United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Implementation continued of the multi-country programme of UNIFEM now part of UN Women on community-based peacebuilding and prevention of sexual and gender-based violence in Timor Leste, Liberia, Uganda, and Haiti. The joint programming initiative under the Inter-agency Task Force on Violence against Women works to develop the capacities of national stakeholders to achieve specific international commitments. Hide

Former UNIFEM now part of UN Women provided advisory services for the development of the National Action Plan to Implement Measures for the Elimination of Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims of Domestic Violence (2011-2012) in Georgia; the Multi-Sectoral National Action Plan on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in St. Kitts and Nevis; the National Gender-Based Violence Plan of Action (2010-2013) in Belize and Gender Based Violence, Responses and Complaints Protocols in Grenada and Belize; for the formulation of Kosovo’s Draft Strategy and Action Plan against Domestic Violence; and for Nigeria’s development of the Action Plan to Promote enactment of anti-GBV legislation. In Burundi, advocacy for the implementation of the National Strategy to Fight against sexual gender-based violence resulted in national budget allocations to the Ministry of Gender and the Ministry of Justice, including to establish sexual gender-based violence focal points in 6 ministries. Hide

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

Advocacy and assistance by former UNIFEM now part of UN Women contributed to: improved policies and service delivery for women survivors of violence in Kazakhstan, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan; increased access to legal assistance in Algeria, Kenya, Morocco, FYR Macedonia, Colombia, Argentina and Thailand; and economic empowerment initiatives for women survivors of violence in Morocco and Georgia. Additionally, in the context of the International Conference on the Role of Security Organs in Ending violence against women and girls in the framework of the UNiTE to End Violence Campaign, 12 African countries adopted the Kigali Declaration on the Role of Security Organs, reaffirming their commitments for action to continue building on best practice to expand justice and services for survivors in the continent. Hide

Former UNIFEM now part of UN Women supported ongoing training of judges, lawyers, police and other “duty bearers” in various countries, such as in the Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Haiti and Indonesia. Hide

Former OSAGI, now part of UN Women, led and coordinated the preparation of the annual Report of the Secretary-General on women and peace and security (S/2010/498), which was presented to the Security Council during a Ministerial-level Open Debate (26 October 2010) to mark the tenth anniversary of the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). The report included as an annex a set of indicators for use at the global level to track the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). A major recommendation of this report relates to the development of a framework to guide the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) over the next decade. 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

Through its ongoing work with parliamentarians, women’s machineries and the women’s movement, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, continued to support efforts for legislative reforms including a law on domestic violence in Timor-Leste. Hide

UNIFEM’s (now part of UN Women) Safe Cities Global Programme, implemented in partnership with UN-HABITAT, among other partners, completed impact evaluation validation missions with International Center for Research on Women in Cairo, Kigali, New Delhi, Quito and Port Moresby, to inform the selection of programme sites.UNIFEM is involved in various global initiatives on primary prevention, including Clinton Global Initiative Commitments, focused on young people as a strategic group, by serving in the Steering Committee of one of the initiatives which addresses sexual abuse of girls; partnering with the Man Up Campaign, including around the 2010 World Cup on its Young Leaders Summit; and as a lead on violence against women within the UN Adolescent Girls Task Force. UNIFEM organized a soccer tournament for the Africa Red Light 2010 campaign against trafficking of women and girls. In Colombia and Nepal, UNIFEM provided support for the establishment of male anti-violence advocacy networks, and their participation at the Men Engage African Symposium. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, continued to update the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women. During the ECOSOC High-level segment that took place from 28 June to 2 July 2010, DAW organized a parallel exhibition featuring the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women. Hide