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Prevention, Including Awareness-Raising and Advocacy Under the Spotlight Initiative, UNICEF worked on Outcome 3 (Prevention) in 8 African countries and 3 Latin American countries. Community engagement was the main activity. Social norm change was also promoted through education-related activities and media advocacy. Youth engagement was carried out through U-report too.
In an op-ed published by Friends of Europe, the High Representative for Disarmament stated that gender must be at the heart of arms policy and highlighted the impact of weapons, in particular small arms, on the prevalence of sexual violence in conflict.
The High Representative for Disarmament spoke during the Global Week of Action Against Gun Violence saying that intimate partner violence is even more perilous when guns are involved, abetting sexual and domestic violence, and potentially femicide. She called for governments to deny access to guns to those who have been convicted of domestic or interpersonal violence, saying that through gender-responsive legislation and licensing policies, violence against women can be punished, prevented and eliminated.
High Representative for Disarmament participated in a thematic panel on gender and gender-based violence during the of Fifth Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (CSP5) and called for deepened understanding and implementation of gender-responsive arms control. [Gender and gender-based violence (GBV) was the thematic priority of Fifth Conference of States Parties to the Arms Trade Treaty (CSP5) 2019 and in the final report of the conference, States agreed to strengthen the ability of States Parties to apply the GBV risk assessment criteria and to review progress on an ongoing basis.
The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) held two sub-regional seminars on “Preventing Armed Violence Against Women Through Arms Control” targeting national authorities from Central America (in El Salvador) [Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama. Also participating were officials and experts from UNDP, UNODC, UN Women, the Organization of American States, the Central American Integration System, and the Center of Excellence for Statistical Information on Government, Crime, Victimization and Justice] and Caribbean States (in Trinidad and Tobago) [ Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname. 12 civil society organizations participated, as well as 3 regional organizations. ] with direct responsibilities in arms control and prevention of violence against women and girls. The seminars focused on arms control as a fundamental pillar of public policies aimed at preventing and reducing violence against women. They likewise provided opportunities for non-governmental organizations and government representatives from the two sub-regions to exchange ideas, discuss strategies, and consider possibilities for joint initiatives to address challenges vis-a-vis armed violence against women.
The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD) organized a “Workshop for Pacific Island States on Gun Violence and Illicit Small-Arms Trafficking from a Gender Perspective” in Fiji where sexual violence and violence against women was a core part of the discussions with civil society organizations and parliamentarians from the Pacific [Fiji, Papa New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Island and Vanuatu]. It was the final sub-regional workshop in a series of training events.
UNODC promotes the Blue Heart Campaign.UNODC is developing a Human Rights and Gender mainstreaming tool to contribute towards gender transformative programming and assist policy makers, practitioners and UN staff when implementing activities to counter migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons. In the framework of the Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT), UNODC is preparing to launch a women’s network among partner countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan) to promote and foster the participation of women professionals (government and civil society) in combatting trafficking and smuggling. It was publicly announced on 10 December 2019 at an awareness-raising event held for the 2019 campaign '16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence' and International Human Rights Day. Additionally, UNODC developed a 3 hour university module, accompanied by an educational video, on the Gender Dimensions of Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Smuggling tailored for academic teachers.In the MENA region, UNODC continued improving prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against women and girls through a regional project and the Joint UN Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls subject to Violence, with Egypt and Tunisia serving as pilot countries.
View MoreUNODC promotes the Blue Heart Campaign.
UNODC is developing a Human Rights and Gender mainstreaming tool to contribute towards gender transformative programming and assist policy makers, practitioners and UN staff when implementing activities to counter migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons.
In the framework of the Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT), UNODC is preparing to launch a women’s network among partner countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan) to promote and foster the participation of women professionals (government and civil society) in combating trafficking and smuggling. It was publicly announced on 10 December 2019 at an awareness-raising event held for the 2019 campaign '16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence' and International Human Rights Day.
Additionally, UNODC developed a 3 hour university module, accompanied by an educational video, on the Gender Dimensions of Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Smuggling tailored for academic teachers.
In the MENA region, UNODC continued improving prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against women and girls through a regional project and the Joint UN Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls subject to Violence, with Egypt and Tunisia serving as pilot countries.
Among the major undertakings of UNRWA GBV programming has been the systematization of GBV prevention interventions. UNRWA, with the support of an external consulting firm, established a baseline to its GBV prevention activities in 2016, developed a GBV Prevention Framework and road maps for implementation in the field offices and measured the change achieved three years after the implementation of the activities through a GBV Endline study conducted in 2019. The report of the endline study showed the below key findings:
- Overall, UNRWA has taken some important steps to mainstream GBV prevention across its work on gender-based violence;
- Staff awareness, knowledge and understanding regarding GBV prevention have been improved to some extent and to varying degrees but a response focus still dominates and cultural factors remain barriers for some staff;
- The mainstreaming approach has enhanced the sustainability of the prevention element of the project;
- While perception among staff of leadership engagement has improved, there remain important gaps in terms of leadership;
- There is a clear recognition from UNRWA and its partners of the Agency’s comparative advantage in GBV prevention;
- The evidence shows that while prevalence remains high there have been some shifts in knowledge and attitudes at community level regarding GBV awareness;
- UNRWA investment in developing a GBV learning culture has paid dividends but systems for monitoring results need strengthening and resources allocated are still seen as inadequate.
