Search

Through UN Action, UNICEF is leading a consultative process to develop indicators to measure progress in implementing Security Council resolution 1820; and to generate proposals on monitoring and reporting gaps in the UN’s response to conflict-related sexual violence, as requested by the Security Council. Hide

UN Action presented seminars on Security Council resolutions 1820/1888 and on sexual violence for UNHCR and WHO staff, in Geneva. A briefing for a range of donors and civil society partners on the UN response to the new Security Council frameworks was presented in December 2009 in Geneva, hosted by the Norwegian Mission. In October 2009, UN Action presented a “webinar” on Security Council resolutions 1820 and 1888, hosted by UNFPA, for UNFPA field staff. A briefing for Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) staff was held in January 2010. At the request of the DSRSG of MINURCAT, UN Action undertook a technical assessment mission to Chad, in November 2009, to better understand the UN system’s response to conflict-related sexual violence and to explore options for strategic support. The assessment team held consultations with representatives from a range of UN agencies. Strategic support is being provided to MINURCAT and the UNCT to develop a Comprehensive Strategy on Gender-based Violence – Including Sexual Violence, for Eastern Chad. In January 2010, UN Action in collaboration with UNDP engaged a Senior Advisor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to oversee implementation of the Comprehensive Strategy on Combating Sexual Violence in DRC.At the request of the RC/HC, UN Action fielded an inter-agency mission to Cote d’Ivoire, in January 2010, to assess options for support to the UN’s response to gender-based violence, including sexual violence, and to review the draft National Strategy on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.UNDP, OHCHR and DPKO worked under UN Action auspices to develop a joint concept note for a rapidly-deployable Team of Experts on rule of law, as mandated by Security Council resolution 1888, to help address impunity for sexual violence. The UN Action Resource Management Committee approved two funding proposals to support UN system-wide action at country level:(1) Establishing a system to track allocations and expenditures on sexual violence programmes through UN managed financing mechanisms (e.g. CAPs, CERF, CHFs, PBSO, MDTFs) and other sexual violence related funding modalities as part of a broader effort to track gender related allocations; and(2) Training of humanitarian actors to facilitate the roll-out of the Standard Operating Procedures Guide on addressing gender-based violence in humanitarian settings.UN Action convened inter-agency meetings to assist Member States in the framing of Security Council resolution 1888, adopted on 30 September 2009.Under its knowledge-building pillar, the UN Action Resource Management Committee approved a funding proposal submitted to UN Action’s Multi-Donor Trust Fund to map examples of positive interactions with non-State actors, with a view to developing preventative diplomacy strategies and guidance on addressing sexual violence with non-State armed groups.UN Action continued to support the Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women, through regular participation in the inter-agency working. UN Action promoted a global online photo drive during the 16 Days of Activism against GBV 2009 and in collaboration with DPI, it presented its images, as a photo montage, at the launch of the Secretary-General's Network of Men Leaders in November 2009.UN Action mobilized new media/social networking tools to amplify the Stop Rape Now campaign (www.facebook.com/unaction; www.twitter.com/unaction). A Public Service Announcement (PSA) has been developed for broadcast and online distribution, with support from OCHA, UNIFEM and DPI, to popularize the “Stop Rape Now” message.In collaboration with the UN Division for the Advancement of Women, UN Action contributed the “Feature Item” on sexual violence in conflict settings for the October 2009 issue of Words to Action: Newsletter on violence against women, issued by the UN Division for the Advancement of Women. Hide

The Secretary-General’s campaign “UNiTE to End Violence against Women” has increased UN system-wide efforts to develop regional and country-level activities in support to Member States and civil society. The campaign’s Latin American component was launched in Guatemala City on 25 November 2009, while the African component was launched in Addis Ababa on 30 January 2010. In November 2009, the Secretary-General announced his Network of Men Leaders which will contribute to social mobilization and transformational change to promote a society that is free of violence against women. Hide

