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UNAIDS plays an important global advocacy role in supporting and addressing the linkages of gender-based violence in the context of sex work by the ongoing support and collaboration with networks of sexworkers. 

In Kyrgyzstan UNAIDS provided support to the women network of people living with HIV.

In the Dominican Republic UNAIDS provided support to USAID Linkages Project through consultation meetings with organisations of sexual diversity working on gender-based violence, as well as support for the implementation of the COIN Campaign to protect children and adolescents from commercial sexual exploitation and HIV and AIDS.

UNHCR operations implement awareness-raising activities and prevention programming that aim to address the root causes of SGBV to bring effective behavior and social norms change through long-term approaches. Awareness raising is part of community outreach programming and includes training and capacity-building activities, as well as information sharing with people of concern. UNHCR operations continued to encourage women’s participation in leadership and management structures. Some examples of prevention, awareness-raising and advocacy initiatives organized by UNHCR are the following:

• 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence: UNHCR operations commemorated 2019’s campaign in collaboration with communities with numerous SGBV raising-awareness activities. 
• UNHCR applies the methodology of key programmes that aim at reshaping social norms by addressing power imbalances and gender inequality with a community-based approach in different field locations. Models such as SASA!, EMAP (Engaging Men through Accountable Practice) and ZTVA (Zero Tolerance Village Alliance) have been implemented in 8 different field operations.
• In 2019, the Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) Trainer of Trainers (ToT), with a component on prevention, held two different cohorts (Global and Americas) with a total of 47 staff from 34 different operations participating. In Hama City, Syria, 15 SGBV coordinators, case managers and lawyers whose work focuses on engaging men and boys in SGBV prevention were trained. 
• As of mid-2019, progress in mobilizing communities to be active in SGBV prevention and survivor-centred protection was improved in 27 refugee, 5 IDP, and 5 returnee situations, and was maintained in 16 situations. 
• Through “Safe from the Start” initiative, UNHCR expands innovative multi-sectoral projects with a focus on SGBV prevention and risk-mitigation in numerous operations across all regions.

UNHCR supported a gender audit of the Global Refugee Forum and the processes leading up to it. The audit was led by refugee women from diverse backgrounds with the purpose of drawing attention to gender equality related challenges, including the scale of SGBV in refugee contexts as well as supporting integration of gender equality and measures to address SGBV concretely through the GRF pledging process and in the identification of good practices.

UNHCR also launched the PSEA Community Outreach and Communication Fund in collaboration with ICVA as part of the IASC HC’s Championship and RG2. UNHCR further increased capacity to run systematic sexual misconduct in recruitment processes using the UN “Clear Check” trackers for SEA and SH this detecting if one perpetrator tries to move from one organization to another.

Prevention, Including Awareness-Raising and Advocacy Under the Spotlight Initiative, UNICEF worked on Outcome 3 (Prevention) in 8 African countries and 3 Latin American countries. Community engagement was the main activity. Social norm change was also promoted through education-related activities and media advocacy. Youth engagement was carried out through U-report too.

In an op-ed published by Friends of Europe, the High Representative for Disarmament stated that gender must be at the heart of arms policy and highlighted the impact of weapons, in particular small arms, on the prevalence of sexual violence in conflict. 

The High Representative for Disarmament spoke during the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence saying that intimate partner violence is even more perilous when guns are involved, abetting sexual and domestic violence, and potentially femicide. She called for governments to deny access to guns to those who have been convicted of domestic or interpersonal violence, saying that through gender-responsive legislation and licensing policies, violence against women can be punished, prevented and eliminated.

High Representative for Disarmament participated in a thematic panel on gender and gender-based violence during the of Fifth Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (CSP5)  and called for deepened understanding and implementation of gender-responsive arms control. [Gender and gender-based violence (GBV) was the thematic priority of Fifth Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (CSP5) 2019 and in the final report of the conference, States agreed to strengthen the ability of States Parties to apply the GBV risk assessment criteria and to review progress on an ongoing basis.

The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) held two sub-regional seminars on “Preventing Armed Violence Against Women Through Arms Control” targeting national authorities from Central America   (in El Salvador) [Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama. Also participating were officials and experts from UNDP, UNODC, UN Women, the Organization of American States, the Central American Integration System, and the Center of Excellence for Statistical Information on Government, Crime, Victimization and Justice] and Caribbean States  (in Trinidad and Tobago) [  Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname. 12 civil society organizations participated, as well as 3 regional organizations. ] with direct responsibilities in arms control and prevention of violence against women and girls. The seminars focused on arms control as a fundamental pillar of public policies aimed at preventing and reducing violence against women. They likewise provided opportunities for non-governmental organizations and government representatives from the two sub-regions to exchange ideas, discuss strategies, and consider possibilities for joint initiatives to address challenges vis-a-vis armed violence against women.

