Search

OHCHR initiated research on how human rights mechanisms have addressed harmful gender stereotypes and wrongful gender stereotyping aimed at informing further work to promote greater attention to states obligations and promising practices. The organization also continued its support to female human rights defenders through awareness-raising on the UN framework on the protection of human rights defenders; a regional workshop in Lebanon on women human rights defenders from Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco which brought together women human rights defenders and UN country representatives, including the SRVAW; an internship for two women human rights defenders from Papua New Guinea in Nepal in order to strengthen their monitoring and documentation capacity on sorcery-related killings of women and violations against women.

In Cairo, Egypt, UN-Habitat conducted women’s safety audits in the 3 selected areas for intervention and prepared situational analysis reports and recommendations which were submitted to government. Place-making participatory planning workshops have been conducted in each of the 3 areas and the implementation of women-inclusive management of public spaces model has been approved by government. Progress has been made in highlighting safety concerns of women and girls through the “Because I am a Girl Urban Programme” jointly implemented by UN-Habitat, Plan International and Women and Cities International. A set of 5 tools have been developed and situational assessments conducted in 5 cities (Kampala, Delhi, Cairo, Lima and Hanoi). In each of the cities, girls shared similar experiences of insecurity, of sexual harassment and of feelings of exclusion as well as visions for safer future cities.

Progress has been made in recent years in relation to the widespread grassroots abandonment of the practice of FGM/C. Several individuals have been gradually been arrested and convicted in 2013, while since the inception of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme and Trust Fund on Female Genital Mutilation in 2008, more than 10,000 communities in 15 countries, representing more than 8 million people have denounced the practice. UNFPA and UNICEF published the 2012 annual report and concluded phase one of their Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) in 15 countries of Africa and the Middle East and conducted a joint final evaluation of the five years of work. UNFPA and UNICEF organized an international conference in Rome in October 2013, attended by over 30 governments, UN agencies and civil society to consolidate lessons learned from phase one and build political and technical consensus for phase two. Phase two will run from 2014-2017 and will cover 17 countries in Africa and the Middle East and will pursue a holistic approach in line with United Nations General Assembly Resolution 67/146. UNHCR carried out activities to raise awareness on VAW, including on FGM in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.

UNRWA has continued its advocacy work by participating in the International Women Day (IWD) and the International 16 Days Campaign through various events, including the launch of a short-film “Ana Ahlam4”, highlighting forms of GBV within the family, in cooperation with ABAAD5. In November 2013, UNRWA focused on strengthening community response to GBV by including men and youth within the programme. In addition, the Gaza Field Office conducted a signature campaign with over 6,500 handprints stamped on posters - and organising awareness-raising sessions and activities for over 2,450 persons.

In the context of the Swiss week to combat trafficking in persons, OHCHR, in cooperation with ILO, IOM and UNHCR organized an expert panel on all forms of human exploitation, including trafficking.

The UN Trust Fund organized a number of events in order to raise its visibility, build new partnerships and expand its outreach to the corporate sector. On 25 November, the UN Trust Fund announced its 18th call for proposals and launched its 2014 fundraising drive with the message “They count on us, we count on you”.

61 countries and the European Union joined UN Women’s COMMIT to End Violence against Women initiative, a call for action for Governments to make new and concrete national commitments to end violence against women and girls. The commitments ranged from passing or improving laws, ratifying international conventions, to launching public awareness campaigns, providing safe houses or free hotline services and free legal aid to survivors, supporting education programmes that address gender stereotypes and violence, and increasing women in law enforcement, peacekeeping forces and frontline services.

Evidence from new studies in three countries on the impact of domestic violence in the workplace was presented by ILO during the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). More information is availbable at: http://www.ilo.org/gender/Events/WCMS_208336/lang--en/index.htm

OHCHR submitted a report to the Human Rights Council on creating and/or strengthening synergies and linkages on violence against women and girls (A/HRC/23/25) at its 20th session (June 2012) which includes recommendations on the means to reinforce the links between the Council and its mechanisms as well as between the Council and other intergovernmental processes. OHCHR, in partnership with the Mission of Canada, other Member States and NGOs, also promoted a series of discussions on how to strengthen cooperation and synergies between Geneva-based actors to feed into the work of the Human Rights Council. OHCHR supports the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which held two sessions in Geneva, in which women’s rights, including violence against women, in 15 countries (Andorra, Afghanistan, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Seychelles and Tajikistan) was discussed and analysed. In a statement adopted during its fiftieth session on the role of women in the process of political transition, the CEDAW Committee urged Egypt, Libya and Tunisia to strongly condemn all forms of violence against women and girls and to ensure that custom, tradition, and cultural or religious considerations are not invoked to justify non-compliance with their legal obligations under the CEDAW Convention. OHCHR also supported national actors and civil society organisations activities on the implementation of UPR and CEDAW recommendations on violence against women, including in Togo and Chad.

UN Women together with ILO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNODC, OHCHR and WHO supported the preparations for and successful conclusion of CSW 57. This included the convening of a high level side event with the Secretary General and the Heads of 11 UN agencies to discuss ending violence against women which resulted in a joint statement, available at: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2013/3/joint-statement-by-heads-of-un-agencies-on-ending-violence