held a Global Meeting on “Ending Violence against Women: Building on Progress to Accelerate Change” in December 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey, at which over 150 high-level representatives from over 40 Member States, the Council of Europe, civil society and United Nations entities attended. At the meeting, participants exchanged experiences and renewed their committment to ending violence against women, such as strengthening Government mechanisms for the prevention of and responses to VAW; implementing comprehensive national programmes and involving men and boys as part of the solution.
In March 2014, during the 25th session of the Human Rights Council, OHCHR partnered with UNFPA, UNICEF and others to bring the award winning exhibition, “Too Young to Wed” to the Palais des Nations in Geneva on the issue of child marriage.
A global conference in New Delhi in 2015 brought together over 140 participants from 24 countries. Based on accumulating experiences and evidence-based strategies, they agreed on a series of recommendations, such as to include gender across all public safety and public transport policies, to broaden women’s access to technology as part of comprehensive approaches to prevent violence in public spaces, and to strengthen programmes with youth, schools and media that promote changes in attitudes and behaviours among men and boys.
A project funded by the UN Trust Fund and implemented by Plan Viet Nam is working to address gender-based violence in and around schools, one of the main barriers to girls’ empowerment and gender equality. A research-based model piloted in 20 schools across Hanoi reached approximately 30,000 adolescent girls and boys aged 11 to 18. Following the model’s success, the Hanoi Department of Education has undertaken to replicate the initiative across 766 schools in the city, potentially reaching more than 500,000 adolescents.
In 2014-2015, OHCHR continued supporting the mandate of the Rapporteur on violence against women, in its active engagement with civil society organizations, including through participation in regional consultations. She participated in three regional consultations, held in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, on the topic of “closing the normative gap” in addressing violence against women at the international level.
The Director of UNIC (United Nations Information Centres) New Delhi was the Guest of Honour at the launch of a campaign "Against Acid Violence", organised by Acid Survivors Foundation India (ASFI) at Juniper Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India. The National Director & CEO ASFI presented some alarming statistics that have been collected to show what a widely prevalent phenomenon this had become in India and gave an overview of the work of ASFI. An acid attack survivor thanked ASFI for taking their voice to the world at large. The Chairperson of the National Commission for Women shed light on the justice system noting that there was literally no recourse to justice.
UN Women’s Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Flagship Initiative has helped Quezon City, in the Philippines, take the first step in its safe city programme towards ensuring safe streets: a scoping study that collects information on violence against women and girls in public spaces. The study, drawing in part on the use of safety audits, where women and men, girls and boys walk through neighbourhoods to identify safe and unsafe spaces, revealed a number of issues that had long remained unnoticed, such as insufficient legal protection and fear of retaliation from reporting crimes. Quezon City is just one of 23 cities around the world working with UN Women, local governments, women's rights organizations and other partners to prevent and respond to sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces. They include New Delhi, Rabat, New York, Kigali, and Port Moresby, and since 2015 also Medellin, and Brussels.
In March 2015, the United Nations Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women (UNiTE) launched its call to action for the 16 Days of Activism, ‘Orange the World: End Violence against Women and Girls’. The theme of prevention of violence against women and girls was selected as a focus to provide opportunities to highlight the need for greater investment in ending violence against women and girls at global, regional and country level in the particular context of the new SDG framework with a focus on prevention as a long term solution.
UNHCR was actively engaged in the revision of the IASC Guidelines for integrating Gender Based Violence interventions in humanitarian settings published in 2015 and supports the roll-out of the guidelines in the field. In 2016, 11 pilot countries receive training and technical support.