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OHCHR participates in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Sub-Working Group on Gender Mainstreaming in Humanitarian Assistance. OCHA is a co-chair of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s (IASC) Task Force on Gender and Humanitarian Assistance. OCHA is facilitating the production of an IASC document on members’ policies in addressing gender-based violence in order to establish a coordinated programme built on the expertise and capacities of the IASC members.

The IASC Task Force on Gender and Humanitarian Assistance issued a statement of commitment on actions to address gender-based violence, re-emphasizing members’ individual and collective responsibility to undertake concerted action aimed at preventing gender-based violence, ensuring appropriate care and follow-up for victims/survivors of sexual violence and working towards holding perpetrators of sexual violence accountable. In 2005, the IASC Task Force on Gender and Humanitarian Assistance published Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Emergencies: Focusing on Prevention and Response to Sexual Violence. The Guidelines are a tool for actors in the field to establish a multi-sectoral coordinated approach to gender-based violence programming in emergency settings. OCHA’s role has been to provide support for the development and use of the IASC Guidelines.

In February 2007, OHCHR formally joined the UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict.

A regional training workshop conducted by DAW, now part of UN Women, in Bangkok, Thailand, 2006 on follow-up to concluding comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, included violence against women as one of the three areas of focus. DAW also has a programme of support to countries emerging from conflict (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Haiti and Afghanistan) to enhance their capacity for implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Beijing Platform for Action. Violence against women is regularly addressed under the framework of this programme.

The Department of Political Affairs (DPA) missions assist governments in preparation for reporting under the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. UNOGBIS assisted the Government of Guinea-Bissau with the preparation of, and advised on the content of, its initial report under the Convention.

ECA supports Member States, at their request, and undertakes capacity-building activities for non-governmental organizations on women’s human rights. ECA supports training workshops on women’s human rights, with a focus also on violence against women, in collaboration with partners from governments, United Nations entities and civil society. Examples include a regional training workshop on women’s human rights in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in 2003; and a national training workshop on gender mainstreaming in Uganda, in 2004.

In 2001, ILO established a broad-based technical cooperation programme, the Special Action Programme to combat forced labour, to spearhead ILO activities against forced labour, including trafficking, irregular migration and bonded labour, aimed at addressing all aspects of forced labour. Under this programme, projects have been implemented in Ghana, Nigeria, Brazil, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the Russian Federation, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Hong Kong SAR, and Nepal.

ESCAP undertakes capacity-building activities for more effective programme planning by governments and civil society organizations for achieving gender equality and health promotion, including addressing HIV/AIDS issues, human trafficking, and combating commercial sexual exploitation of children in Asia and the Pacific. It promotes strengthening of women’s national machineries at the governmental level and serves as a facilitator in building linkages among government, civil society and development partners. ESCAP also undertakes training activities, such as the sub-regional training workshop on elimination of violence against women in partnership with men, New Delhi (2003).

UNICEF hosted a region-wide workshop on best practices to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in South Africa which brought together representatives from more than 20 UNICEF offices in Africa, along with government partners to learn from the South African experience of addressing gender-based violence and share experiences to prevent and respond to it.

WHO has developed various training programmes, such as Teach-VIP that includes modules on intimate partner and sexual violence; a virtual course on comprehensive care for sexual and domestic violence victims (PAHO). WHO, with PATH, has developed Researching violence against women: A practical guide for researchers and activists that will be used as the basis of regional training courses. It also developed training packages on management of childbirth for women with FGM.