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The 'Global plan of action to strengthen the role of the health system within a national multisectoral response to address interpersonal violence, in particular against women and girls, and against children’ was endorsed by the 193 Member States of WHO at the May 2016 World Health Assembly. This plan encourages actions by MS, national and international partners and WHO along 4 strategic directions: Strengthening the health systems leadership and governance; providing comprehensive health, including SRH, services and training health providers ; strengthening prevention programming; and improving evidence and information to address violence against women and girls.
OHCHR has continued to support the Human Rights Council’s work on women’s human rights. OHCHR submitted various reports to HRC, including a report on early, child and forced marriages (A/HRC/26/22), a report on sexual and gender-based violence in the context of transitional justice (A/HRC/27/21), and a report on the implementation of the technical guidance on the human rights-based approach to preventable maternal mortality and morbidity (A/HRC/27/20).
In August 2014, OHCHR and UN Women launched the Latin American Protocol for the investigation of Gender-Motivated Killings of women, which provides guidance for investigations to comply with due diligence standards (promoted in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, and Peru).
FAO has been instrumental in the finalization of the Committee on World Food Security’s (CFS) Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises (FFA), a global policy guidance instrument endorsed in October 2015. The document explicitly recognizes the role of all stakeholders in “protecting against all forms of gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse, particularly towards refugees and IDPs, to allow safe access to resources to meet food and nutrition needs”, and in “designing and delivering food security and nutrition policies and actions in ways that minimize the risk to recipients and contribute to preventing and ending gender based violence.”
In Serbia, UNDP supported the Government to ratify key international conventions, enact a body of relevant laws and develop policies to eliminate gender based violence. Country’s priorities are outlined in the National Strategy for Prevention and Elimination of VaW in the Family and in Intimate Partner Relationships 2011-2015. The document is aligned with the international standards, particularly with Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating VaW and Domestic Violence. Serbia ratified the Convention in 2013 and it entered into force on 1st August 2014.
In Croatia, UNDP supported the Government with evidence and legal analysis to draft the law, which entered into force in June 2015, on the rights of victims of sexual violence during the conflict of the 1990s. “Law on Rights of Victims of Sexual Violence During the Armed Aggression on the Republic of Croatia During the Homeland War.” This is the first law in the region that provides civilian victims of sexual violence in armed conflict with a comprehensive set of reparation measures: medical and psychosocial rehabilitation, financial compensation, legal aid and symbolic acts of reparation. UNDP supports the Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs in the implementation of mechanisms assessing the eligibility criteria for the status of survivors of sexual violence in armed conflict.
In Viet Nam in 2016, UN Women supports Legal Aid Department of Ministry of Justice to build a legal aid system sensitive to the needs of VAW survivors. This includes 1) technical assistance to legal drafters of the amended Legal Aid Law and to develop joint UN recommendations together with UNDP, UNICEF, UNODC, UNAIDS, highlighting gaps with international normative frameworks; and 2) support to develop a guideline for legal aid providers, reflecting the legislative changes of the criminal laws in 2015 and promoting gender-sensitive and survivor-centred response based on international standards. Materials developed through the support to Judicial Academy and UNODC's handbook for legal aid providers on domestic violence cases will be utilized for this purpose.
UN Women has been instrumental in ensuring that the Prevention against Domestic Violence Bill was adopted by the national Parliament in Kenya. This was a significant achievement, since Kenya previously did not have a specific law for prevention and response to domestic violence.
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).
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.