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UN Women, in collaboration with UNFPA and the Turkish Government, held a Global Meeting on “Ending Violence against Women: Building on Progress to Accelerate Change” in December 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey, at which over 150 high-level representatives from over 40 Member States, the Council of Europe, civil society and United Nations entities attended. At the meeting, participants exchanged experiences and renewed their committment to ending violence against women, such as strengthening Government mechanisms for the prevention of and responses to VAW; implementing comprehensive national programmes and involving men and boys as part of the solution.
With the Sustainable Development Agenda committed to ending all forms of violence against women and girls, UN Women has led an initiative involving six other UN entities to create the Framework to Underpin Action to Prevent Violence against Women. It maps evidence-based and emerging practices in preventing violence, with a focus on addressing root causes, risk and protective factors.
In Mexico, UN Women and eleven other UN agencies launched a campaign against early and child marriage, to establish eighteen as the minimum age for marriage at federal and state level without exception. The Mexican Senate and the Congress of Oaxaca announced reforms on the issue, while the President pledged to support the campaign and eradicate early marriage in law and practice.
During the period 2014 to 2016, ESCWA focused several of its Gender Discussion Series on Violence against Women. In December 2014, ESCWA organized a discussion on “Gender-related research and policy priorities emerging in the context of recent regional developments, particularly in humanitarian and conflict settings”. This event was organized in collaboration with the ABAAD Resource Centre for Gender Equality in the context of 16 days of activism against Gender-Based Violence. Within this framework, ESCWA organized several advocacy activities against Gender-Based Violence.
The IFAD gender team organized an annual award for the best performing projects on gender in each of the five IFAD regions. The awards ceremony was held on 25 November 2015 to make the links between gender equality and the importance of ending violence as a key element for improving the quality of life for many women.
In March 2014, during the 25th session of the Human Rights Council, OHCHR partnered with UNFPA, UNICEF and others to bring the award winning exhibition, “Too Young to Wed” to the Palais des Nations in Geneva on the issue of child marriage.
In 2014-2015, OHCHR continued supporting the mandate of the Rapporteur on violence against women, in its active engagement with civil society organizations, including through participation in regional consultations. She participated in three regional consultations, held in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, on the topic of “closing the normative gap” in addressing violence against women at the international level.