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UNHCR supported the annual 16 Days of Activism against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in its country operations across the globe in 2016. From November 25 until December 10, UNHCR staff in country and field operations engaged in a number of awareness-raising activities to end sexual and gender-based violence. Activities included the participation of refugees, internally displaced people, stateless people, host-communities, women, men, boys and girls, community leaders, partners and governments representatives in a global effort to promote healthy relationships so that young people can feel safe at home, in their schools and in their communities.
As in previous years, UN Women held the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women under the banner of the Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women in November 2016. The commemoration placed a spotlight on the critical need for sustainable financing for efforts to end violence against women and girls across the globe within the particular framework of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The event began with remarks from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Karel van Oosterom of the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the UN, and UN Trust Fund programme participant Aiturgan Djoldoshbekova. It also included a musical performance from The Color Purple, Tony Award winner for Best Musical Revival, and a panel discussion on sustainable financing to end violence against women and girls.
UN Women with UNIC (United Nations Information Centres) on behalf of the UN System in Cameroon in partnership with the Ministry of Women Empowerment and the Family (MINPROFF) organized the official launching ceremony of 16 days activism within UNSG’s Orange Campaign “UNiTE to End Violence against Women”, on 25 November 2015, on the theme “from peace in the Home to peace in the world, make education safe for all”. The ceremony was presided by the Minister. Discussions centred on efforts made by both the UN and Cameroon to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, with the Minister condemning the use of women and girls as instruments of terrorism in Cameroon and Nigeria by the Boko Haram terrorist group. The UNSG’s message was read by the Acting UN Resident Coordinator, while UNIC Yaounde prepared and distributed information kits comprised of UNSG message, press releases on actions taken by UN to combat this social ill to the media and participants. The ceremony was reported on the UNIC’s website and Facebook page.
In Kenya, UNDP has supported the training for 35 senior prison officials on the link between Gender Based Violence and HIV and a seminar for National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) on HIV, GBV, human rights and the law-one of Kenya’s NHRIs has since development a Gender and Diversity Strategy. Furthermore, 121 officials from the peace (district peace committees) and security (National Police, Administrative Police, Directorate of Criminal Investigations) sectors have been trained on SGBV in the context of emergencies through UNDP’s support. These trainings were particularly successful and have led to SGBV being prioritized as a standing agenda item during monthly briefing meetings between the police, peace actors and community leaders.
In 2014, Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality provided briefings and updates on the Secretary General's UNiTE Campaign during the 13th and 14th annual sessions of the IANWGE as well as inputs from participating agencies for the final report to the Campaign’s High Level Steering Committee.
In Fiji, Training workshops for Markets for Change Projects (M4C) are held in marketplaces to ensure that marketplaces are gender friendly and safe places for women. The successfully piloted mobile service delivery by Fiji REACH for community education on economic, social and legal rights, in which 1,994 people participated (69% women; 5% children) and provided advisory services to 394 people (75% women) for issues including prevention and support for Sexual and Gender Based Violence.
In Viet Nam, UN Women supported capacity building to better respond to violence against women by assisting the Judicial Academy, the national judicial training institution. With UN Women’s support, the Judicial Academy now has a training modules which will be used to train prospective judges, prosecutors and lawyers on international standards to address VAW. To accompany the training module, a casebook containing 100 cases of domestic and sexual violence and video clips were finalized after being piloted with lecturers, trainers and practitioners from multiple institutions.
UNHCR has invested a substantial number of hours conducting training for staff and refugees on SGBV. By the end of 2015, UNHCR trained 228,325 persons of concern, 13,693 partner, government, and UNHCR staff.
OHCHR provided technical assistance and capacity-development to states and civil society groups on using a human rights-based approach to address trafficking in persons in Belarus, Thailand and other countries in South East Asia.
Within the framework of UN Secretary-General’s campaign “UNiTE to End Violence against Women”, UNIC (United Nations Information Centres) Beirut, Lebanon in partnership with the Theatre Club at the Balamand University in Lebanon produced a theatre play on the issue of violence against women targeting school students - a work that was fully supported and sponsored by the Lebanese Minister of Education and Higher Education. The play, entitled “We Are All Humans”, presented real cases of violence against women within families in Lebanon through a vibrant script and a combination of gestures, songs, music and dance performed by university students. It tackles the hereditary violence against women and sheds light on physical and moral violence practiced directly or indirectly against girls in society. UNIC took part in the script drafting and the directing process to reflect the real objectives of the UNiTE campaign aiming to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls and eliminate this scourge.