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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.
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In Algeria, UN Women was the only UN agency invited to participate in a 2 days inter-ministerial workshop in February 2018, to design a new strategy on preventing and eliminating violence against women and girls. During the workshop attended by members from the National Commission on violence against women, UNW's technical contribution was vital to provide a framework for effective action and gather inputs from all the relevant sectors (Justice, Police, Health, Education, Social and Religious affairs etc.). The workshop resulted in the elaboration of a National Plan of Action currently awaiting final validation from the Ministry of National Solidarity, Family and Women's condition (MSNFCF). Building on the workshop's result, UN Women and the MSNFCF will join forces to elaborate in a collaborative manner, Algeria's 2019-2022 strategy on promoting, protecting and empowering women and girls in Algeria. The strategy's first pillar will be entirely dedicated to eliminating violence against women and girls in Algeria.
In early 2018, UN Women Algeria played a strong coordinating role within the UN System in Algeria, by being the driving force behind the re-establishment of the Gender Themed Group (GTG). UNW currently shares the GTG presidency with UNFPA. An annual plan of action has been adopted by GTG members, with several actions implemented during Q1. Most notably, UNW partenered with UNICEF to host a documentary screening on the violence and discriminations faced by women in public spaces. The documentary entitled "HNA BARRA" was presented on the occasion of the IWD, and attended by the documentary director, Bahia Bencheikh El Fegoun.Palestine CO
As part of UN Women Palestine office efforts to institutionalize the work of the Specialized Public Prosecutors on VAW, UN Women provided technical support to the Public Prosecution to devleop responsive SoPs on investigating and litigating VAW, inluding the referral of cases to other service providers. The SOPs were revised and discussed with CSOs and Government partners and have been finalized and approved by the Attorney General. The SoPs aim at enhancing protection for women survivors and accountability for perpetrators of crimes against them. UN Women Palestine office initiated the creation of a joint platform for the Family and Juvenille Protection Unit (FJPU) at the police and at the Specialised Public Prosecution on VAW to discuss challenging issues and enhance cooperation between the two institutions when addressing VAW cases. Four successful monthly dialogue meetings were held during the reporting period and addressed highly contested issues by both institutions. UNW is following up closely with both instituions to facilitate the implementation of the dialogue meetings recommendations.
Jordan was part of the second group of Member States presenting its Voluntary National Review (VNR) to the High Level Political Forum in July 2017. In preparation of Jordan’s VNR, and within the framework of the coordinated action of the dedicated inter-agency focused group, UN Women provided technical support to the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) and the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MOPIC) in order to mainstream gender in the process. A dedicated policy paper has been prepared by JNCW outlining contextual trends on GEWE (including issues related to GBV) to be considered as well as presenting needs, opportunities and gaps in terms of legislative reforms and policy development. As a result of UN Women advocacy efforts, three additional action points in the Government-led road map for the SDGs were added, namely strengthening gender mainstreaming in the 2030 Agenda landing process, finalize the SDGs mapping in terms of national indicators (especially Goal 5), and enhance institutions’ capacity development. The VNR also included references to the needed amendements to Jordan's Penal Code provisions related to distriminatory provisions against women and girls.
UN Women organized two consultations on Gender Justice under the patronages of the Department for Women Empowerment and the High Council for Women Affairs in Baghdad and Erbil and in partnership with UNDP and UNFPA. The objective of the consultations was to discuss the law and its implementation to enhance gender justice and more equality between men and women. The consultations took place in Baghdad in November 2017 and December 2017 in Erbil, both attended by high level Governmental stakeholders, Non-Governmental stakeholders, legal aid providers and women activists.
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UN Women Egypt supported the National Council for Women to develop the National Strategy for Women’s Empowerment (NSWE). The NSWE complements Egypt’s Sustainable Development Strategy and is aligned with the goals and targets of the SDGs. It is based on an analysis of existing data regarding gender equality and informed by extensive consultations with diverse groups to understand the critical gaps and inequities that will be addressed under each of its pillars. The main pillars of the strategy focus on: (a) women’s leadership and political participation, (b) economic empowerment, (c) social empowerment, and (d) protection. Violence against Women and Girls is addressed in a comprehensive manner under the social empowerment pillar with indicators, baselines, and targets for the year 2020 and 2030. The NSWE was endorsed by the President of Egypt.
In March 2018, UNHCR recently released its Age, Gender, and Diversity (AGD) policy which aims to ensure that all persons of concern can enjoy their rights on an equal footing and participate meaningfully in the decisions that affect their lives, families, and communities. The policy outlines 10 core actions that UNHCR will take to apply an Age, Gender and Diversity approach in its work, including reaffirming UNHCR’s five Commitments to Refugee Women: They are 1) ensuring women and girls participate equally and meaningfully in all decision-making, community management and leadership structures, and committees of persons of concern, 2) are provided with individual registration and documentation, 3) have equal access to and control over management and provision of food, core-relief items, and cash-based interventions, 4) have equal access to economic opportunities, including decent work and quality education and health services and 5) have access to comprehensive SGBV prevention and response services.
These serve as concrete measures not only to UNHCR but also other humanitarian actors, to help accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5.
In 2017, UNODC further expanded its activities in developing standards and tools and providing technical assistance to Member States in the field of crime statistics. Among these activities was UNODC’s publication of the Resource Book for Trainers on Effective Prosecution Responses to Violence against Women and Girls and the development of an implementation guide for the Essential Service Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence to assist countries in the implementation of the Essential Services Package at the country level.
Further, UNODC developed a study on the role of women in the smuggling of migrants (to be published in the first half of 2018), as well as a Practitioner's Toolkit on Women's Access to Justice Programming (together with UN Women, UNDP and OHCHR).