A key component of the GBV Prevention work consisted of engaging communities in self-protection mechanisms and in 2019 UNRWA has been extending the work with communities to strengthen local community-based protection mechanisms including facilitating community awareness and identification of harmful behaviours and GBV risks, as well as activities including prevention awareness messaging and GBV risk mitigation. Specifically, UNRWA offices in Jordan and West Bank have developed a participatory protection assessment aimed at establishing community self-protection mechanisms, which were piloted in the past months.
Specifically Jordan Field Office designed the Building Self-Protection Methodology to strengthen self-protection capacities within the community and is built upon the following resources:
- UNRWA Protection Analysis Guidance and Tool Kit;
- Some of the tools included in UNRWA Guidelines for the Mainstreaming of Gender-Based Violence Risk Mitigation in Emergency Response;
- The Assets Methodology by Population Council.
Then the GBV Focal Points facilitated activities with UNRWA students, parents and teachers and produced a participatory Protection Risk Analysis. The key output of the three first exercises of the methodology allowed the definition of a Protection Risk Chart with a focus on GBV. Based on the risks identified, the community then mapped the assets available and devised a Protection Roadmap to tackle a maximum of three of the risks identified through an array of interventions such as trainings, information sessions, awareness raising, partnership building, etc. These interventions relied on existing resources within the community favouring networking and meaningful participation of the different stakeholders. Building on the experiences of the pilot in Jordan, the Child and Family Protection Programme in West Bank modified the outlined methodology to accommodate its own specific context and to add further GBV and SEA related components. It focused on identifying local community safety mechanisms for students (8th and 9th grade) attending UNRWA schools and parents in order to subsequently strengthen self-protection services and link them to GBV, while involving Child and Family Protection Committees in view of their important role in preventing and reducing GBV incidents in emergencies. Therefore, a set of activities was identified on a broad range of related topics, such as gender roles, sexual and gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and respective implications in emergencies and was implemented through the community protection plans.
Finally, UNRWA developed and aired 6 TV spots that address, through fiction, a situation related to GBV prevention, risk mitigation and gender discrimination. The TV spots were aired not only on the UNRWA Youtube channel but also in UNRWA installations while refugees were waiting to access services and in discussions groups with communities’ members across the five fields of operation to spur debate among the audience on individual and communal mechanisms to address gender stereotypes and gender-based violence. Furthermore, the episodes were featured during the Women’s Film Week in Amman from 8 to 11 March 2019, organised by UN Women for International Women’s Day. Having generated very positive feedback and reception in the communities and in view of the spots being an excellent tool to open up and facilitate debate, the Gender Section worked on establishing them as a long term tool to be integrated into various programmes even after the end of the project. In order to facilitate their use for other departments, a Companion Guide was finalized in 2019. The guide includes a drive with all videos accompanied by straightforward information on the respective messaging of each of the episodes as well as questions to guide focus group debate. The TV spots and Companion Guide were then used in groups discussions with community members, students, and staff during the 2019, 16 Days of Activism campaign to end GBV from 25 November to 10 December through.
The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network, funded by the UN Trust Fund, is implementing a project in the South Sudanese state of Wau to increase the knowledge of students, parents, teachers and administrators about gender-based violence through awareness-raising events in schools in the displaced communities of Wau. Also, women activists are being empowered to prevent gender-based violence more effectively by providing them with advocacy and engagement training, promoting networking among activists and facilitating their attendance at national meetings. Activities are being organized to engage the broader Wau community, in particular men and boys, and encourage community members to help to prevent gender-based violence. The Director General of the Ministry of Gender and the directors general and directors of planning of the ministry responsible for education and youth attended a stakeholder meeting and publicly committed to supporting the project’s goals of ending gender-based violence in schools.
16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence is an organization wide day supported across HQ, Regional and Country Offices. This includes greater advocacy amongst staff members to be agents of change and to better understand the issue to address in their respective programmes.
WFP is also a member of the Protection Clusters in Country across various contexts. This provides a platform to share experiences, raise concerns and find collective solutions to address common issues. WFP is also a member of the Global Protection Cluster since December 2019 – which will enable great voice and agency to better coordinate at a global level.
In Nepal, technical trainings including GESI specific tailored sessions including PSEA and SH are developed and planned to roll out starting in 2020.
The 2015 DPA Gender Sensitive Political Analysis Framework and a guidance note on drafting gender-relevant provisions in peace agreements addresses conflict-related sexual violence as part of security arrangements. Building on this, in 2019, DPPA conducted a Lessons Learned Study on DPPA Liaison Presences, which integrates gender, youth and human rights considerations. DPPA also prepared a “Standard Operating Procedure Guidance Development” (effective 1 January 2020), which includes gender as a cross-cutting issue to be mainstreamed into draft guidance, in consultation with relevant UN entities/offices.
