International Legal and Policy Development

 At the request of UN Women, UNODC prepared a paper on “Access to justice for women and girls alleged or recognized as having infringed criminal law” for an expert group meeting help in September 2025, in preparation for the 70th session of the CSW. UNODC also participated as an observer. The meeting involved over 30 internationally renowned experts who prepared agreed conclusions on the priority theme. The paper outlines international standards and recommendations to guarantee the rights of women and girls in contact with the criminal justice system, including the right to life, health, non-discrimination and fair trial, as well as the right of women and girls deprived of their liberty. 

In 2025, UN Women continued shaping global normative frameworks on EVAWG through sustained engagement in intergovernmental processes and policy platforms. Support to United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council processes, alongside engagement with the EDVAW Platform and its members from independent global and regional mechanisms, strengthened international standards, including emerging issues such as technology-facilitated violence against women and girls.

These efforts contributed to concrete normative advances, including 205 Member State commitments under the Beijing+30 Action Agenda, of which a third were made under the Zero Violence Agenda, and strengthened integration of gender equality considerations in 45% of General Assembly and 82% of Human Rights Council resolutions. UN Women also contributed to the adoption of the African Union Convention on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls, reinforcing global and regional legal frameworks.

Partnerships with regional bodies, justice networks and civil society further supported the development of investigative standards and strengthened implementation of human rights frameworks addressing violence against women. Through the EU-funded ACT programme, 179 women’s rights organizations helped shape the outcomes of 20 global and regional normative and policy processes on ending violence against women and girls, strengthening accountability and service delivery through amplified feminist advocacy.

Overall, these efforts reinforced international norms and standards, ensured continued global commitment to advancing EVAWG agendas, and strengthened the coherence and responsiveness of policy frameworks to emerging and evolving forms of violence, including through an analytical review of latest global and regional normative developments on technology-facilitated violence against women and girls. 

UNFPA has been actively involved in advancing, implementing, and operationalizing the Belem do Para Convention’s agenda to prevent violence against women through the:

• General Recommendation 5 on GBV and afrodescendant women.
• IV Hemispheric report on the accomplishments of the Belem do Pará Convention 

UNFPA ASRO, in partnership with ESCWA, UNDP, and UN Women, strengthened the availability and use of evidence for gender equality advocacy through the Gender Justice and the Law Initiative (GJI)[1]. In 2025, the initiative delivered an updated, comprehensive legal mapping across 16 Arab States, reflecting recent legislative reforms and alignment with international human rights standards.

• The issuance of a Fatwa in Djibouti condemning FGM was a key outcome of UNFPA ASRO’s sustained technical and programmatic support, which strengthened religious engagement and created conditions for faith-based leadership to publicly reject the practice. Key efforts included operating the Shamekhat network, capacity-building for Al-Azhar students, and a South-South cooperation study tour. The tour brought senior religious leaders from Djibouti to Cairo to engage with scholars from Al-Azhar and Dar al-Ifta. This peer-to-peer dialogue and exposure built trust and religious ownership, leading to the national dialogue and the subsequent Fatwa.

[1] https://genderjustice.unescwa.org/2025/Index.aspx 

The UN Trust Fund has played a key role in elevating women's rights organizations (WRO) leadership in key international human rights and public advocacy spaces throughout 2025. For instance, at the fifty-ninth session of the Human Rights Council, it co-hosted the side event “Voices of Resilience from the Frontlines: Advancing Efforts to End Violence against Women and Girls in the Context of Backlash” with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Women Geneva Office. This event brought together more than 90 feminist leaders, United Nations officials and Member State representatives. It amplified grantee partners’ experiences of adapting and sustaining their work amid escalating backlash and provided a platform to launch the 2025 Call for Proposals, a CFP that generated an unprecedented demand of 2.1 billion USD in funding from civil society partners. 

In 2024, the CEDAW Committee adopted its General recommendation No. 40 on the equal and inclusive representation of women in decision-making systems, which highlights achieving 50:50 gender parity across all sectors as pivotal in addressing the root causes of gender-based violence. 

In 2022, the CEDAW Committee adopted its General recommendation No. 39 on indigenous women and girl, which underscores the distinct and intersecting forms of discrimination they face. It recognizes that gender-based violence against indigenous women is not only physical or sexual but also link to environmental violence (e.g., extractive industries harming indigenous lands, leading to displacement and increased GBV risks) and economic violence (e.g., exclusion from land rights and resources). 