The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD) organized a “Workshop for Pacific Island States on Gun Violence and Illicit Small-Arms Trafficking from a Gender Perspective” in Fiji where sexual violence and violence against women was a core part of the discussions with civil society organizations and parliamentarians from the Pacific [Fiji, Papa New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Island  and Vanuatu]. It was the final sub-regional workshop in a series of training events.

UNODC promotes the Blue Heart Campaign.

UNODC is developing a Human Rights and Gender mainstreaming tool to contribute towards gender transformative programming and assist policy makers, practitioners and UN staff when implementing activities to counter migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons.  
In the framework of the Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT), UNODC is preparing to launch a women’s network among partner countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan) to promote and foster the participation of women professionals (government and civil society) in combating trafficking and smuggling. It was publicly announced on 10 December 2019 at an awareness-raising event held for the 2019 campaign '16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence' and International Human Rights Day. 

Additionally, UNODC developed a 3 hour university module, accompanied by an educational video, on the Gender Dimensions of Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Smuggling tailored for academic teachers.

In the MENA region, UNODC continued improving prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against women and girls through a regional project and the Joint UN Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls subject to Violence, with Egypt and Tunisia serving as pilot countries.

Among the major undertakings of UNRWA GBV programming has been the systematization of GBV prevention interventions. UNRWA, with the support of an external consulting firm, established a baseline to its GBV prevention activities in 2016, developed a GBV Prevention Framework and road maps for implementation in the field offices and measured the change achieved three years after the implementation of the activities through a GBV Endline study conducted in 2019.  The report of the endline study showed the below key findings: 

• Overall, UNRWA has taken some important steps to mainstream GBV prevention across its work on gender-based violence;
• Staff awareness, knowledge and understanding regarding GBV prevention have been improved to some extent and to varying degrees but a response focus still dominates and cultural factors remain barriers for some staff; 
• The mainstreaming approach has enhanced the sustainability of the prevention element of the project;
• While perception among staff of leadership engagement has improved, there remain important gaps in terms of leadership;
• There is a clear recognition from UNRWA and its partners of the Agency’s comparative advantage in GBV prevention;
• The evidence shows that while prevalence remains high there have been some shifts in knowledge and attitudes at community level regarding GBV awareness;
• UNRWA investment in developing a GBV learning culture has paid dividends but systems for monitoring results need strengthening and resources allocated are still seen as inadequate.

A key component of the GBV Prevention work consisted of engaging communities in self-protection mechanisms and in 2019 UNRWA has been extending the work with communities to strengthen local community-based protection mechanisms including facilitating community awareness and identification of harmful behaviours and GBV risks, as well as activities including prevention awareness messaging and GBV risk mitigation. Specifically, UNRWA offices in Jordan and West Bank have developed a participatory protection assessment aimed at establishing community self-protection mechanisms, which were piloted in the past months.

Specifically Jordan Field Office designed the Building Self-Protection Methodology to strengthen self-protection capacities within the community and is built upon the following resources:

1. UNRWA Protection Analysis Guidance and Tool Kit;
2. Some of the tools included in UNRWA Guidelines for the Mainstreaming of Gender-Based Violence Risk Mitigation in Emergency Response;
3. The Assets Methodology by Population Council.

Then the GBV Focal Points facilitated activities with UNRWA students, parents and teachers and produced a participatory Protection Risk Analysis. The key output of the three first exercises of the methodology allowed the definition of a Protection Risk Chart with a focus on GBV. Based on the risks identified, the community then mapped the assets available and devised a Protection Roadmap to tackle a maximum of three of the risks identified through an array of interventions such as trainings, information sessions, awareness raising, partnership building, etc. These interventions relied on existing resources within the community favouring networking and meaningful participation of the different stakeholders. Building on the experiences of the pilot in Jordan, the Child and Family Protection Programme in West Bank modified the outlined methodology to accommodate its own specific context and to add further GBV and SEA related components. It focused on identifying local community safety mechanisms for students (8th and 9th grade) attending UNRWA schools and parents in order to subsequently strengthen self-protection services and link them to GBV, while involving Child and Family Protection Committees in view of their important role in preventing and reducing GBV incidents in emergencies. Therefore, a set of activities was identified on a broad range of related topics, such as gender roles, sexual and gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and respective implications in emergencies and was implemented through the community protection plans. 

