United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

DRC 
Support granted to the government for the elaboration of the National Strategic Development Plan 2017-2021. United Nations agencies are engaged in the process of developing UNDAF 2019-2022.

SENEGAL
 UN Women through the Ministry of Women, Family and Gender supports the Government of Senegal to reduce gender-based violence and to care for GBV victims for social reintegration, through the implementation of a multisectoral approach to violence prevention.

CABO VERDE
 Strengthened capacities of civil society organization and men alliances for the implementation of the GBV Law and gender equality initiatives was another important component of UNW support to contribute to better an approach in fighting GBV. Cabo Verde has been witnessing the increasing of men’s engagement on fighting gender-based violence, by promoting a positive masculinity. White Ribbon Association – Cabo Verde has been the leader in promoting gender equality through positive masculinity focus on fighting to end violence against women and girls in Cabo Verde many of their members are part of the Government Rehabilitation Program for Men Offenders of GBV (created in 2012 with UN Women’s support). In the same line, UNW has also provided technical and financial support to the assessment of the implementation status of the programme, contributing to the systematization of lessons learned and good practices of the programme, and to the formulation of concrete recommendations for the elaboration of the next phase of the programme.  

CAMEROON
Unwomen Cameroon work alongside with the ministry of gender and more than 300 stakeholders  in different worshop to developed and adopte the GBV national Strategy, and the National plan on FGM). And the ministry of justice to train magistrate  and to look into gender aspect in the new penal code previously adopted.

LIBERIA
UN Women Liberia is supporting the Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection in the development of a revised National Plan of Action for the Prevention and Management of Gender Based Violence. The initial plan covered the period 2006 – 2011 Gender Based Violence National Action Plan.
The Revised National Gender Policy is undergoing some minor review for adoption.

NIGER
With the support of the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and Child Protection UN Women, the UN office implements activities within the framework of the National gender policy, the national strategy to combat GBV, for the promotion of women's rights, gender equality and better management of GBV survivors.

DRC
Multisectoral assistance to over 30,000 victims of survivors of sexual violence by organizations supported by United Nations agencies (UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO, UN AIDS, UNJHRO, UNHCR). 

SENEGAL 
UN Women supported the women's collective for peace in Casamance (Senegal) to set up a centre for the care of victims of violence, by providing them with health, justice and security services. This same "one stop center" model is replicated in 2 health centers through the Muskoka project for the medical care of women and girls’ victims of violence.

CABO VERDE
Continued technical support in strengthening capacities of CAV and Rede Sol, as the main existing structures for the assistance of victims, in the context of the GBV Law implementation. 

MALI 
To facilitate access to services for women and girls’ survivors of GBV, two "one-stop" holistic care centres where all care services will be available were initiated. 
The first Centre is initiated by UN Women through the Police Social Service on the left bank of Bamako and the second by UNFPA through the Commune V reference health centre on the right bank. These two centres will provide sufficient quality services to meet the specific needs of women and girls’ survivors of violence in and around Bamako District. In the light of the lessons learned from the previous programmes on care units, UN Women has begun to reflect on the functioning of victim care units in order to define a more practical content, which will increase the flow of functioning of these units and respond to recurrent difficulties encountered, such as conflicts of interest. To make the process of dealing with GBV victims effective and uniform, UN Women started the process of updating the Standard Operating Procedures with the involvement of all stakeholders
CAMEROON
UWN Cameroon, women and girls among refugees, IDPs, and host communities, including Boko Haram survivors know and use the protection mechanisms available to them through Un Women intervention in collaboration of others humanitarian actors. GBV survivors benefited from integrated services through different mechanisms: a) Women Cohesion Spaces, b) four GBV units in the Women Empowerment Centers c) Gender desks at police stations, and d) mobile clinics.

LIBERIA
 In 2017, 1,685 GBV survivors accessed the referral pathway and obtained services based on need.  A total of 1,225 survivors accessed health services, 1,028 reported case to the Women and Children Protection Section; 1,199 obtained psychosocial support with 88 provided legal aid. 120 were lodged in safe homes and 7 persons out of 1,225 were provided economic support.

