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The Special Adviser on Gender Issues raises the question of violence against women in various forums, meetings and during missions, and brings serious and massive violations of women’s human rights to the attention of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. OSAGI , now part of UN Women, developed a Leaders’ Advocacy Kit to combat gender-based violence, in collaboration with several entities of the United Nations system. Hide

UNHCR focuses its awareness and outreach programmes on people of concern, UNHCR staff and partners. UNHCR operations participate in the annual campaign “16 days of activism against gender violence” and use several community-based mechanisms to increase awareness about sexual and gender-based violence. Specific programmes have also mobilized men and boys on preventing and responding to SGBV. Hide

On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2007, the United Nations system celebrated with a panel presentation and discussion, exhibition, and film screening on the global theme of ‘Ending impunity for violence against women’. The Executive Secretary of ESCAP and Executive Director of UNAIDS called for universal respect for women’s human rights and an end to all forms of violence against women and impunity. Copies of the Secretary-General’s study were widely distributed. Hide

UN-Habitat emphasizes programmes and strategies aimed at preventing violence against women and, to that end, promotes partnerships between all concerned stakeholders. It encourages the consultation and participation of women at each phase of a project or activity.Through the Safer Cities Programme, women safety audits and exploratory walks aim at an urban environment safer for all its inhabitants. Participants, mainly women, identify areas where the potential for crime is high or where women or other persons may feel unsafe. Based on the Canadian experience, safety audits were adapted to the reality of many cities in Africa, Latin America and Asia and the Pacific. At the national level, UN-Habitat has developed tools for, and implemented, women’s safety audits in several cities, as well as partnerships to enhance women’s safety. The Safer Cities Programme promotes the documentation and exchange of practices and lessons learnt; and the Women City networks at the regional and international level and between regions. Examples include: seminars and international conferences organized in Frankfurt, Naples, Nairobi, Antananarivo, Johannesburg, Montreal and Kampala; and the replication of tools and training sessions carried out in Johannesburg, Frankfurt, Montreal, Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam.UN-Habitat co-organized the first international conference on “Women’s Safety: Making the links” (Montreal, 2002). Direct outcomes of this conference were the development of networks on women and cities and the Women's Safety Awards.In the Eastern Africa Region, Safer Cities collaborated with the non-governmental organization Raising Voices to co-organize a regional dialogue in 2003, which brought together representatives of non-governmental organizations and local authorities to discuss several aspects of prevention of violence against women. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, facilitates the creation and/or strengthening of strategic partnerships among governmental and civil society stakeholders and provides support to build the capacity of women’s organizations to spearhead innovative responses to violence against women at the country level.UNIFEM supports advocacy and communication strategies to stimulate awareness and commitment to end violence against women, including support to coordinated efforts by a wide range of stakeholders during the annual campaign of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence. In a number of countries, UNIFEM has also cooperated with partners in the White Ribbon Campaign. Hide

In May 2007 WHO convened an international Expert Meeting on Primary Prevention of Intimate Partner Violence and Sexual Violence to inform WHO's future work in this area. The purpose of the meeting was to review the effectiveness of current approaches for preventing new occurrences of intimate partner and sexual violence; to identify WHO's role on primary prevention; and to identify potential activities and products for WHO. Participants discussed strategies, implementation in resource-constrained settings, and obstacles and opportunities for scaling up. The group agreed that WHO should issue guidance on how to implement primary prevention strategies and monitor their impact, process and guiding principles. Hide

As the secretariat for the Humanitarian Coordinator at field level, OCHA ensures attention to gender-based violence and facilitates the implementation of appropriate solutions. When appropriate, OCHA acts as co-chair of the coordinating agencies in regard to prevention of and response to gender-based violence. Hide

UNICEF has developed a new manual for football coaches to encourage them to talk to boys about violence against women and girls, in order to promote a culture of non-violence and non-discrimination. Hide

At the third session of UNESCAP’s Committee on Emerging Social Issues, 12 to 14 December 2006, the Executive Secretary called attention to the Secretary-General’s in-depth study on all forms of violence against women. Copies of the study were circulated to all Member States and Observers. The Committee considered the document entitled “Emerging issues and challenges related to gender and development” (E/ESCAP/CESI (3)/3) which covered the key findings of and recommendations of the Secretary-General’s study. Hide

In collaboration with FAO, WFP prepared action sheets for the food security sector of the IASC Guidelines for the prevention of sexual violence. Hide