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ESCWA, in partnership with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (IADC), has begun implementing, “Support to Women Refugees from Syria and Vulnerable Women and Girls in Host Communities in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon” (2018-2020). The project seeks to engage women refugees from Syria and vulnerable women and girls in host communities in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon to better advocate for their rights and exercise their voice to improve their status and reinforce their resilience.
The OHCHR supported the Working Group on the Issue of Discrimination Against Women in Law and in Practice (WGDAW) in sending communications on individual cases and legislation/policies which are not in compliance with international human rights law. The Working Group addressed communications to Governments, individually or jointly with other mandate holders which concern a wide range of subjects falling within its mandate, including discriminatory legislation and practices, allegations of abuse of women human rights defenders and violations of their rights, gender-based violence and violations of the right to sexual and reproductive health (available at https://spcommreports.in.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments ). The Working Group also issued press releases, individually or jointly with other mandate holders, treaty bodies and regional mechanisms raising these issues (available at https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/NewsSearch.aspx?MID=WG_Women)
Dominican Republic Country Office: WFP contributed to the National March with the slogan #NiUnEntierroMas, #NiMuertasNiPresasVivayLibreslasqueremos, mobilization began with more than 500 people, mostly young people and several civil society organizations, marched from Correa and Cidrón Avenue to the Senate of the Republic in proclamation that lower femicides against women.
DRC Country Office:
The protection challenges faced by the population in DRC are multiple given the persistent unrest and conflict, and complexity of the food security crisis. Like all humanitarian crises around the world, children and women are the most affected. However, in DRC, women are particularly vulnerable due to the prevalence of gender inequality and sexual and gender-based violence.
WFP seeks to counteract any risks beneficiaries face in accessing WFP assistance through sensitization of communities. Prior to the registration of beneficiaries for assistance, WFP informed the local population about its interventions, ensuring understanding of the purpose, intended beneficiaries, and their entitlements.
This was particularly relevant in 2018 given the expansion of cash assistance, as the transfer was provided to the woman of the household and sensitization was needed to minimize the risk of intra-household conflict or domestic violence. WFP also provided beneficiary cards specifying the name of the cardholder's village during household registration which was important for the prevention of fraud and for ensuring the transfer was given to the intended beneficiary. Sensitization also enabled beneficiaries to assist in identifying people that were not members of their village or were not entitled to any assistance, further reducing the risk of fraud.
Complaints and feedback committees were available at distribution sites to address beneficiary complaints regarding protection-related issues.
Guatemala Country Office:
Organized workshops in all WFP project sites on awareness raising and prevention of GBV for both women and men. ALL countries and RBP: internal awareness and information sessions on WFP policies on sexual harassment and abuse of power.
Mozambique Country Office:
Theatre group Utchessa in Tete premiered the piece they wrote on the theme of prevention of violence against women and girls, which was also shown in 20 other communities, coinciding with WFP's pilot on activities with cash modality.
Myanmar Country and Field Offices:
- WFP’s ensured financing (USD1,000) and technical commitments Union Level High Event organized by Department of Social Welfare in Nay Pyi Taw on 26 November.
- Displayed WFP’s orange corner, contributed key chain and orange brooch
- WFP’s contribution (USD 700) to the Gender Equality Network (GEN) for the movement of White Ribbon Campaign and NiNi participated in the Regional Level Event organized by GEN and regional government
- WFP contributed and participated joint orange campaign in Lashio and Myityina (USD 400 each)
- WFP’s activities: Interactive session with children (School Feeding), IDPs and engaging men to end GBV and to support GBV survivors
- Awareness raising session with primary students, teachers and parents to prevent and end Gender-based Violence (GEV), School Feeding Programme, Myin Gyune Basic Education Primary School in Pakokku, Magwe Region
- Awareness session on how WFP mitigates and prevents GBV in each of WFP’s activities and sharing GBV knowledge with internally displaced people (IDP) in Nan Kham IDP Camp, Lashio, northern Shan State
- Awareness session on how WFP mitigates and prevents GBV in each of WFP’s activities and sharing GBV knowledge with IDPs in Niang Dung Baptist Church IDP Camp, Myitkyina, Kachin State
- Awareness raising session on how WFP mitigates and
- prevents GBV and sharing of GBV knowledge with IDPs in Nan Kham IDP Camp, Northern Shan
Nigeria Country Office:
WFP Abuja organised a Symposium on Ending Violence against Women & Girls “Ending VAWG Palaver; we deserve to be heard! Hear me too!” with a focus on young female politicians to be held in Abuja with guest speakers (activists, survivors and women rights’ defenders), stage performances, viewing of the documentary, and the reading of essays by students.
Nicaragua Country Office:
On December 05 and 06, 2018, within the framework of this campaign, a workshop was held on "New masculinities” addressed to the male staff of the Country Office and the field offices of Siuna and Puerto Cabezas located in the Region of North Atlantic of the Country. A total of 22 people participated in this event.
Panama Regional Bureau:
- WFP supported “The Full Moon of Drums”, an interactive, cultural and free family festival that attracts about 50,000 people a year inspired to play drums, dance and sing to the rhythm of music in support for GBV survivors.