NIGER 
Through the gender and humanitarian action projects, the UN Office for Women in Niger provided important support to displaced women, refugees and returnees in 2015-16. This is how he developed a holistic approach with the Gender and Humanitarian Action programme in Diffa where violence reached its paroxysm with the intervention of Boko Harm through a holistic approach, prevention and care of women, girls. 
The aim of the anti-violence component of this programme is to prevent violence through awareness-raising and the establishment of a system for dealing with victims of violence:
 Activities implemented: 
- The creation of cohesion spaces in Cablewa, Boudouri and Sayam Forage;
- The creation of gender units in the services of the National Guard, the Gendarmerie and the Police to care for survivors of GBV in Diffa;
- Training SDFs on gender, taking gender into account in their security actions;
- Awareness campaign on GBV with parliamentarians in Diffa;
 The following results were achieved:
- More than 100,000 people were sensitized on women's rights and gender-based violence with parliamentarians in the Garin Wazam, Kablewa, Buduri, Tam, Mainie Soroa and Sayam Forage camps in the Diffa region;
- More than 400 police forces (police, gendarme, national guard) were trained on gender, GBV, GBV survivor care, etc;
- Three spaces of cohesion have been created in the camps (these spaces allow women to get together in a safe environment and discussed issues related to women's rights, GBV with the support of a psychologist) for discussions on GBV and GBV management.
- An alert system is created between the camps equipped health centres gender law enforcement units for a coordinated intervention between these different services for faster care;
- Five units were created to take charge within the FDS structure: 2 units in the gendarmerie; 2 units in the police and one unit in the National Guard;
- Five documentary films were made as part of this awareness campaign on women's rights, the fight against GBV and harmful practices.
All these achievements have contributed to raising awareness of women's rights, significantly reducing GBV, and taking care of survivors with great innovations through cohesion spaces and gender units.

NIGERIA
 UN Women Nigeria during the reporting period continued its advocacy to end GBV at national and its programmes states levels. During the 16 Days of Activism, it organised a symposium titled; Mobilizing to Eradicate Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Institutions to discuss GBV in education, with particular reference to sexual harassment in tertiary institutions and to explore how leadership, advocacy and alliance-building can create an enabling environment for the eradication of sexual harassment in educational institutions. There were also several media advocacy by UN Women and her partners 
 Also UN Women supported the federal ministry of women affairs and partners to collate the Nigeria Periodic Report on CEDAW 
106 Chiboks Girls rescued from Boko Haram returned to school following UN Women collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and other partners  

DRC
The "UNiTE" campaign was launched in 2014 by the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations system in the presence of great personalities of the DRC including the Personal Representative of the Head of State in charge of the fight against sexual violence. Supported by UN Women and UNFPA at the Office of the Personal Representative of the Head of State in charge of the fight against sexual violence, the "Break the silence" campaign led to series of trials (691 in 2016) and convictions (299 convictions in 2016) of high ranking military personnel. The establishment of effective coordination mechanisms including the Gender Thematic Group with its four thematic sub-groups (SGT VSBG, SGT Political Participation and Women's Leadership, SGT Empowerment of the Legal Status of Women, SGT Economic Empowerment of Women); UN Trust Fund resources made available to the PANZI Foundation for the holistic treatment of the fight against sexual violence; joint resource mobilization initiatives including the Joint Project to Combat Impunity, Support for Victims of Gender-Based Violence and Women's Empowerment in Eastern DRC "TUPINGE UBAKAJI" with UNDP, UNFPA , UNESCO; the joint project on prevention and coordinated responses to sexual violence in Ituri and North Kivu by UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF and UNJHRO.

