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DAW, now part of UN Women, prepared reports of the Secretary-General to the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly on intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women (A/64/151) and violence against women migrant workers (A/64/152). In its General Recommendation No. 26 on Women Migrant Workers, adopted at the forty-second session, the Committee on the Elimination of Violence against Women (CEDAW) urged States parties to closely monitor recruiting agencies and prosecute them for acts of violence, coercion, ptiodecen or exploitation (article 2 (e)).

UN-HABITAT also published the “Global Assessment on Women's safety.” This assessment was completed in collaboration with the Huairou Commission, Women in Cities International and Red Mujer y Habitat, with a review of tools and strategies promoting women’s safety at the global, regional, national and local levels. This has resulted in the creation of a database of close to 200 institutions, local authorities and grassroots initiatives working on women’s safety.

UNSD commenced a trial compilation of national statistics on violence against women, pursuant to the Statistical Commission’s request in its decision 40/110 on gender statistics (2009).

With the aim to support the Nigerian National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP), and the National Monitoring Centre on Trafficking in Persons (NMC), UNICRI adapted the Italian National Anti-mafia Bureau (DNA) database – SIDDA 2000 –to the Nigerian legal framework and local context of the country. Technical staff and users of database of NAPTIP were trained on the software. Participants included staff from NAPTIP HQs and 6 Zonal Offices.

UNESCO is involved in several research projects related to violence against women as a member of UNAIDS, including a research project to consolidate existing evidence from the peer-reviewed literature on the intersections between gender-based violence and AIDS epidemic (led by UNFPA in cooperation with the Harvard School of Public Health); and a research project, led by WHO, which focuses on the relation between HIV and intimate partner violence, as well as sexual violence against women.

UNICEF undertook in-depth research into the social dynamics of abandonment of harmful practices and social norms, in collaboration with partners. This research provided new insights and increased the understanding of social norms in perpetuating different forms of harmful traditional practices, including Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), child marriage, household violence and other forms of violence, such as sexual exploitation and trafficking.

The Secretary-General’s database on violence against women was launched by the Deputy Secretary-General at an event convened by DAW, now part of UN Women, on 5 March 2009. The database provides the first “one-stop site” for information on measures undertaken by Member States to address violence against women, including their: legal frameworks; plans, strategies and policies; institutional mechanisms; preventative measures, including awareness-raising, and training; and services for victims/survivors.

ESCAP issued a publication on commercial sexual exploitation in the Pacific region, entitled “Pacific Perspectives on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse of Children and Youth”, providing an analysis of the cultural, political, economic and social aspects of the commercial sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children, as well as its root causes and consequences in the Pacific.

Implementation of the project "Enhancing capacities to eradicate violence against women" was commenced, being coordinated by ECLAC in collaboration with the other four regional commissions, the UN Division for the Advancement of Women and the UN Statistics Division, as observers. A meeting was held in May, in Geneva, in order to coordinate the main activities of the project. The objective of the project is to strengthen national and regional capacity to prevent, sanction and eradicate violence against women, through enhanced statistical data and indicators on violence against women, as well as to create or reinforce knowledge-sharing networks at the regional and interregional levels. The project recognizes the importance of collaboration, participatory action and the sharing of good practices, including the need for Regional Commissions to promote active participation of national machineries for the advancement of women as well as national statistical institutions and civil society.

Work continued on the Gender Observatory, coordinated by ECLAC in collaboration with INSTRAW, PAHO, UNDP, UNIFEM and UNFPA together with the technical assistance of the Spanish Agency for International Co-operation (AECID) and the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB).