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In 2012, through the advocacy efforts of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on FGM/C, 1,775 new communities publically declared their intention to abandon FGM/C, with Guinea Bissau becoming the 15th country where communities have announced their commitment to abandon. Since the establishment of the joint programme (2008), nearly 10,000 communities in 15 countries, representing about 8 million people have renounced the practice. Hide

In Liberia: UNFPA through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare promoted the availability of services to Survivors of violence including sexual violence through the One Stop Centre; UNDP supported the Ministry of Justice through the SGBV Crimes unit to launch the In Camera Trial Mobile Partitions countrywide; WHO supported the establishment of a Referral List for Board Certified Mental Health Clinicians in Liberia by County and trained them to provide basic SGBV Psychosocial counselling in accordance to available guidelines; UNFPA continued to support the Government to establish 5 safe homes; UNICEF supported the Ministry of Justice and other key stakeholders to develop and standardize the victim assistance framework; and UNMIL provided logistical support to the Women and Child Protection Sections of the Liberian National Police in 12 counties, to improve mobility, investigation, reporting and communication. Hide

The UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation supported 12 out of the 15 countries, where it works, to develop a legislative framework to address this harmful practice. Such legislation has been recently adopted in Kenya, Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Somalia. Hide

UNICEF and UNMIL collaborated with Ministry of Gender and Development in Liberia to convene a retreat on Child rape in October 2012. Also in Liberia, UNFPA supported the Ministry of Gender and Development to collaborate with civil society groups to launch and build capacity of the GBV observatory to help raise awareness of the referral pathway and issues rlated to teenage pregnancy, early marriage and rape. Several advocacy initiatives were undertaken by THINK and CEP (UNFPA funded partners) to address the issue of SGBV, including strengthening of six networks and four community outreach sessions. Dialogue was initiated with traditional leaders and men’s and women’s groups to address harmful Traditional Practices, resulting in the Ministry of Internal Affair’s announcement that FGM is prohibited and prosecutable. UN Women continues to expand the Peace Huts, emphasizing the role of women as peace builders and recognizes their key role in engaging with local authorities for prevention, increasing women’s voice and supporting them in engaging with authorities to improve access to justice, and provide active accompaniment of women and girls who are survivors of violence. Hide

In October 2012, on the occasion of the International Day of the Girl Child, UNFPA, UNICEF and UN WOMEN –co-hosted a high-level event in New York to address the issue of child marriage and called for renewed global action to end the practice. Hide

The UNFPA sub-regional strategy on Gender-based Violence for Latin America and the Caribbean region was released in September 2011. Hide

As a key member of UN Action as well as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on Sexual Violence in Conflict, UNFPA is actively involved in addressing issues of sexual violence in conflict via ongoing programmatic interventions in countries that are in conflict, post-conflict and humanitarian settings. Hide

The development of an e-learning course to address gender-based violence issues in humanitarian settings was developed and rolled out; the course covers a broad swath of other issues under the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) agenda. To access the e-learning course, visit: https://extranet.unfpa.org/Apps/GBVinEmergencies/index.html Hide

Three films on gender-based violence and the impacts of war on women were made in Afghanistan, Guatemala and Iraq and the films were broadcasted globally via various TV channels. UNFPA interventions in these countries on addressing the issue were focused on in each film. Hide

In its fifth year, the Ghent Gender-based Violence Course in humanitarian settings conducted by UNFPA in collaboration with Ghent University attracted 120 participants. The course was designed to improve knowledge, understanding, and communication skills to effectively prevent and respond to gender-based violence (GBV) in humanitarian settings, and to build capacity to coordinate multi-sectoral responses to GBV in humanitarian settings. A course curriculum has been drafted, tested, and revised over time, based on the evaluations and opinions of course team members, guest faculty, experts and the participants themselves. Hide