SENEGAL
The Maternal and Child Mortality Reduction Support Program brings together four UN system agencies (UNFPA UNICEF WHO and UN Women) to eliminate gender-based violence that can affect the health of women, children and young girls especially during pregnancy and at the time of delivery. UN Women, OHCHR, UNESCO, UNICEF and UNFPA have joined forces around a coordinated action plan under the leadership of the Ministry of Women, Family and Gender, from 2016-2020 to put an end to all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls. UNDAF outcomes 6 and 8 focus on protecting vulnerable groups from violence and exploitation, and building institutional capacity under UNICEF leadership.

CABO VERDE
 The UNiTE campaign/orange campaign and the 16 Days activism campaigns were spearheaded by UNW with a huge impact in social media and great visibility at the national level. By engaging the UN agencies, private and public sectors, the orange campaign in 2017 could reach and get closer to local communities and the intended target audience, being students of secondary schools and universities, leaders of local communities, media and private sector workers, it is comprised of around 20 NGOs as well as Members of Parliament, the Women Network Parliamentarians and the private sector. During the 16 days the movement calls to join forces in addressing specific problems regarding end violence against women and girls in Cabo Verde. Several activities were carried out such as: the Orange café with Journalists- Several journalists were invited to participate in the 16 Days of Activism actions to End Violence against Women and Girls across the country; School engagement - Campaign "16 days of activism against violence" starts with schools; Cabo Verde Parliamentarians dressed in orange for the 16 days of activism; Free HUGS - promoting the culture of non-violence in the capital city Praia offering free hugs to all;  
Under the lead of UNW the interagency thematic group on human rights and gender has successfully implemented the UN Free & Equal campaign, positioning Cabo Verde has the first Africa country

MALI
Mali actively participates in the Secretary General's campaign for the elimination of violence against women every year. In November 2017 the campaign was launched by the Minister for the Advancement of Women under the leadership of UN Women with the participation of various agencies of the United Nations system, civil society organizations including young people.
UN Women supported the GBV specialist of ONE action in Mali for the mobilization of resources and the implementation of activities in the framework of the development of the national strategy to combat gender-based violence in Mali.

UN Women is an active member of the Network for Protection against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Mali. Within this framework, focal point training activities were organized at national and regional level in collaboration with UNFPA and UNICEF. Information feedback mechanisms have been put in place and sensitization sessions have been conducted on the radio and at the community level to encourage people to use these mechanisms, including the toll-free number 80 333 to disclose cases of abuse. sexual exploitation.

CAMEROON 
UNW Cameroon has coordinated the UNCT SWAP scorecard process and the elaboration of action plan. The country office has been engaged in the implementation of the UNSWAP Scorecard plan and has succeeded in inscribing gender in the 2018 UNCT annual work plan. The office has also worked to mainstream gender in joint programs of the 2018-2020 UNDAF. The coordination of development support between the Government and technical partners has launched sector platforms; among the said Platforms, UN Women has been co-lead of the cross-cutting gender platform with the Ministry of women empowerment and also co-lead of the platform on social development with the Ministry of Social Affairs. Concerning the normative work, UN Women has supported the elaboration of the 6th Cameroon’s CEDAW report, coordinating with other UN agencies to input it and to make it a consensual report with other stakeholders (civil society, private sector…).UN Women coordinated the activities for 16 days campaign on violence against women and girls with the annual theme of “leave no one behind”. In the Far North region, GBV humanitarian working group under UN Women’s co-lead coordinated relevant activities with partners

LIBERIA
UN Women Liberia Office celebrates the 25th of every month as Orange Day as part of the UN Secretary-General’s UNITE to End Violence Against Women. UN Staff wear Orange colors to raise public awareness and increase political will to address all forms of violence against women and girls. In 2016, UN Women collaborated with the More Than Me Academy (a school for vulnerable girls) to raise awareness on school related violence and a call for actions against those who exploit women and girls.  Also, in 2017, UN Women in collaboration with UNMIL Gender Unit held a program at the UNMIL Headquarter for UN Staff as a means of raising awareness and getting staff to contribute to a world free from violence against women and girls. The SRSG reminded staff of the Secretary-General Zero Tolerance Against Sexual Exploitation & Abuse. 
UN Women Liberia leads the Government of Liberia/United Nations Joint Programme on SGBV and HTP. The organization is working with community leaders, traditional leaders and paramount chiefs to address issues of Harmful Traditional Practices and other forms of violence that subject women to humiliation. 
UN Women Liberia is a member of the National Gender Based Taskforce that meets once every month to discuss issues affecting women and girls and review County level action point for redress.  The Taskforce recently protested the amendment of the 2006 Rape Law to make same bailable. 