To address institutionalized violence faced by adolescent mothers in the education sector who face discrimination on the basis of early and unintended pregnancy, UNESCO supported several countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (South Africa, Malawi, Lesotho, Uganda, Tanzania, Swaziland) at various stages in the review and development of national policies on prevention and management of learner pregnancy and reintegration of school aged mothers. Support included the conduct of assessments and data review, through drafting of policy content and via national stakeholder consultations. Further support for Early and Unintended Pregnancy policy advocacy and implementation based on existing sector policies was provided in Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Support for China’s elaboration of its Family Violence law (adopted in 2016)
Gender-Sensitive Indicators for Media (GSIM): UNESCO helps Member States to adopt, review or strengthen legal frameworks on media from a gender equality perspective, to ensure inter alia prohibition of incitement to hatred and any form of gender-based stereotypes and violence within the media. Equally important is that media regulators and public service media carry out yearly assessments of the implementation of gender equality policy in media, and that media regulators effectively use accountability mechanisms in cases of violation of gender equality in media. UNESCO may also help Member States adapt GSIM to become national indicators, and regularly monitor and evaluate gender equality at national level, based on those indicators. For instance, 25 national broadcasters across Francophone Africa now have gender plans as do 2 national media regulators.
In 2017, UNDP launched the “Ending Gender-based Violence (GBV) and Achieving the SDGs” global project. This project aims to take violence prevention to scale by bringing new partners, strategies and sources of financing to the table. Over three years, it will: design, test and evaluate initiatives that will reduce GBV in select pilot sites; and develop new knowledge, skills and tools to reduce GBV in other contexts. Pilots will integrate GBV into broader UNDP sectoral programming (such as environment and livelihoods) and/or will focus around the principle of leaving no one behind.
All pilots will be implemented at the local level, but their lessons will be global. The project will translate evidence from the pilots into policy and advocacy tools, along with instruments such as new financing modalities.
UNRWA’s Gender Equality Strategy (2016-2021), Integrating Gender, Improving Services, Impacting Lives serves to guide and frame all gender-related work by the Agency, including work on GBV.
Field research and analysis by country research teams in China, India, Indonesia for the research project “When and Why Do States Respond to Women's Claims? Understanding Gender-Egalitarian Policy Change in Asia” (2013-2016; final publications 2018). http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BB128/(httpProjects)/FFDCCF9EE4F2F9C6C1257BEF004FB03E?OpenDocument
Joint research activity with the Unicef Office of Research Innocenti on “Transformative Change for Children and Youth and the SDGs” (2017-2018) includes topic of violence against girls.
As per its Strategic Framework 2018-21, UNV supports members states in developing policies that promote volunteerism and volunteer action. Emphasis is put on mainstreaming gender into these policies and legislation.
1. The International Training Centre of the ILO collaborated with the Fair Wear Foundation to organize the Gender Forum on October 2017, a practical training and knowledge-sharing event. 2. The Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE) Programme is an ILO global programme that improves productivity and working conditions in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Several SCORE Trainings in Bolivia, Peru and Colombia focused on gender inclusion and violence in the workplace have taken place in 2017 or are scheduled for 2018. 1. In 2017, the project TRIANGLE in ASEAN conducted trainings on women’s empowerment and gender equality for all TRIANGLE staff and implementing partners in each of its six target countries – Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam –. These were attended by 173 people and included sessions on gender awareness, gender biases and stereotypes, different dimensions of discrimination and gender responsiveness.2. A series of information sessions took place in early 2018 in selected Arab States to prepare ILO constituents to participate in the International Labour Conference discussions on a possible international instrument on violence and harassment in the world of work.3. The ILO country Office in Dakar organized a round table discussion entitled “A world of work without violence and harassment”, which led to the constitution of a working group on the issue and the creation of a questionnaire to identify situations of violence and harassment. 4. The ILO organized a workshop entitled “Equality of opportunity and treatment in the workplace” on the occasion of the fourth meeting of the Economic and Social Commission of the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA). 5. From January 2017 to March 2018, Better Work has provided five training activities on sexual harassment prevention in Bangladesh, involving a total of 547 participants.
View More1. The International Training Centre of the ILO collaborated with the Fair Wear Foundation to organize the Gender Forum on October 2017, a practical training and knowledge-sharing event.
2. The Sustaining Competitive and Responsible Enterprises (SCORE) Programme is an ILO global programme that improves productivity and working conditions in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Several SCORE Trainings in Bolivia, Peru and Colombia focused on gender inclusion and violence in the workplace have taken place in 2017 or are scheduled for 2018.
1. In 2017, the project TRIANGLE in ASEAN conducted trainings on women’s empowerment and gender equality for all TRIANGLE staff and implementing partners in each of its six target countries – Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam –. These were attended by 173 people and included sessions on gender awareness, gender biases and stereotypes, different dimensions of discrimination and gender responsiveness.
2. A series of information sessions took place in early 2018 in selected Arab States to prepare ILO constituents to participate in the International Labour Conference discussions on a possible international instrument on violence and harassment in the world of work.
3. The ILO country Office in Dakar organized a round table discussion entitled “A world of work without violence and harassment”, which led to the constitution of a working group on the issue and the creation of a questionnaire to identify situations of violence and harassment.
4. The ILO organized a workshop entitled “Equality of opportunity and treatment in the workplace” on the occasion of the fourth meeting of the Economic and Social Commission of the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA).
5. From January 2017 to March 2018, Better Work has provided five training activities on sexual harassment prevention in Bangladesh, involving a total of 547 participants.