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In the Central African Republic, IOM is working to prevent SGBV among internally-displaced and host populations. IOM is building capacity among National Police and Gendarmerie forces to respond adequately to SGBV case reports, in coordination with UN Civil Police / CIVPOL. In this effort, IOM is also advocating for the increased recruitment of female police officers. These efforts will provide police with the tools to use a survivor-centred approach, as well as educate them in relation to Central African legislation and international human rights law on rape as a war crime.
In Afghanistan, in partnership with Civil Society Organizations and the Government, UN Women, supports 11 Women Protection Centers (WPCs) and 5 Family Guidance Centers (FGCs) in provinces of Bamiyan, Baghlan, Daikundi, Jawzjan, Kabul, Kandahar, Kunar, Laghman, Nangarhar, Parwan, Samangan and Takhar. The WPCs provided 24-hour safe refuge, legal aid, health care, education (basic literacy), vocational training, psychosocial services and support for reunification with their families, while the FGCs provided mediation, family counselling, and referral to WPCs and legal aid services. The WPCs and FGCs support more than 2,500 VAW survivors annually.
In Fiji, Training workshops for Markets for Change Projects (M4C) are held in marketplaces to ensure that marketplaces are gender friendly and safe places for women. The successfully piloted mobile service delivery by Fiji REACH for community education on economic, social and legal rights, in which 1,994 people participated (69% women; 5% children) and provided advisory services to 394 people (75% women) for issues including prevention and support for Sexual and Gender Based Violence.
The programme of work to develop the Essential Services Package has been a partnership between UN Women, UNFPA, WHO, UNDP and UNODC. The 5 modules comprising the package, identify the essential services to be provided by the health, social services, police and justice sectors as well as guidelines for the coordination of Essential Services and the governance of coordination processes and mechanisms. Service delivery guidelines for the core elements of each essential service have also been identified to ensure the delivery of high quality services, particularly for low and middle income countries for women and girls experiencing violence. This is being supported by the development of other tools including an implementation manual and a monitoring and evaluation framework for the implementation of the guidelines in different contexts. Negotiations are underway for the formalization of a UN Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence by the five agencies for Phase II of the work to implement the guidelines in up to ten countries.
WHO provides support to its collaborating centres and research institutions to strengthen capacity to implement research – including on ethical and safety aspects of conducting research on violence against women, and through workshops and courses on appropriate research methods for this topic. To facilitate this effort, WHO and RTI (Response to Interventions) International published ethical and safety guidelines for interventions research on VAW in 2016.
In Afghanistan, with support from the WHO, the Ministry of Public Health is training nearly 7000 health providers and upgrading health facilities in all provinces over the next 5 years to deliver Gender Based Violence services to survivors based on implementation of a national treatment protocol and the WHO clinical handbook for responding to intimate partner violence or sexual violence. In Uganda, health providers in 3 districts were trained based on updated national training guidelines to deliver care and services for GBV to survivors. Similar efforts are underway in India and Namibia.
In Albania, UN Women has worked with civil society groups, the government and media to stop human trafficking that feeds the sex trade. A national campaign has raised awareness, including through a powerful anti-trafficking video broadcast on national television. A 30-member Advisory Media Forum supports professional and ethical reporting among journalists by providing information and training, and tracking gaps in accuracy of reporting. Since employment or small enterprise by women can be among the most critical elements of successful reintegration for trafficking survivors, UN Women has helped service providers in shelters stress economic empowerment as core to their assistance.
OHCHR continued strengthening national capacities to investigate sexual gender-based violence in Afghanistan, the DRC, Liberia, and Sudan.
In Vietnam, UNODC developed training materials on domestic violence for judges and court personnel and trained police officers and legal aid providers to enhance their responses to domestic violence. Domestic violence response checklists and information collection forms helped front-line officers in identifying and acting on reported cases. UNODC helped develop a ministerial circular on gender equality in legal aid services and trained legal aid officers and pro bono lawyers providing legal aid for victims of domestic violence.
In Bhutan, subsequent to the Domestic Violence Prevention Act passed by Parliament in 2013, the Domestic Violence Prevention Rules and Regulation have been put in place in 2015 with an adequate legal and policy framework to protect the victims of Sexual and Gender Based Violence. Further, to strengthen coordination of service providers, Standard Operating Procedures on Referral and Management of Cases related to children and women in difficult circumstances have been developed in 2015 with financial assistance from UNDP.