- The Regional Bureau joined efforts as part of the UNiTE interagency group (See sway 2018 16 days of activism)
Syria Aleppo Field Office:
During the 16 Days of Activism to end gender-based violence, an Iftar banquet was held for 65 teenage girls from Kafalat Al Tofoolah orphanage, in order to contribute to their social integration within society and let them have an overview of World Food Programme and what it does in Syria. The banquet was preceded by a short session to raise awareness among the girls on the importance of education, and how they can be efficient member in society through continuing their study journey. The Iftar included many musical breaks presented by the girls, Dervishes presentation, and traditional Aleppo-featured songs. Such activities are every important in the sense that WFP in this way keeps population informed about its mandate, and at the same time draws attention to a certain category of society; the orphans, who must be given full care to grow up into productive adults
Zambia Country Office:
During the 16 Days of Activism, the Zambia Country Office excitingly voiced out for all survivors as Men say NO to GBV. Coupled with Gender Focal Point presenting on GBV and Harassment in all its forms, action points were made to strengthen the voice for all WFP beneficiaries to Hear the Voice in ending GBV.
During the reporting period and among others for the 16 Days of Activism Against GBV Campaign, UNRWA organized hundreds of activities that were attended by 26,202 community members under the umbrella of the GBV Prevention Framework. As a result of theses activities 87 % of the participants felt comfortable promoting prevention of gender based violence.
“The training had a lot of impact on my life because I [now] have knowledge about the misdeeds of excision [cutting] and child marriage. I'm pregnant and if I have a girl I will not make her go through this practice”, said Fatoumata N.*, a peer educator in Mali. She was speaking about the harmful traditional practice of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), which is inflicted on 89 per cent of women and girls in Mali, according to the World Health Organization. FGM/C has devastating health ramifications for women and girls, including pain, bleeding, permanent disability and even death. This harmful traditional practice is not yet banned in Mali.
The UN Trust Fund is supporting the Malian organization AMSOPT to change social norms and provide access to medical and psychosocial services for survivors of FGM/C. The project’s awareness-raising efforts in the Kayes region, which has the highest rates of FGM/C in the country, have already led two villages to publicly renounce the harmful traditional practice as well as child marriage, and six others are in the process of doing the same. The two villages held public assemblies bringing together counselors, women, youth and village leaders to agree on the abandonment of FGM/C, and created a committee to ensure the application of the decision
*Name has been changed to protect the privacy of the individual.
In Honduras, OHCHR organised several conference and meetings addressing challenges in combatting VAW, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the promotion of the work of women’s networks. It also organised information campaigns on gender based violence and women human rights defenders.
In Haiti, OHCHR funds helped for the development and production of communication tools (audio-visual)/ messages to build resilience and prevent natural disasters for groups and populations at risk with a gender approach.
In Liberia, during the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, OHCHR and the UNCT provided support for the organisation of a conference on “Consolidating National Efforts against FGM’, with the participation of government officials, traditional and community leaders and other stakeholders.
One of OCHA’s 7 priority commitments on gender is to promote gender-responsive Humanitarian Programme Cycle processes. It ensures the systematic inclusion of SGBV programming through the mandatory use of the Gender Marker in funded initiatives, and in reports on how gender and SGBV were addressed during project implementation. As an example, the CERF project application and reporting templates require sex- and age disaggregated data. The application template also includes the IASC Gender Marker which is then recorded in the CERF’s Grant Management System Database for tracking and analysis purpose.
In addition, information and knowledge on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls have been disseminated through OCHA’s various advocacy platforms such as the corporate website, social media accounts, content websites (such as Medium, Exposure and YouTube) and email. OCHA has updated and edited two “OCHA on Message” products on Gender in Humanitarian Action and Sexual and Gender-based Violence. “OCHA on Message” are reference products that enables staff to communicate OCHA’s position on key issues. OCHA has also delivered remarks and statements containing messaging on gender and SGBV for the Commission on the Status of Women, the 2017 Global Humanitarian Policy Forum, the Center for Global Development and the Royal Institute of International Affairs and as well as briefings to the Security Council, among others.. For International Women’s Day, OCHA launched a successful social media campaign with its “Messengers of Humanity” community around their “Female Humanitarian Heroes” highlighting the professional achievements of women working in humanitarian affairs.
In August, OCHA’s annual World Humanitarian Day campaign centered around the hashtag #NotATarget and advocated for the protection of civilians in armed conflict. The campaign included a strong focus on sexual violence in conflicts, and what can be done to empower and support survivors. As part of a unique collaboration with Facebook, OCHA launched a brand-new Live filter, allowing users to step into the shoes of people affected by conflict as they read real stories from civilians trapped in conflict. The filter included a series of stories by women and girls to highlight the unique challenges they experience in crisis. As part of the campaign, SCB collaborated with UNFPA on a blogpost “Dispelling five myths about sexual violence in emergencies” which was published on OCHA’s Medium platform.
OCHA also supports the International Day to end violence against women and the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence. In 2017, OCHA launched a digital campaign, which included an updated Facebook Live filter from World Humanitarian Day that exclusively featured stories of survival from women and girls affected by conflict. The Emergency Relief Coordinator and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, as well as staff members from OCHA’s field offices, participated in the campaign by recording videos, where they shared the real stories of women trapped in conflict.
A network of field ethics focal points has been created to receive and escalate complaints related to sexual exploitation and abuse. Trainings have been conducted for focal points on ethics procedures and the handling of these complaints, as well as on Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and FAO's PSEA procedures.