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In Kosovo, OHCHR and technical partners provided key support services for survivors of gender based violence, including psychosocial counselling and psychotherapeutic services, legal aid and access to economic empowerment programs, benefitting more than 200 women in 2016. After a successful advocacy initiative involving OHCHR, North Mitrovica municipality allocated premises for a shelter for survivors of gender based violence. OHCHR further provided necessary equipment and furniture for the shelter and will organize capacity building of relevant staff who will work with survivors in the shelter. Moreover, OHCHR ensured sustainability of support services in 2017 and 2018 through technical support to a partner CSO in drafting a project proposal which was recently approved for funding by the EU.
In DRC, the UNJHRO (United Nations Joint Human Rights Office) facilitated access to justice to victims, through free legal aid in judicial procedure and judgment execution process, referral to medical, psychosocial and economic services. 22 legal clinics were funded by UNJHRO in order to provide free legal information to population and legal aid to victims for regular and mobile trials supported by UNJHRO, and enhance referral mechanisms for services to victims and bridge with prosecution special cells.
In Haiti, OHCHR implemented two CVR (Community Violence Reduction) projects to support women and girls victims of violence. The aim of these two projects is to construct two reception centers, in remote areas where women and girls can seek temporary shelter in order to receive psycho social, medical and legal aid.
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.
WHO is developing clinical guidelines to respond to children and adolescents who have been sexually abused for use by health care providers.
In various countries (e.g. DRC, Burundi, Colombia, Ecuador, Malawi) WFP supports gender based violence survivors during their temporary stay in the shelters and afterwards, during their process of reintegration in the community. Food assistance contributes to women's full nutritional and psycho-social recovery and subsequently supports their livelihoods, thus increasing the resilience of survivors, their self reliance and, ultimately, their capacity of disengaging from an abusive situation and rebuilding a safer life.
UNRWA provides protection, support, and services (education, health, relief and social services) through established referral systems in all five fields of operations, in more than 150 locations (which include camps, health centres, and schools). Referral systems created pathways between the different UNRWA programmes internally, as well as externally involving other service providers to ensure holistic support to survivors. Through these internal and external pathways, UNRWA is able to provide psychosocial counselling, legal services, and medical services among other. The Agency looks into survivors’ satisfaction with GBV services based on a survey tool with close-ended questions on satisfaction with services received through UNRWA as well as through external service providers. Over the course of the two-year period, 2014-2015, UNRWA was able to identify 5950 survivors, who have in turn accessed 8362 services, primarily on psychosocial counselling and legal services through the referral systems set up.
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).
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.
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.