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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.
ODA promoted the Modular Small-arms-control Implementation Compendium (MOSAIC) module on “Women, men and the gendered nature of small arms and light weapons”.
At the Third United Nations Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation of the Programme of Action, States agreed on progressive language on gender in the outcome document, including, for the first time, the recognition that eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons is a key part of combating gender-based violence. UNODA provided substantive secretariat support to the Review Conference, including regional consultations. Additionally, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD) held a dedicated session on a gendered approach to the UN Programme of Action (PoA) on Small Arms and Light Weapons at a regional preparatory meeting the for the Third Review Conference on the PoA.
Training and capacity-building remained a key area of the UN Trust Fund’s work both online and in face-to-face workshops. For example, the fund has implemented 10 online training modules, developed in 2017, on how to ensure accountability for grants, in accordance with the Project Cooperation Agreement, including sessions on project design, monitoring and evaluation; financial and operational management; and ethics and safety. The course is open to new Trust Fund grantees and their implementing partners and is offered as refresher training to all current grantees. By December 2018, the sessions had been delivered live in three languages and recorded to ensure wider participation and share knowledge. In September 2018, the Trust Fund held a five-day knowledge-exchange workshop in Amman, involving eight current and new grantees working on ending violence against women and girls in humanitarian contexts. The event provided an opportunity for grantees to obtain access to training to respond to programmatic and operational gaps in capacity, exchange learning and knowledge and document knowledge in a format that can be used for both internal and external purposes.
1. WHO together with UNFPA and UN Women published a clinical handbook for health providers titled "Health care for women subjected to intimate partner violence or sexual violence". Adaptation workshops and trainings based on the handbook have been held in multiple settings in 2017, including: Pakistan, Botswana, Namibia, Uruguay, and Zambia and in regional settings (e.g. Caribbean and East and southern Africa). 2. Technical support is being provided to countries and in-country partners who want to conduct national prevalence surveys on violence against women using the WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence methodology. 3. WHO is finalising the development of curricula for use in in-service and pre-service training to strengthen the knowledge, skills and attitudes of health-care professionals and ensure they can respond effectively to women suffering abuse and its consequences.
The November 2017 sub-regional Workshop on Gender Statistics ( http://www.unece.org/index.php?id=43956) included a session on gender statistics for the SDGs, including the indicators on violence against women. The workshop aimed to develop the capacity of experts from national statistics to collect data and produce statistics in line with the requirements of the SDGs and according to internationally-agreed methodology.
UN Volunteers support a wide-range of UN efforts worldwide to build capacity of women and girls, as well as of communities on gender-related issues. For example, UN Volunteers assigned to UN Women in Quetta, Pakistan, launched a radio project which engaged marginalized women and youth in the establishment of community-based radio programmes for entertainment, information and education.
ESCWA, in partnership with UNFPA, are assisting the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Lebanon to develop a national strategy to combat violence against women.
ESCWA, in partnership with UNFPA, UN Women, OHCHR and UNDP in Lebanon, is providing technical support to the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) to develop a National Action Plan on women, peace and security.
ESCWA conducted a field visit and a national consultation on estimating the cost of marital violence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This involved engaging with the National Family Affairs Council, in addition to other stakeholders such a government entities and civil society members providing services for survivors of family violence.
ESCWA is developing “Training Guide: The Economic Cost of Violence” that will be used as part of a larger future training and capacity building exercise on how to cost violence against women in the Arab region. The guide provides an overview of what is involved in conducting a costing study, including how to design a survey.
ESCWA facilitated a workshop for the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security in the Republic of Sudan on the women, peace and security agenda, and shared positive experiences from the region and elsewhere. National priorities and possible partnerships were discussed and recommendations shared.
ESCWA supported the General Women’s Union in the United Arab Emirates on developing a national strategy on women, peace and security.
ESCWA, in partnership with UNFPA, facilitated a workshop entitled to “International Mechanisms for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women between the Text and the Judicial Application” that aimed to enhance the capacity of the government of Lebanon and the National Commission for Lebanese Women (NCLW) to develop a national strategy to combat violence against women.
ESCWA, in partnership with the Free Sight Association, the Geneva Institute for Human Rights (GIHR), the International Institute for Nonviolence (NOVACT), the European Endowment for Democracy (EED), and the Tunisian Association “TIGAR” for Equitable Citizenship, participated in a workshop that was part a project on “Tunisian Women, Peace and Security.” The workshop brought together 25 participants from local NGOs in the Governorate of Kasserine to discuss their role in the implementation and monitoring of the national action plan on women, peace and security in Tunisia.
ESCWA facilitated a workshop on “The Role of Media and Academia in Implementing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Lebanon,” to facilitate the development of the women, peace and security agenda in Lebanon.
Gender Unit: An updated Gender Equality and Women, Peace and Security Resource Package is being finalized which includes dedicated chapters on CRSV and SGBV. This comprehensive resource tool will act as the main comprehensive resource and a “how to guide” to integrate gender and WPS for all peacekeeping personnel across all components and functions of peacekeeping operations; and will provide good practices to enhance evidence based programming.
In reference to trainings and capacity building of WFP employees, a good example related to PSEA could be the online e-learning, made compulsory for all WFP employees, on Prevention of Fraud, Corruption and SEA.
WFP MYANMAR Country Office
1) For the opening of the 16 Days Campaign against GBV, WFP Myanmar closely cooperated with the National Myanmar Gender Equality Network (GEN) and supported its national campaign ‘From Peace in the home to peace in the world: Involve men to fight violence against women.” Furthermore, a brief footage in the IDP camp benefitting from the new transfer modality (e-wallet) in Myitkyina, Kachin State, was produced with statements of internally displaced women and men on the importance of understanding the root causes of intimate partner violence which might arise from changing in-kind assistance to cash based transfer modalities. WFP Field Office closely collaborated with Karuna Mission Social Solidarity (KMSS), UNFPA and UNHCR on various actions suggested to prevent GBV within the families and also in communities where strongly defined gender roles are still deeply embedded within a cultural or religious coat and gender equality neglected on the public agenda. As an example, the humanitarian community together with IDPs competed in the mini marathon organized by the GBV working group.
2) WFP male staff signed up to the WFP Men Stand for Gender Equality pledge and remained highly engaged in contributing to the country wide campaign to prevent GBV highlighted during orange days and events like the International Women’s Day.
3) WFP Myanmar reiterated its commitment to organize monthly orange days in its Field Offices. In March 2018, Myitkyina Field Office dedicated a special event to help staff understand the negative consequences of GBV against women and girls and learned about the importance of promoting a peaceful co-existence that begins at household level. WFP staff acknowledged that in their working environment, women’s voices and suggestions are still less powerful than those provided by men.