UN Action continued to finance the Programme Manager for the Joint Government-UN Programme on Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Liberia. The Programme Manager worked to develop management and coordination systems as well as to establish benchmarks to monitor the implementation and impact of the Joint Programme.The recruitment specialist continued to develop a roster of senior and mid-level professionals specialized on gender-based violence and who are available for rapid deployment to conflict-affected countries.The Comprehensive Strategy to Combat Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) developed by UN Action’s Senior Adviser on Sexual Violence in MONUC, DRC, was launched by the UN and the Government of DRC in March 2009 and formally presented to the UN Security Council on 9 April 2009. The Comprehensive Strategy provides a clear framework for addressing sexual violence in the DRC. The Strategy is based on four interlocking pillars: 1) combating impunity for cases of sexual violence; 2) prevention of sexual violence; 3) security sector reform; and 4) multi-sectoral response to improve access of survivors of sexual violence to a wide range of services.In April 2009, UN Action undertook an assessment of the effectiveness of its strategic support to addressing sexual violence in the DRC. The assessment concluded that the UN Action network should continue to provide strategic support to MONUC and the UNCT to help operationalize the Comprehensive Strategy.UN Action continued to develop the Stop Rape Now website (www.stoprapenow.org). New web features were developed, including an Updates from the Field page, which showcases UN Action efforts to combat sexual violence in Liberia and the DRC. Significant support was garnered following the posting of a photo of UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman at the StopRapeNow site. UN Action is encouraging all UN member entities to contribute photos of their respective Goodwill Ambassadors. UN Action also created a “Fans of SCR1820” page on Facebook, and a UN Action Twitter page, with links from both sites to the News hub on the StopRapeNow website. As at September 2009, there were over 1,380 fans of SCR 1820 on Facebook.As part of the StopRapeNow campaign, and in conjunction with the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, UN Action developed tools on Security Council Resolution 1820, including a poster, notebooks, pins and banner-pens. In order to improve collaboration with NGO partners, UN Action chaired a session on sexual violence during the Consultation with Civil Society on the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign in March 2009.UN Action undertook a number of advocacy events throughout September 2009 to coincide with the presentation of Security Council resolution 1888 on sexual violence in armed conflict, which was adopted unanimously by the Security Council on 30 September 2009.Under the aegis of UN Action, WHO was spearheading efforts to develop a standardized instrument and methodology to collect data on conflict-related sexual violence. UNICEF and WHO were leading a process to develop programmatic benchmarks for measuring progress in preventing and responding to sexual violence. Hide

The IASC Gender Sub-Working Group (SWG) on Gender and Humanitarian Action, in collaboration with InterAction, developed an e-learning course for humanitarian workers to teach them how to develop programming that ensures that the needs and capacities of women, girls, boys and men are met in humanitarian situations. This course draws on important IASC handbooks, including:- Women, Girls, Boys and Men, Different Needs – Equal Opportunities- Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings Hide

In March 2009, the UN Trust Fund issued its fourteenth Call for Proposals to support the implementation of laws, policies and action plans on ending violence against women and girls.While the UN Trust Fund has been able to rely on the support of its leading donors in 2009, the global financial crisis has reduced the resources available for grant-making to less than half of the US$22 million granted last year. In an effort to secure adequate funds for grant-making in 2009, the UN Trust Fund and UNIFEM, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, have reached out to private foundations and philanthropic leaders. An Urgent Alert was launched in July, in the context of the Framework for Action of the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, which has set a target of an annual contribution to the UN Trust Fund of US$100 million by 2015.The UN Trust Fund partnered with the International Centre for Research on Women to develop a capacity development programme to enhance the skills and knowledge of grantees to conduct quality, evidence-based programming and M&E.An external and independent evaluation to assess the overall implementation and effectiveness of the UN Trust Fund 2005-08 Strategy took place the first half of 2009. Four field missions to eight countries and a desk review of 21 projects gathered data for in-depth assessment. A broad range of stakeholders were consulted through interviews, focus groups and online surveys. Hide

