United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

During the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in 2008, OSAGI, now part of UN Women, and UNFPA organized a panel discussion with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, which reviewed 15 years (1994-2009) of work of the mandate. OSAGI coordinated the performance of a play, “MIKA”, which highlighted the far-reaching impact of violence against women and which was also performed at United Nations Headquarters in December. Hide

OSAGI, now part of UN Women, prepared the annual report of the Secretary-General (S/2008/622) to the Security Council in follow-up to Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). OSAGI continued to chair the Inter-Agency Task Force on women, peace and security, which supports the full implementation of resolution 1325. The Office serviced the open debate of the Security Council on 29 October 2008 and organized side events in partnership with other United Nations entities, Member States and NGOs. A photo exhibition “A Global Crescendo: Women’s Voices from Conflict Zones” at United Nations Headquarters addressed violence against women and girls during armed conflict. Hide

OSAGI, now part of UN Women, is collaborating with the Council of Europe to prepare a “Joint study on trafficking in organs and tissues, including trafficking in human beings for the purpose of removal of organs”. A second round of consultations with partners was held in October 2008 in Strasbourg. Hide

OSAGI, now part of UN Women, participates in the work of the task force responsible for preparation of the Secretary-General’s report on Security Council resolution 1820 (2008). Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, provided support to civil society and women’s organizations for initiatives including community-based Multi-purpose Centres in the Democratic Republic of Congo; HIV/AIDS and violence counselling protocols in Peru. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, worked to finalize the development of the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women and the website for the database, as well as to coordinate the launch of the database. It also followed up with Member States in order to obtain further responses to the questionnaire for inclusion in the database. DAW followed up with Member States in order to obtain further responses to the questionnaire for inclusion in the database. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, in partnership with various national government, bi-lateral government (donor), non-governmental and United Nations partners, supported legal aid to women survivors in the North of Uganda; training for Rwandan women survivors on handicraft, health and financial skills; the establishment of two referral centres in Afghanistan; efforts addressing post-election rape, including the development of guidelines to prepare women’s court testimonies in Kenya. Hide

From its Say NO to Violence against Women Campaign, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, delivered over 5 million signatures, including from Heads of State and Ministers from 60 governments and more than 600 Parliamentarians from over 70 countries to the UN Secretary-General, on 25 November 2008, in support of his Campaign UNiTE to End Violence Against Women. Hide

UNIFEM’s, now part of UN Women, support in the formulation, reform and implementation of legislation to address violence against women and girls, in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, included: domestic violence laws and bills in Indonesia and Thailand; a workshop for ASEAN Member States to review domestic violence legislation and best practices (October 2008); a regional workshop on coordinated community responses to domestic violence with local government representatives and civil society organizations (CSOs) (including UN Trust Fund grantees) from Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (October 2008); and a workshop on female genital mutilation/ cutting with Christian and Muslim leaders from West Africa (November 2008). Hide

In Venezuela, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported gender-responsive budgeting work that resulted in the earmarking of funds for shelters, in selected municipalities. Hide