Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

OHCHR submitted a report to the Human Rights Council on creating and/or strengthening synergies and linkages on violence against women and girls (A/HRC/23/25) at its 20th session (June 2012) which includes recommendations on the means to reinforce the links between the Council and its mechanisms as well as between the Council and other intergovernmental processes. OHCHR, in partnership with the Mission of Canada, other Member States and NGOs, also promoted a series of discussions on how to strengthen cooperation and synergies between Geneva-based actors to feed into the work of the Human Rights Council.OHCHR supports the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which held two sessions in Geneva, in which women’s rights, including violence against women, in 15 countries (Andorra, Afghanistan, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Seychelles and Tajikistan) was discussed and analysed. In a statement adopted during its fiftieth session on the role of women in the process of political transition, the CEDAW Committee urged Egypt, Libya and Tunisia to strongly condemn all forms of violence against women and girls and to ensure that custom, tradition, and cultural or religious considerations are not invoked to justify non-compliance with their legal obligations under the CEDAW Convention. OHCHR also supported national actors and civil society organisations activities on the implementation of UPR and CEDAW recommendations on violence against women, including in Togo and Chad. Hide

OHCHR supported the development of a training course on human rights for judges and prosecutors in the Dominican Republic's Judicial Academy, also focusing on the specificities of gender-based violence and the need for proper investigation, prosecution and redress, as well as a permanent discussion group on human rights composed by judges and prosecutors within the Judicial Academy. In Kenya, OHCHR elaborated two manuals “Human Rights, Gender Based Violence, Child Protection - A trainer's Guide for UPF” for the Ugandan Police Force and a manual on Human Rights Training of Trainers' for Uganda People’s Defence Force and for the Uganda Local Defence Forces. Hide

OHCHR continued its specialised course on monitoring and investigating conflict- related sexual violence (CRSV) for human rights officers which was translated into French and delivered to the Human Rights Components of MONUSCO. Hide

OHCHR supported the formulation and implementation of laws on violence against women in accordance with international human rights standards, including in Iraq and in Panama, where the law also established the specific crime of femicide (2013). In Afghanistan, it released a report on 8 December entitled A Way to Go: An Update on Implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan, in which it reported limited results in its implementation. Hide

OHCHR has initiated a study on sorcery- related violence with a focus on PNG, the findings of which will be available in 2014. Hide

OHCHR supported fact-finding missions and Commissions of Inquiry which, inter alia, look into violence against women including sexual violence in Mali, and Central African Republic. In October 2013, OHCHR, in collaboration with UN WOMEN, organised a meeting to review efforts to strengthen expertise of Commissions of Inquiry and Fact-Finding Missions in the area of sexual and gender-based violence.

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In South Sudan, OHCHR provide support to the government to establish a high-level policy panel to improve women’s access to justice including the launching of mobile-courts to speed up legal proceedings, review of the criminal justice system.

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OHCHR initiated research on how human rights mechanisms have addressed harmful gender stereotypes and wrongful gender stereotyping aimed at informing further work to promote greater attention to states obligations and promising practices. The organization also continued its support to female human rights defenders through awareness-raising on the UN framework on the protection of human rights defenders; a regional workshop in Lebanon on women human rights defenders from Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco which brought together women human rights defenders and UN country representatives, including the SRVAW; an internship for two women human rights defenders from Papua New Guinea in Nepal in order to strengthen their monitoring and documentation capacity on sorcery-related killings of women and violations against women. Hide

OHCHR continues to be an active player in efforts to promote accountability for sexual violence through support for legislative reform, training for judges and lawyers, and activities to raise survivors’ awareness of their rights. For example, In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Joint Human rights Office of MONUSCO continued to provide support to mobile courts in addressing sexual violence cases as well as to survivors of sexual violence in the areas of Bukavu and Shabunda; through the “Joint Investigation Teams”, the UNJHRO has provided support to military prosecutors to investigate serious and credible allegations of sexual violence in remote areas. In 2013, 1625 victims of sexual violence received assistance in taking their cases to court. Of the 1625 victims, 406 received judgments on the merits. Magistrates of the Cour d'Appel, Parquet General, l'auditorat Militaire Superieur and Cour Militaire have improved their management of sexual violence cases and demonstrated an increased sensitivity to victims. Data collection of sexual violence cases has also improved through the training of clerks and secretaries of parquets. In addition, OHCHR facilitated the training of doctors in medico-legal issues relating to sexual violence. In Guinea, OHCHR assisted the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict in deploying an expert to the Ministry of Justice to assist the judges in their mandate, especially with regard to victim and witness-protection programmes. Hide

OHCHR in collaboration with WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA has developed a Technical Guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to implementation of policies and programmes for the reduction of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity in a variety of contexts and intends to pilot it also in partnership with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. Hide