The organization is also part of the ressuscitation of the Inter-Agency PSEA Network. UNMIL had previously coordinated the network until their departure from Liberia

NIGER
The MUSKOKA programme brings together four United Nations agencies, namely UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO and UN WOMEN. Through the FFM, simple, innovative and effective solutions are implemented to prevent maternal and infant mortality. Solutions to reduce maternal and child deaths include access to quality maternal care and skilled health personnel before, during and after childbirth. The added value of UN Women within the MUSKOKA mechanism is based on its mandate as an entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, more specifically on its focus on combating violence against women, a source of inequality, lack of access by women to decision-making processes and resources, but also a cause of endangering their lives, which is aggravated during pregnancy and childbirth following the prevention and response to such violence.
UN WOMEN has adopted a holistic approach: prevention and response. The objective of these activities is to promote and facilitate women's access to maternal health through:
 Activities: 
- The creation of reproductive health service demands;
- The development of communication and mobilization campaigns;
- The implementation of strategies and actions against discriminatory practices and gender-based violence (GBV);  
- Care for survivors of violence, identification of links between violence against women and maternal mortality and improvement of knowledge on the subject.;
- The men's club;
- The creation of multi-actor platforms;
- In addition, the impulse of the demand for maternal health services requires a good knowledge of the factors that cause difficulties in the relationship between women, girls and health workers in the regions of Maradi, Tillabery, Dosso and Tahoua;
- Rehabilitation of multimedia centre for access to information on GBV, gender, SSRJA, women's rights, etc; 
- The involvement of religious, traditional and local leaders in the fight against GBV;
 The results obtained: 
- 10,000 girls and women, men sensitized on GBV, prevention of early pregnancies and reproductive health services through awareness caravans in Dosso, Maradi, Tillabéry and Tahoua;
- A traditional leader in Maradi has been identified as a champion in the fight against GBV in Maradi, where the highest rate of GBV is recorded in Niger;
- Two Muslim and Christian religious leaders were identified as champions in the fight against GBV in Niamey and Tahoua;
- More than 500 women, girls, boys and men in Dosso have increased access to information about GBV, the type of GBAS through the multimedia centre;
- More than 100 women and girls in Dosso have been trained on the use of INTICs for access to SRH information;
- More than 200 leaders have increased their sensitivity to GBV and SSR Dosso, Maradi, Tillabéry and Tahoua; 
- More than 500 boys, men, and leaders recruited and committed within associations and clubs to fight GBV, women's rights and gender;
- A study on the satisfaction of SRH beneficiaries is currently being validated.
- All these achievements contributed to enlist men, women, girls and boys, decision makers, local and religious leaders for the respect of women's rights, girls' rights, gender and the fight against GBV. 

NIGERIA
Gender-Based Violence Sub-Working Group (GBV-SWG) is an inter-agency  coordination group set up to ensure coherence in the humanitarian responses of partners in Nigeria.  UN Women is a member of the group with UNFPA as the chair.  During the reporting period, GBV partners together scaled up engagement with leaders and communities with sensitisation on GBV/SEA principles and during the 2017 16 Days of Activitism,  GBV partners across the affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe held series of activities ranging from policy dialogues with leaders, engaging young people in and out of school through debates, public processions, town hall meetings, a series of activities with women's groups within women and girls friendly spaces, livelihood bazaar, radio talk shows among others to demand zero tolerance to GBV. At the close of 2017, the GBV partners took stock of their interventions; there were evidences that there is better understanding of the GBV protection situation and needs among partners, partners together reached 66,413 (27,005 women, 15,392 girls, 13,675 men and 10,186 boys) individuals with various interventions. Out of which 9,479 individuals received psychological first aid and various psychosocial support interventions, 1,682 accessed medical services and some 440 accessed other specialised services through case management and referrals. Overall from Janaury to November 2017, GBV sub sector partners together have collectively benefitted 797,640 (364,897 women, 188,347 girls, 148,066 men and 95,523 boys) individuals, reaching 80% of the overall target for 2017