UNODC supported the 30th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (May 2023), which recommended that Member States should strengthen multidisciplinary and coordinated crime prevention and criminal justice responses to gender-based violence and gender related killing of women and girls, including through in-depth reviews of cases, and exploration of the possibility of establishing domestic homicide and violent death review committees. UNODC published the study “Background paper on Femicide Review Committees” and further guidance on its femicide reviews website, to support Member States in these efforts. 

UNFPA plays a crucial role in supporting international legal and policy development on GBV through its active contribution to global frameworks, advocacy for key resolutions, and provision of technical expertise to shape international policies. 

Key Contributions and Global Frameworks 

• UN SG Reports on GBV: Given UNFPA’s extensive operational presence, it is a key contributor to the UN Secretary-General’s reports on GBV, ensuring the inclusion of critical data, analysis, and evidence to inform global policy decisions. 
• Special Representatives’ Reports: UNFPA also contributes to the reports of the Special Representatives on Violence Against Women and on Sexual Violence in Conflict, ensuring that programming realities, knowledge, and best practices from its operations in over 150 countries are reflected. 
• Support for Treaty Bodies and Frameworks: UNFPA contributes to international frameworks such as the Beijing Platform for Action, CEDAW, and other treaty body reporting mechanisms, ensuring that GBV is consistently addressed in international legal instruments. Additionally, UNFPA supports the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and other relevant UN Human Rights Council resolutions on GBV. 
• Advocacy for National Legal Integration: UNFPA advocates for the integration of GBV prevention and response into national laws and policies, collaborating with governments to ensure that legal frameworks align with international human rights standards, and that the rights of women and girls are upheld globally. 

Global and regional Initiatives 

• Guidance on Technology-Facilitated GBV: In partnership with Derechos Digitales, UNFPA developed a Guidance for Rights-based Law Reform to address Technology-Facilitated GBV. This is a crucial step in shaping legal responses to emerging forms of violence. 
• AU Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls: In 2024, UNFPA supported the African Union (AU) in developing a landmark Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls. This first-ever continental legal instrument aims to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. The Convention was finalized at the end of 2024 and is expected to be endorsed in 2025. 
• Follow-up Mechanism of the Belém do Pará Convention: In 2024, UNFPA LACRO supported the Follow-up Mechanism of the Belém do Pará Convention in the Americas. This included contributing to the approval of Recommendation No. 5 on GBV against Afro-descendant women, which calls for a differentiated response to violence in contexts of racial discrimination. 

Women human rights defenders have long been at the forefront of efforts to combat violence against women and girls globally, often at great personal risk. Spotlight programmes have worked to support their effort including in Latin America (through the Initiative’s Latin America Regional Programme).

Latin America remains one of the most dangerous regions in the world for human rights defenders, with women disproportionately targeted for threats, harassment, and violence. Despite these risks, women human rights defenders continue to advocate for justice, accountability, and systemic change. Prior to 2021, however, there were no concrete international guidelines for investigating threats against women human rights defenders–leaving them without adequate legal protection and allowing impunity to persist. 

To address this gap, Spotlight Initiative’s Latin America Regional Programme supported the finalization of the Esperance Protocol (Protocolo La Esperanza), which is the first-ever international framework for the rigorous criminal investigation of violence against women human rights defenders. Developed through broad-based consultations with over 100 defenders and in collaboration with more than 20 civil society organizations, the Protocol offers public policy guidelines to ensure systematic and gender-sensitive investigations. It also emphasizes the critical role of women human rights defenders in strengthening democracy and advancing human rights. 

The adoption of the Esperanza Protocol has marked a turning point. For the first time, states have a dedicated tool to guide investigations and strengthen institutional responses to violence against women human rights defenders. The Protocol has also amplified the voices of feminist movements and civil society organizations, offering them a mechanism to hold governments accountable for addressing threats and ensuring justice. Full implementation will however be critical, requiring sustained commitment from states to combat impunity and build institutional trust. 

At the global policy level, FAO supports the Call-to-Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies initiatives and is implementing the commitments towards gender equality and the reduction of GBV made in 2015 by the Committee on World Food Security Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises.

At the global policy level, FAO supports the Call-to-Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies initiatives and is implementing the commitments towards gender equality and the reduction of GBV made in 2015 by the Committee on World Food Security Framework for Action for Food Security and Nutrition in Protracted Crises.