United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Issues # 7 and 8 of Words to Action, DAW’s (now part of UN Women) quarterly newsletter on violence against women, were issued, with feature articles on the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women, and the 15 year review of the implementation of the Platform for Action. Hide

In May 2010, seven UN agencies (UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, UNDP, UNHCR, OHCHR, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO) have launched a three-year UN Joint Program "Ending violence against women - a national priority for Kyrgyzstan". Four strategic compenents of the program include: 1) strengthening policy framework, including through the implementation of the recommendations of the UN human bodies and procedures; 2) improving official data collection system and analysis of collected data; 3) awareness-raising, sensititation and capacity-building with the view to change gender stereotypes; 4) protecting and helping survivors of gender-based violence. Hide

In collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)/Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, DAW, now part of UN Women, organized an expert group meeting on good practices in national action plans on violence against women, which took place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from 13 to 15 September 2010. During the meeting, experts identified key elements and good practice examples for the development, content, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of national action plans on violence against women. Further information regarding the expert group meeting, including expert discussion notes, is available on line at: https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/v-egms-nap2010.htm. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, released Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: An Analytical Inventory of Peacekeeping Practice, developed with DPKO as part of UN Action and supported emergency efforts in Kyrgyzstan related to gender-based violence. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported: a gender-based violence observatory in Guanajuato, Mexico; integrated domestic violence data collection and monitoring systems in the Caribbean, with PAHO and UNFPA; and studies on domestic violence among Romany women (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), violence against women and HIV policies (Mercosur countries) and survivor services (Sierra Leone), with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and International Rescue Committee. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, produced an updated brochure on the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women in all official United Nations languages. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, contributed to policy development on gender-based violence in Cambodia, Egypt, Moldova, Morocco, Tanzania and Tunisia. Efforts by UNIFEM on gender-responsive budgeting led to national and municipal budget allocations for violence against women programmes in Bulgaria and Brazil. In October 2009, UNAIDS held a technical consultation of leading experts, practitioners, and researchers to review evidence on programme interventions to address violence against women through HIV-related entry points. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, contributed to government funds for Tajikistan’s Girls’ Support Centre and supported advocacy and survivor support networks in Algeria, Argentina, Morocco and Uruguay. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, continued to provide technical and other support, in the context of joint United Nations efforts, to service provision initiatives. Hide

UNIFEM’s, (now part of UN Women) continued support for advancing legislation on violence against women, in collaboration with national institutions, included: domestic violence legislation in Kazakhstan, Mozambique and Nepal; law reform and harmonization in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Georgia, Mexico, Senegal and the Solomon Islands; legal measures against sexual harassment in Bolivia and Pakistan. Hide