Iraq CO

UN Women, in collarboration with UNDP, provided 935 survivors of gender based violence and conflict related sexual violence with psychosocial support, legal assistance, and referrals as part of the Stop Rape Now United Nations Against Sexual Violence and Conflict fund. Many of these women were survivors of violence perpetrated by ISIS, and were able to register their cases with the Genocide Committee based in Dohuk, Iraq, contributing to documentaion of ISIS's crimes and providing them with access to justice. In the context of Security Council resolution (SCR) 2106 (2013), the UN agreed with the Government of Iraq a joint , (the “Joint Communiqué”) as a framework of cooperation to prevent and address conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV)  committed in the country on 23 September 2016. During 2017 and 2018, UN Women has been actively engaged in developing the Action Plan for implementation of the Communique and the Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Arrangements (MARA) Mechanism, contributing to the systematic gathering of timely, accurate, reliable and objective information on CRSV against women, men, girls and boys in Iraq. UN Women also supported development of and participated in the SRSG on CRSV visit to Iraq in March 2018, reinforcing its work to combat GBV and support government response for survivors. 

Under the UN Action- funded project, UN Women provided technical guidance to JNCW and its partner, NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solutions (contracted by NATO), as they conducted a Gender Audit of the Police, Civil Defense and Gendarmerie. The audit seeks to identify gaps and recommendations for securing the meaningful participation and leadership of women in all parts of the security sector. The audit’s findings will also support the identification of gaps that must be addressed within the security sector as it increases its capacity to respond to incidents of CRSV.The prime minister and cabinet endorsed the JONAP 1325 on 3 December 2017. Throughout the year, the JONAP 1325 benefitted from substantial engagement across all sectors, including consultations with civil society in the different governorates throughout Jordan. The final JONAP includes the following CRSV specific outputs: 3.3.2: “Instruments to monitor, document and report GBV and CRSV are created – linked to national structures and systems,” and 3.3.3: “Prosecutors, judges and the security sector are trained on how to handle GBV and CRSV, and promote access to safe reporting channels”

During the reporting period , UN Women lebanon succeeded to push forward  progress on WPS  through its leading role to develop the NAP 1325 for Lebanon.  Substantive progress was achieved in terms of : a)  conducting training sessions to the members of the national Council for Lebanese Women,   Meetings with more than  17 focus groups representing Syrian,  Palestinian and Iraqi refugees,  in addition to  meetings with religious leaders.  The aim of the meetings is to enhance their knowledge on the UNRC 1325 themes and also collect information oin the challenges they are facing and their concerns.  All these will feed in the formulation of UNCR 1325 NP for Lebanon. Furthermore,  UN Women as leading UN agency, finalized the situation Analysis,  held more than 5 meetings with other UN agencies and 3 meetings with  the national counterpart.  WPS addresses the 4 pillars which includes Prevention, Protection and Recovery  for women within conflects.

Jordan CO

On 16 February 2017, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women considered the sixth periodic report of Jordan on its implementation of the CEDAW provisions. Ahead of the CEDAW Committee session, UN Women presented the UNCT CEDAW shadow report to the Committee developed in 2016. The development of Jordan’s 6th Periodic Report is also the result of the technical support provided by UN Women, in partnership with UNICEF and UNFPA, to JNCW through a dedicated joint programme which allowed extensive national consultations. Following the issuing of the Committee’s concluding observations, the CO continues to engage UN partners, donor and the civil society in the discussion over Jordan’s international commitments, with a particular focus on issues related to patriarchal attitudes and stereotypes. A new pilot programme has been launched in November 2017 funded by the Government of the Netherlands.

