Search
In Latin America, OHCHR in coordination with UNDP Regional Virtual School, finalized the design of a self-learning on-line course on the Latin American Protocol for the investigation of gender-related killings of women. The virtual course was successfully tested by 28 participants from the region (academia, Judiciary, Public-Attorney’s Offices, forensics, psychologists and OHCHR staff). Related traning courses have been organised by OHCHR RGA in Panama, in Bolivia, and other countries from the region.
The WFP Men Stand for Gender Equality Movement was founded by 24 male WFP colleagues during the 16 days of activism in 2015. Its members have been increasing ever since at HQ, Regional Bureaus and especially in the Country Offices, and the movement has been growing. In November 2016, the South Sudan Country Office launched its own ‘WFP Men Stand for Gender Equality’ initiative, and as of January 2017, the movement counts 322 members.
In 2016, WFP has carried out a massive in-house sensitisation campaign for its own staff on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. Also, a total of 100 protection/gender focal points from different Country Offices were trained on protection. The training covers gender-based violence and aims at building people's capacities for the integration of protection measures in food assistance programs, including GBV related measures.
In Mexico, UNODC supported capacity building for prosecutors and judges in prosecuting violence against women case and providing assistance to victims. A new project in 19 Mexican states started developing capacities of first response police officers and emergency services of the federal police for victims of gender-based violence.
In 2016, a new record number of at least 105 countries joined the UNiTE campaign’s “Orange the World” movement in support of the 16 Days of Activism. From marches in Uganda, Serbia, and Timor-Leste, a public rally on motorbikes in Pakistan, orange bike rides in India and the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, and the lighting of symbolic buildings in orange across the globe.
In DRC, the UNJHRO (United Nations Joint Human Rights Office) trained 37 medical doctors on sexual violence forensic expertise, 40 lawyers on the judicial assistance to victims of SGBV, 43 penal court registers’ and prosecution secretaries on the management and handling of SGBV files, 35 magistrates on sexual violence and SGBV related matters as well as protection of victims and witnesses and drafting of judgments. The UNJHRO also organised 3 workshops for magistrates on feminization of justice and fight against impunity of SGBV.
In Argentina, OHCHR started supporting the process of adaptation of the Latin American Model Protocol for the investigation of gender-related killings of women (feminicide), similar actions will take place in Chile and Peru. OHCHR RO for Central America and UN Women Regional Office for Latin America organized workshops with the Prosecutor’s specialized Unit for adaptation of the Latin American Model Protocol. The workshop also shared the Brazil experience with the adaptation of the Protocol. Support will continue into 2017. In Chile, the Interagency Group on Gender and Human Rights co-organized a workshop with the Ministry of Interior to discuss the different impact on women, men, girls and boys, and that women and men have different capacities to respond according to their social, economic, cultural and geographical situation and therefore differentiated answers and solutions are required.
Some 3000 WFP staff and partners have been trained on integrating protection in WFP's operations. The training covers gender-based violence and aims at building people's capacities for the integration of protection measures in food assistance programs, including Gender based violence related measures.
The investment in SGBV and other protection learning as a whole builds UNHCR’s capacity to implement better protection for refugees and is a core element of improving sustainability of advances made in prevention work. UNHCR is in the final stages of developing an SGBV prevention and response web-based learning program mandatory for all staff, and a Training Package on SGBV Prevention and Response, designed as 18 stand-alone modules with extensive supplementary material to draw from.
Capacity-building of UNRWA staff, including trainings, has been a focus for UNRWA in ensuring that addressing Gender Based Violence is embedded into the work done by the different Agency’s programmes. To that effect, UNRWA has started training staff on identifying and addressing GBV through different levels of trainings. Trainings have served a dual purpose to not only in increasing staff capacity to respond to GBV, but also raise awareness and change perceptions of UNRWA staff. To support the training of staff, UNRWA developed a GBV manual which was developed in 2012. In order to monitor to what extent staff understand and acknowledge their roles and responsibilities to address GBV, UNRWA carried out biannual readiness assessment questionnaires in all core programmes. Further, by looking at the return on trainings through identification, it is clear that even within programmes which have received high levels of trainings there have been persistent obstacles to reporting the identification of GBV survivors and referring them to appropriate services. This shows that while trainings have been crucial, it has not been sufficient on its own. Supporting mechanisms, such as revisions to staff terms of references, accountability frameworks and reference tools and guidelines to support staff in implementation, are necessary to improve the effectiveness and efficacy of the response and to ensure sustainability. UNRWA has been able to target staff from all its different programmes, including health, relief, and education with more than 4000 trainings in the period 2014-2015.