International Legal and Policy Development

ESCWA published in 2007 the Report on Women in the Arab region: Achievements, Obstacles and Prospects for Advancement, which reviewed the status of Arab women and their achievements in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, the Arab Plan of Action and the Beirut Declaration, a five year plan which includes women’s rights and violence against women among its five priority areas. Hide

In October 2007, the International Conference on the State of Safety in World Cities took place in Mexico. The Conference developed an international framework to support cities in their efforts to address issues of violence and crime, including violence against women; outlined strategies and approaches to address violence against women; and built partnerships between United Nations, and a wide spectrum of stakeholders to address urban crime and violence. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, conducts research and analysis and regularly prepares reports of the Secretary-General, in response to inter-governmental mandates, seeking inputs from governments and other stakeholders on progress made and obstacles encountered, and on good practices and lessons learned. Reports cover all forms of violence against women, as well as particular aspects such as trafficking in women, traditional practices harmful to women and girls, and violence against women migrant workers. DAW was responsible for the preparation, and now supports the follow-up to the Secretary-General’s in-depth study on all forms of violence against women (A/61/122/Add. 1 and Corr.1). These reports, including policy recommendations, serve as basis for discussion and action by Governments, in particular the Commission on the Status of Women and the General Assembly.DAW organizes expert group meetings on violence against women. Examples include:- Expert Group Meeting on “Elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child”, Florence, Italy, September 2006 (in collaboration with UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre);- Expert Group Meeting on “Violence against women: a statistical overview, challenges and gaps in data collection and methodology and approaches for overcoming them”, Geneva, Switzerland, April 2005 (in collaboration with ECE and WHO);- Expert Group Meeting on “Good practices in combating and eliminating violence against women”, Vienna, Austria, May 2005 (in collaboration with UNODC);- Expert Group Meeting on “Trafficking in women and girls”, Glen Cove, USA November 2002 (in collaboration with UNODC). Hide

UNODC prepares reports for intergovernmental bodies on criminal justice aspects of violence against women. Hide

ESCWA supports the work of intergovernmental bodies, including the Arab Regional Conference Ten Years after Beijing: A Call for Peace in Beirut (2004), which resulted in the five-year work programme that includes women’s rights and violence against women among its five priority areas. In 2004, ESCWA conducted the Arab regional ten-year review and appraisal of implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, which included attention to violence against women. ESCWA contributes to the Secretary-General’s reports on the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women, analysing the close links between increased poverty and social burdens and increased domestic violence against women. ESCWA contributed to the Secretary-General’s report on the situation of and assistance to Palestinian women (E/CN.6/2008/3). Hide

ILO’s approach to violence against migrant women is also based on the promotion of labour standards for migrant workers within a Decent Work framework. Important standards to specifically promote the protection and welfare of migrant workers, including women, are the Migration for Employment Convention (Revised) 1949 (No.97), Migrant Workers Supplementary Provisions Convention 1975, (N0.143) and the Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (N0.181). Hide

DPKO contributes to policy development in the area of gender-based violence against women through its support to intergovernmental processes, in particular the Security Council. Hide

ECA supports inter-governmental processes, including those that result in policy instruments for the advancement of women, and the elimination of violence against women. It supports the work of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices on fight against traditional practices that are harmful to women and girls, including genital mutilation. Hide

ECLAC is presently collaborating with the regional Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights to establish ways of linking follow-up of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará). Hide