In December 2008, UN Action created a Multi-Donor Trust Fund to pool resources, tightening accountability for joint UN system action against sexual violence in conflict.UN Action supported the recruitment of a Programme Manager to coordinate the Joint Government-UN Programme on Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Liberia. UN Action also provided financial support to UNFPA for two UN system-wide gender-based violence coordinators in Darfur, Sudan. UN Action also provided financial support to UNFPA for the training of GENCAP (Gender Stand-by Capacity) Advisers in November 2008.UN Action hired a recruitment specialist to conduct a global search for gender-based violence programme coordinators/advisers.UN Action implemented DPKO-led research missions to UNMIL, Liberia (September 2008) and MONUC, Democratic Republic of Congo (January 2009), with the aim of finalizing and field-testing an Analytical Inventory of Responses by Peacekeeping Personnel to War-Related Violence Against Women. The Inventory catalogues examples of good practice in protecting women from sexual violence.UN Action convened an OHCHR-led high-level panel on sexual violence in December 2008, as a follow-up to the conference “Women Seeking Justice – Getting Law”, co-financed by UN Action.A range of advocacy resources on the Security Council resolution 1820 (2008) were added to the UN Action ‘Stop Rape Now’ website.In response to the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war in the context of the renewed conflict in Eastern DRC, UN Action issued and distributed a joint advocacy statement. In November 2008, UN Action organized a panel discussion on “Sexual violence against women and children in conflict” as part of the Inter-Parliamentary Union – UN Hearing, and prepared a concept note.UN Action’s Senior Adviser on Sexual Violence in MONUC, DRC, undertook a mapping exercise, in August 2008, of existing and planned activities by international actors on sexual violence; and collaborated with EUPOL to convene a “day of reflection” in November 2008 on strengthening the capacity of the Congolese National Police to prevent and respond to sexual violence.UN Action gave briefings to NGOs and to Missions on sexual violence data-collection, including proposals for more timely and reliable data, as well as benchmarks for measuring progress.UN Action convened a WHO-led experts meeting in Geneva, in December 2008, on “Sexual Violence in Conflict: Data and data-collection methodologies”. The meeting resulted in an agreed research agenda and guidance on information-collection, while providing a meaningful evidence-basis of prevalence data and trend analysis to inform effective interventions. Hide

The results of the 2008 grant cycle were announced on 25 November 2008, at an event with the Secretary-General and UNIFEM’s (now part of UN Women) Goodwill Ambassador, Ms. Nicole Kidman. A total of US$22 million in grants were approved, reflecting both multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder interventions. Hide

UNHCR is leading the development of guidelines on establishing community-based complaints mechanisms for sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarian personnel and peacekeepers, through the Executive Committees on Humanitarian Action and Peace and Security (ECHA/ECPS) and UN NGO Task Force on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA). Hide

A Senior Advisor on Sexual Violence was posted to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).In June 2008, UN Action hired an Advocacy and Women’s Rights Specialist to lead its advocacy efforts under the banner “Stop Rape Now” (see www.stoprapenow.org).In May 2008, UN Action co-sponsored a high-level conference at Wilton Park entitled, “Women targeted or affected by armed conflict: What role for military peacekeepers?”. Government officials, military commanders, NGO representatives and other experts reviewed front-line military tactics to protect women from sexual violence in armed conflict. The outcomes were discussed, in July 2008, in a briefing for Heads of military components of peacekeeping operations.UN Action has developed a PowerPoint presentation on Security Council resolution 1820 (2008) on sexual violence in conflict, to heighten awareness of the implication of the resolution for the work of the UN system. The presentation is available at www.stoprapenow.org. In August 2008, UN Action organized a briefing in New York for NGOs around resolution 1820.UN Action has published two documents to support the UN system’s response to sexual violence in conflict settings. These are posted on UN Action’s website: - Do’s and Don’ts: Reporting and interpreting data on sexual violence from conflict-affected countries- Summary of Ethical and Safety Recommendations for researching, documenting and monitoring sexual violence in emergencies. Hide