Finally, UNRWA developed and aired 6 TV spots that address, through fiction, a situation related to GBV prevention, risk mitigation and gender discrimination. The TV spots were aired not only on the UNRWA Youtube channel but also in UNRWA installations while refugees were waiting to access services and in discussions groups with communities’ members across the five fields of operation to spur debate among the audience on individual and communal mechanisms to address gender stereotypes and gender-based violence. Furthermore, the episodes were featured during the Women’s Film Week in Amman from 8 to 11 March 2019, organised by UN Women for International Women’s Day. Having generated very positive feedback and reception in the communities and in view of the spots being an excellent tool to open up and facilitate debate, the Gender Section worked on establishing them as a long term tool to be integrated into various programmes even after the end of the project. In order to facilitate their use for other departments, a Companion Guide was finalized in 2019. The guide includes a drive with all videos accompanied by straightforward information on the respective messaging of each of the episodes as well as questions to guide focus group debate. The TV spots and Companion Guide were then used in groups discussions with community members, students, and staff during the 2019, 16 Days of Activism campaign to end GBV from 25 November to 10 December through. 

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network, funded by the UN Trust Fund, is implementing a project in the South Sudanese state of Wau to increase the knowledge of students, parents, teachers and administrators about gender-based violence through awareness-raising events in schools in the displaced communities of Wau. Also, women activists are being empowered to prevent gender-based violence more effectively by providing them with advocacy and engagement training, promoting networking among activists and facilitating their attendance at national meetings. Activities are being organized to engage the broader Wau community, in particular men and boys, and encourage community members to help to prevent gender-based violence. The Director General of the Ministry of Gender and the directors general and directors of planning of the ministry responsible for education and youth attended a stakeholder meeting and publicly committed to supporting the project’s goals of ending gender-based violence in schools.

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence is an organization wide day supported across HQ, Regional and Country Offices. This includes greater advocacy amongst staff members to be agents of change and to better understand the issue to address in their respective programmes.

WFP is also a member of the Protection Clusters in Country across various contexts. This provides a platform to share experiences, raise concerns and find collective solutions to address common issues. WFP is also a member of the Global Protection Cluster since December 2019 – which will enable great voice and agency to better coordinate at a global level. 

In Nepal, technical trainings including GESI specific tailored sessions including PSEA and SH are developed and planned to roll out starting in 2020. 

ESCWA, and its partners UN Women and the League of Arab States, organized a regional workshop to support National Women Machineries in the Arab region in their efforts to address violence against women.  Discussion topics included the role of international mechanisms in providing increased protection to survivors of violence, the importance of gender-sensitive national legislation, and the various services that contribute to addressing violence against women. The workshop sessions also covered the regional frameworks that address violence against women, as well as the needed national data to deal with this issue, and the importance of establishing partnerships with national stakeholders to address violence against women.

ESCWA, in partnership with UNFPA, held a meeting to discuss new guidelines on costing violence against women in the Arab region. Experts held in-depth discussions on how to enhance the forthcoming “Step by Step Guide” and identify tools on estimating the cost of violence in the Arab region, especially intimate partner/marital violence. 

ESCWA drafted a series of briefs to better inform policy in member States, including: “Women in the Judiciary: A Stepping Stone towards Gender Justice,” which examines the presence of women in the judiciary in the Arab States and explores implications for the achievement of gender justice, including on the capacity of judicial institutions to deal with cases related gender-based violence; and “The Due Diligence Standard, Violence against Women and Protection Orders in the Arab Region,” which discusses the need for protection orders in the Arab region through the concept of the due diligence standard and its applicability to violence against women in both the public and private spheres.

The OHCHR also supported the Working Group on the Issue of Discrimination Against Women in Law and in Practice (WGDAW) in developing several conclusions aimed at supporting policy development in its thematic report on “Reasserting equality, countering rollbacks”, published in May 2018 (A/HRC/38/46). It concluded that the road to gender equality and the full realization of women’s and girls’ human right remains long and challenging. Women are scarcely represented in national and global political and economic decision-making bodies and are too often overrepresented in vulnerable employment and paid less than men, impeding their economic independence. They face pervasive violence, lack control over their bodies and lack autonomy, and are too often seen as sexualized objects. In all spheres of life, power and entitlement are still concentrated in the hands of men. Women facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination experience inequality even more acutely. The continuing existence of direct and indirect discrimination, both visible and invisible, is the reason why women lag behind in nearly all human progress indicators. In the face of discrimination against women and one of its worst manifestations, gender-based violence, everyone has a duty to act. The international community must move forward on setting and implementing standards on gender equality to counter the alarming trends towards undermining human rights principles and jeopardizing the gains made in women’s right.