United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Former UNIFEM now part of UN Women launched the Global Safe Cities Free of Violence against Women and Girls Programme in Cairo, Kigali, New Delhi, Quito and Port Moresby. Potential measures may include stronger laws and policies against violence in public spaces; training for urban planners, grass-roots women's groups and police; special audits to identify unsafe areas; mass media campaigns on "zero tolerance" for violence against women; activities to engage local communities, men and adolescents of both sexes; and reviews of public sector budgets so that adequate resources are spent on making public areas safe for women and girls. Collecting reliable data will be an important aspect of the Safe Cities programme in order to highlight the problem and identify solutions. Other work to make cities safer for women and girls included support to establish the Social Watch Observatory on Violence against Women in El Salvador; and engagement with transportation unions to address violence against women and harassment in public transportation in Haiti. Community-level awareness raising initiatives were supported in Morocco and Yemen; and traditional, local and religious leaders were mobilized in Cameroon and Sudan to become advocates and champions in the fight against gender-based violence.In New Dehli (India) a project implemented in partnership between UN-HABITAT and former UNIFEM (part of UN Women) has supported the development of a strategic framework for Delhi on safety, entry point being women’s safety. A non-governmental organization, Jagori, has been developing a stakeholder interview template as part of the work on developing a strategic framework for the Delhi government on the seven pillars/institutions which are responsible for enhancing women’s safety in public spaces (urban planning and design of public spaces; provision and maintenance of public infrastructure and services; public transport; policing; legislation, justice and support to victims; education; civic awareness). Jagori and UN Habitat consultant have been holding a series of consultations with key stakeholders. Hide

The former Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI, now part of UN Women) raised the question of violence against women and girls, including the crime of sexual violence in conflict situations, on various occasions; brought violations of women’s human rights to the attention of the Secretary-General of the United Nations; and the Special Adviser in her advocacy efforts urged various stakeholders to join the UNiTE campaign to end violence against women and to end impunity for perpetrators. Hide

Issue # 9 of Words to Action, former DAW’s (now part of UN Women) now UN Women quarterly newsletter on violence against women, was issued, with a feature article on addressing violence against women and HIV/AIDS effectively. Hide

With sponsorship from the Government of Norway, OSAGI, now part of UN Women, collaborated with INSTRAW and ECLAC, to develop an online training course entitled Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) in Latin America and the Caribbean to be distributed by the Peace Operations Training Institute (POTI). A second course on the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) in Africa, is being finalised for distribution. The courses will provide students with an overview of the resolution as well as context-specific issues and challenges that impact effective implementation, and will outline the process of developing a National Action Plan on resolution 1325 (2000).As chair of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Women, Peace and Security former OSAGI and UNIFEM- now both part of UN Women, in consultations with Member States and UN entities, led and coordinated the development of both the framework and the set of indicators to track the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). Hide

A workshop, organised in partnership with WHO, UNAIDS and UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, , was held in Kenya in December 2010 to address the integration of gender-based violence into national AIDS strategies. Hide

Support provided by former UNIFEM now part of UN Women for data collection and research provided the basis for informing the development of effective public policies and advocacy initiatives in countries such as Afghanistan, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Nigeria, Serbia and Uganda. Hide

In December 2010, UNDP and UN Women organized a workshop in Kampala, attended by several experts on transitional justice issues and reparation, focusing also on gender, with the objective to initiate a more integrated UN approach to reparations. Hide

In addition to ongoing training of judges, lawyers, police and other ‘duty bearers’ in many countries, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, finalized programming modules, available at www.endvawnow.org, which offer state-of-the-art guidance from leading experts and country experiences on how to address violence against women, in three areas: safe cities, engaging men and boys, and legal reform. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported data collection toward the development of effective public policies in Guinea Bissau and Moldova, and supported women’s networks in Ecuador to monitor commitments to end violence against women through surveys. Hide

Through a gender-based violence Coordination mechanism established by UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, and GIZ in 2010, Cambodia has been at the forefront of joint advocacy and behavioral change initiatives. Hide