Ending Child Marriage and Rescue and Second Chance Education for Girls in Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Tanzania: UN Women through engagement of traditional leaders, CSOs and government departments advocated for ending child marriage, FGM and other harmful practices. Thousands of potential efforts for child marriage were prevented and many marriages that took place were annulled in these countries. For example, in Malawi 41% of the 2871 girls engaged under child marriage interventions in Salima, Dedza and Karonga are now able to claim their right to make vital decisions about their sexual health and well-being, re-enroll into primary and secondary education and reignite prospects of living a life without increased risk of violence, abuse, child marriages, ill health or early death. This was achieved through interventions in school clubs, awareness campaigns, capacity building sessions on GBV/SRHR and business management/entrepreneurship skills. This follows an extensive HeForShe campaign implemented by the Malawi Country Office in collaborations with UNFPA, Ministry of Gender, District Councils, Traditional leaders and HeForShe champions. A total of 4249 early child marriages have been annulled and 2871 number of girls re-enrolled into primary and secondary schools between 2017-2019.
In Mozambique, Rapariga Biz is a joint program, implemented in Nampula and Zambezia provinces by UNFPA, UN Women, UNICEF and UNESCO. It aims to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of 1,085,447 girls and young women in Mozambique who live in the provinces of Nampula or Zambezia. These provinces are amongst the ones in the country with highest poverty levels in Mozambique, where women and young girls are burdened with a high level of discrimination and are at high risk of child marriage, early pregnancy, maternal mortality, obstetric fistula, violence and HIV. After training, the girls individually or organized in groups benefited from support (startup kits, tips on their business, etc.) to start their business. Silvia Daniel (22)[2], Albertina Martinho (20), Argentina Arnaldo (21), Telma Mauricio (18) and Neusa Joaquim (18) are some of the beneficiaries which who besides different trainings, that benefitted, they were also selected for poultry farming.
In Uganda, The establishment of Nakapiripiriti Satellite Legal Aid Clinic in Karamoja by ULS, supported by UN Women brought happiness to number of widows in accessing legal aid and protection services.
The value of intersectionality in understanding violence against women and girls
This policy brief explores the concept of intersectionality as a tool to analyze and understand the intersection of gender with other inequalities/oppressions (e.g., sexuality, gender identity, ethnicity, indigeneity, immigration status, disability) in the context of violence against women and girls (VAWG). The report examines the impact of intersecting oppressions on the ability of survivors of VAWG to access services and obtain justice, as well as the importance of ‘by and for’ organizations in addressing the needs of marginalized women who face violence. It is available here.
Mapping of Sexual Violence Services in the Western Balkans and Turkey
The Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence - also known as the Istanbul Convention - calls for adequate and accessible specialized support services for victims of sexual violence. However, in the Western Balkans and Turkey, despite the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, these standards have yet to be met. Services for victims of sexual violence are often missing, and where they do exist, they tend to be poorly implemented due to a lack of government funding and support. This mapping report identifies the existing services in the region, examines their implementation, and highlights the gaps in service provision. This publication was produced under the framework of the EU-UN Women regional programme on ending violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey, "Implementing Norms, Changing Minds," funded by the European Union. the report is available here.
In Venezuela UNAIDS promoted clinical management of rape and together with UNFPA supported trauma sections in clinics to ensure that services are available for victims of rape.
In Jamaica UNAIDS is associated Agency of the Spotlight initiative and supports community-led organisations in the response to cases of sexual violence against most marginalised populations.
In South Sudan UNAIDS supported the Integration of GBV and HIV services in the 5 one stop GBV centers in the country. Survivors of GBV and the PLHIV benefited from HTS, ART, dignity kits, legal support and counselling services.
The UNHCR Global Strategic Priorities report from 2019 for 2018 shows how UNHCR improved support to known survivors of SGBV in 44 situations and maintained the level of support in 39 operations. UNHCR improved data management and analysis of SGBV, which strengthened programming and enhanced services for survivors and those at risk. UNHCR deployed senior-level protection staff to ten emergency operations, covering all L3 emergencies, where they strengthened coordination among partners, ensured access to quality of SGBV services, trained staff, and worked with diverse communities to address SGBV. UNHCR and partners launched mass sensitization and awareness campaigns and conducted targeted trainings for community leaders and influential groups, including youth and men.
UNHCR contributed to the finalized UN Assistance Victim Protocol and piloted a one-week training for UNHCR’s security personnel on Gender Inclusion in Security Management which included psychological first aid, sensitive responses to incidents of sexual misconduct. UNHCR also led training for over 800 female colleagues from UNHCR, UN agencies and partner organizations across 17 countries on Woman’s Security Awareness and continued promoting the role of UNHCR’s psychosocial case manager who offers guidance to victims/survivors and witnesses of SH. The organization increased investment in more than 30 countries to strengthen field mechanisms that are available to beneficiaries in order to be able to safely report misconduct including SEA and reinforce the safety and security of survivors of SGBV which also supported referral to services such as health, psychosocial and legal support.