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IFAD’s Transitional Programme of Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Burundi aims to combat sexual violence, a primary threat to the physical security of Burundi’s rural women and girls, and end impunity of perpetrators. The programme, which started in 2004, includes a legal component to make justice available to the rural poor, particularly women, and vulnerable people.

IFAD supported inovative projects to address gender-based violence, such as the courage brigades in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. (The courage brigades is a empowerment project initiated by the Indian state government with support from IFAD. Thtough this project, women are forming committees with local leaders and fighting malnutrition, caste violence, domestic abuse and corruption)

The IFAD gender team organized an annual award for the best performing projects on gender in each of the five IFAD regions. The awards ceremony was held on 25 November 2015 to make the links between gender equality and the importance of ending violence as a key element for improving the quality of life for many women.

The IFAD gender team promoted household methodologies (HHM) in the loan portfolio: by enabling families to plan a vision for their household together and analyse why they are not currently achieving their vision, gender inequalities are frequently identified as one of the main reasons for preventing the household from progressing. Intimate partner violence is often cited as an area that needs to be addressed. HHMs are practices in several IFAD-supported projects eg Nigeria,  Rwanda, Uganda.

In Bangladesh, IFAD and other partners are supporting the Government to set up “women’s sections” in major markets to ensure women’s safety and prevent sexual harassment women face from men in the marketplace.

In Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, IFAD has initiated a project to provide alternatives to migration and prevention of trafficking by developing new income generating activities, diversifying livelihood options and reducing barriers to entrepreneurship, specifically empowering high-risk vulnerable groups, with a focus on women and youth. IFAD worked on women’s empowerment in the Mahbubnagar region of Andhra Pradesh, India, in partnership with UNIFEM, The Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty and the Kovel Foundation, by organizing women into self-help groups and non-timber forest products collectors’ associations. An evaluation of the project suggested that participants’ control over their income increased, and also resulted in a substantial reduction in the drunkenness of men and violence within the home.