United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, continued advocacy related to Security Council resolutions 1888 and 1889. UNIFEM participated in UNCT programmes and other inter-agency initiatives in many countries, such as in the development of the UN Action-supported strategy on sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Hide

DAW, now part of UN  Women, finalized the report of the expert group meeting on legislation to address harmful practices. The report sets out recommendations for legislation to address harmful practices against women, with particular attention to female genital mutilation, so called “honour” crimes, acid throwing, stove burning, and harmful practices related to marriage.

DAW, in cooperation with ECA, convened two multi-stakeholder workshops at sub-regional level, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in December 2009, bringing together representatives from 12 countries to support and accelerate legislative reform on violence against women.

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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, provided support to civil society and women’s organisations for initiatives, including training for Pakistani civil society groups on masculinities; and developing a high school curriculum on violence against women in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Hide

Issues # 5 and 6 of Words to Action, DAW’s (now part of UN Women) quarterly newsletter on violence against women, was produced with feature articles on sexual violence in conflict settings, and the vital role of CEDAW in eliminating violence against women. 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

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, continued to support capacity development and programming, including with regard to: identification of linkages between violence against women and HIV/AIDS by Caribbean National AIDS Councils; the work of an Albanian network of non-governmental organizations to better coordinate responses to domestic violence with municipal authorities; training on gender and trafficking for teachers and adolescents in Thailand; partnership with a National Commission in Mexico to provide financial and technical resources to indigenous women’s organizations and networks addressing violence against women. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, continued to support the use of gender-responsive budgeting to secure budget lines for violence prevention, survivor assistance and access to justice in Mexico City and Burundi. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, Issues # 3 and 4 of Words to Action were produced, with feature articles on the Secretary-General’s Campaign “UNiTE to end violence against women” and the IANWGE Task Force’s joint programming pilot initiative, respectively. Hide