2017 was a UPR reporting year for Morocco, UN Women’s support to the coalition focused this year to the civil society advocacy on Member States recommendations and the National Report. In this respect, UN Women supported the Moroccan civil society coalition for the defense of women’s human rights in intergovernmental human rights processes and bodies. The coalition is composed of 32 civil society organizations based throughout the whole national territory and works following a participatory approach and inclusive processes. UN Women has supported three consultations related to the UPR process were convened with the civil society: (i) the first one between four representatives of the coalition and four UN Women staff on the coalition advocacy strategy, (ii) the second one with the UN system through the Gender thematic group to which 13 UN staff and 6 members of the coalition participated, (iii) the third one with bilateral and multilateral cooperation agencies with the European Union Delegation, with about 30 representatives of cooperation agencies.

UN Women undertakes several measures to address sexual violence in conflict situations related to the UN Women workforce such as:

• Message of prohibition of sexual misconduct and SEA and importance of reporting repeatedly communicated by ED.

• Since February 2017, UN Women has provided training to personnel in over 20 field offices and HQ sections.

• Launch of UN Women’s initiative “Take a Stand” in 2016, which provides guidance not only on how to report cases but also on services available to the affected staff member – from telecommuting, to salary advances, to advanced leave requests, and assisting in facilitating their access to safe and secure spaces.

• Established a network of focal points on SEA in headquarters and its Regional Offices from whom staff can request guidance on reporting allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse.

• Ensuring that where there are ANY allegations of SEA or other sexual misconduct committed by UN Women personnel or partners, they are promptly referred for investigation.

• Ensuring that alleged victims are referred to the appropriate service providers for protection, medical care and support.

• Collaborating with the Secretary-General’s Victims’ Rights Advocate Ms. Jane Connors on sexual exploitation and abuse and victims’ assistance.

DRC: The DRC is a signatory to several international agreements and texts without restriction. The internal legal framework is improving with the promulgation in July 2016 of the revised Family Code. The challenge remains strict law enforcement. The country is also a signatory to international agreements for peace, notably the Addis Ababa Agreement, the Kampala Agreement, etc.

SENEGAL: Senegal has endorsed the international conventions for the elimination of violence against women, which consider such violence as a violation of human rights.

CABO VERDE: IX CEDAW report elaborated with UNW support

CAMEROON: UNW Cameroon worked to reduce violence against women through creating a legislative and policy environment in line with international standards on EVAW and other forms of discrimination and promoting social norms, attitudes and behaviors at community and individual levels to prevent VAW. A national strategy on Gender Based Violence has been adopted in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender. Moreover, women and girls among refugees, IDPs, and host communities, including Boko Haram survivors know and use the protection mechanisms available to them through Un Women intervention in collaboration of others humanitarian actors
LIBERIA: Except for the 2014 Amendment of the Elections Law of Liberia which calls for the list of candidates from political party or coalition to have no less than 30% of its members/candidates from each gender, there are 3 key laws still before the National Legislature for passage; Domestic Violence Law, Land Rights Law and the CRC. 

Some members of parliament have introduced a bill to amend the 2006 Rape Law to allow bail for perpetrators accused of sexual violence. 

UN Women Liberia supported the National Council of Chiefs and Elders and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to host a 3 days consultative session with over 150 traditional leaders and paramount chief to discuss positive aspect of traditional practices in Liberia. The Forum agreed to conduct an inventory of all grooves or “Traditional bush schools” as well as a list of practitioners in the 10 counties that practice Female Genital Mutilation.

NIGER
Like all other African countries, Niger has ratified international conventions and agreements for the elimination of forms of violence against women. But texts like CEDAW have been ratified with reservations. the taking of appropriate measures to eliminate all customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women, especially in matters of inheritance; the modification of the socio-cultural patterns and patterns of men and women; the right of married women to choose their domicile or residence; the equality of spouses in the choice of surname ;the attribution of the same rights to women as men have in deciding the number and space of births and ultimately the attribution of the same rights and responsibilities to women as men have during marriage and at its dissolution. This is merely a misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the terms of the text.  To this misinterpretation is added the lack of knowledge of these texts by the actors of justice and the litigants themselves; the amalgam between positive law and Muslim law, custom, .... the UN Women Niger office works for a better consideration of women's rights and the fight against GBV.

NIGERIA
Within the period there was no passage of any international bill into law in Nigeria, however, the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition)(VAPP) Bill and this was signed into law by the former president on the 25th of May 2015 is being utilized by lawyers and advocates to facilitate access to justice for women and girls. UN Women engagement with national coalition of stakeholders - Legislative Advocacy Coalition on VAW (LACVAW) has continued to ensure that the advocacy for implementation is amplified. UN Women also continue to partner with the Gender Technical Unit (GTU) to ensure that legislators are effectively lobbied for issues that affect women

Egypt CO

UN Women Egypt in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Solidarity developed the capacities of over 1500 women community workers across Egypt, capitalizing on their facility to reach women and men in rural and remote areas, to raise the public’s awareness, through conducting house calls, awareness raising meetings, and other means, on the various forms of violence against women and their social and legal ramifications. The community workers also serve as a vital tool for disseminating information on the support services provided by credible organizations for women victims/survivors of violence. In addition, UN Women Egypt in collaboration with Care International Egypt supported the formation of a network of over 400 young volunteers (both women and men) and developed their capacities to engage community members; over 2600 members reached, utilizing innovative context sensitive approaches, such as interactive community theater, shadow theater, graffiti art in addition to conventional methods, such as door-to-door campaigns, to raise societal awareness of various forms of violence against women, change negative attitudes and beliefs of men towards violence against women, and the gender norms that normalize and justify gender inequality and violence. 

UN Women succeeded in establishing the Iraq National Steering Committee for the Women Peace and Humanitarian Fund with high level leadership and representation from the government in addition to the UNRC as co-chair and membership of women civil society, the donor community and the UNCT. UN Women, as WPHF Technical Management and Secretariat at global and national levels, convened  the first Steering Committee meeting in March. The National Steering Committee, will be in charge of providing strategic direction, oversight and coordination of implementation of their portfolio, including: provide a platform for partnership, coordination, advocacy and resource mobilization at the national level; manage the WPHF allocation for Iraq; monitor progress and provide oversight on project performance. UN Women has succeeded in securing funding of $2 million for Iraq from the governments of Canada and the UK. A call for proposals is expected to be announced in the second quarter under the guidance of the NSC.

A total of 255 beneficiaries (Jordanians and Syrians) have been reached from different subjects related to GBV and women’s’ rights through 11 awareness-raising activities. Social cohesion have been evident as a result of Including Syrians and Jordanians both in the awareness sessions. Under LEAP, UN Women and IFH organized five awareness raising sessions on protection and all forms of violence targeting 72 Syrian and Jordanian women and men. In addition, awareness of 154 Jordanians and Syrians were raised on issues related to early marriage and gender-based violence through scheduled plays ( through the Hemayati project). A discussion following the play between the audience and the moderator helped to clarify issues related to early marriage.  This approach promotes women's and girl's self-expression and self-awareness, while providing them with skills to articulate changes they would like to see in their reality. A consultative writing process (“writeshop”) was developed with key stakeholders to ensure ownership of the messages that feed into the development of a toolkit to disseminate specialized legal knowledge relating to violence against women and girls among non-specialized audiences. the toolkit was launched in November aiming at familiarizing and sensitizing readers with current gaps, challenges and realities of VAWG in Jordan in order to start a social dialogue that can foster positive changes in attitudes toward women and girls, as well as promote and inform legislative and policy changes. 

In 2017, UN Women MCO continued to develop its own initiatives, strengthened and broadened its support to CSOs, national partners and the private sector’s initiatives to prevent VAW. As a result, a wide audience was reached (more than 3 million people, including through regular tv spots on the main national tv channel) and was mobilized during sensitization efforts and numerous events organized all year-long, and largely intensified during the 16 Days campaign, with a specific focus this year on engaging men and boys through innovative communication campaigns. The MCO succeeded in engaging partner agencies through UNCT and the Gender thematic group, national Ministries (Women’s machinery, Ministry of Justice and Liberties, Ministry of Interior), national institutions (City councils and Wilayas in Marrakech and Rabat, the Parliament), multilateral organizations (European Union Delegation), CSOs, Universities, with young boys and girls, the media and the private sector (telecommunications, public transports).

UN Women Palestine office supported MA’AN (an NGO based in the Negev which focus on legal awareness and protection of women from West Bank and Gaza and Bedouin women who live in the Negev and are subject to Israeli jurisdiction) to conduct raising awarness workshops for the West bankers and Gazan women living in the Negev. Those women face challenging issues related to their legal status with the Israeli authorities (they hold a palestinian ID, but they  live  in  Israel with their spouses without any legal document)  and many suffer from family and intimate partner  violence. During the reporting period UN Women Palestine office supported MA'AN to organize 14 raising awareness workshops and targeted women from the West Bank and Gaza. The workshop covered the following issues: family status laws, residency, legal and citizenship rights and access to social and health services and VAW. Similarly, 4 workshops were  organized in the Negev targeted social workers on different issues; such as:  VAW, legal rights  of women from the West Bank and Gaza who are married to men from the Negev.  Additonally UNW Palestine office supported MA'AN in the publication of two legal newsletter discussing concerns related to the legal status and legal rights of West Bank and Gaza women who live in the Negev. 450 copies of the newsletter were printed and distributed. UNW Palestine supported Al- Muntada ( a coalition of 17 women's organizations that work on combatting VAW) to lead a national advocacy campaign on VAW,  including legal discirmination against women and the need to adopt a responsive FPB. The campaign included radio episodes, TV programmes, and field  awareness sessions in differnet districts , which aimed at raising awareness of public and participants on women's rights, VAW and rights' gaps existing within the applicable legislative framework in Palestine, and building allies to advocate for the adoption of a gender responsive Family Protection Bill.                  

Within SAWASYA - UNDP / UN Women Joint Programme on Strengthening the Rule of Law: Justice and Security for Palestinian People, the PCHR (The Palestinian Center for Human Rights) conducted 30 awareness raising sessions targeted  both males and females with  awareness sessions on femicide,  the so- called honour killing and women’s legal rights in remote and marginalized areas all over the Gaza Strip. Most of the interventions carried out within the project’s duration focused on providing legal awareness,  awareness sessions  about  the so-called " honor  killing" and femicide as a mechanism to prevent violence against women and engage men and youth mainly to advocate for women's rights- as a result of these interventions,  511 women and 247 men were targeted.

The UNiTE Group for the Americas and the Caribbean, including 9 agencies -PAHO, UNDP, OHCHR, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNHCR, ECLAC, WFP and UN Women- and the IDB and the OAS, developed 12 Key Messages to Eradicate Violence Against Women and Girls in Latin America and the Caribbean. This unprecedented effort led by UN Women, systematized the lessons learned from all the publications and knowledge produced in the context of the UNiTE Campaign in the last 7 years. These messages were launched in the framework of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, which took place in Montevideo in October of 2016. Thereafter, the messages were the basis for the celebrations of November 25th at regional and country level.

UN Women is working with UNDP in the finalization of a policy and programming guidance for prevention of violence against women in elections (VAWE). The guidance aims to fill gaps in current knowledge by providing an overview of the specific forms of VAWE, including scope, types, victims and perpetrators, and the range of actions that can be taken at each phase of the electoral cycle to prevent and mitigate it. The Guide is targeted at the key stakeholders and actors who are positioned to act to prevent and mitigate VAWE, and to international organizations and those providing programming support on electoral assistance, women’s political participation and ending violence against women. It is also targeted at members of political parties, particularly the leadership of those parties, civil society organizations (CSOs), women’s groups and gender equality activists.