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UNAIDS and Department of Peace Keeping Operations are developing a toolkit related to “Shining the light on ending violence against women” in (post-) conflict settings. Hide

OHCHR continued its specialised course on monitoring and investigating conflict- related sexual violence (CRSV) for human rights officers which was translated into French and delivered to the Human Rights Components of MONUSCO. Hide

OHCHR continues to be an active player in efforts to promote accountability for sexual violence through support for legislative reform, training for judges and lawyers, and activities to raise survivors’ awareness of their rights. For example, In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Joint Human rights Office of MONUSCO continued to provide support to mobile courts in addressing sexual violence cases as well as to survivors of sexual violence in the areas of Bukavu and Shabunda; through the “Joint Investigation Teams”, the UNJHRO has provided support to military prosecutors to investigate serious and credible allegations of sexual violence in remote areas. In 2013, 1625 victims of sexual violence received assistance in taking their cases to court. Of the 1625 victims, 406 received judgments on the merits. Magistrates of the Cour d'Appel, Parquet General, l'auditorat Militaire Superieur and Cour Militaire have improved their management of sexual violence cases and demonstrated an increased sensitivity to victims. Data collection of sexual violence cases has also improved through the training of clerks and secretaries of parquets. In addition, OHCHR facilitated the training of doctors in medico-legal issues relating to sexual violence. In Guinea, OHCHR assisted the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict in deploying an expert to the Ministry of Justice to assist the judges in their mandate, especially with regard to victim and witness-protection programmes. Hide

OHCHR, as a member of the Team of Experts on rule of law, supported the Team and contributed to strengthening the capacity of national rule of law and justice actors to address impunity for conflict-related sexual violence, including in DRC, Cote d’Ivoire and Somalia. Hide

In celebration of the International Day of Peace, UNREC, the regional centre of UNODA for Africa, participated in training sessions for young women in Togo on “Citizenship education of young women, guaranteeing a fairer society”, which also addressed the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the need for increased representation of women at all levels of decision-making, especially in the prevention, management, and peaceful settlement of conflicts. Hide

Four UNHCR Senior Regional Protection Officers who are dedicated to SGBV prevention and response took up their posts in Dakar, Nairobi, Beirut and Panama with the responsibility to provide technical support to the development and implementation of country-level multi-sectorial strategies on SGBV prevention and response. As a result, an additional seventeen countries have begun developing and implementing SGBV strategies. Hide

In Lebanon, UNRWA participates in the inter-agency national Sexual Gender Based Violence Taskforce (SGBVTF) and Child Protection in Emergencies Working Group aimed at providing services to Palestine refugees fleeing Syria to Lebanon through coordinated camp-based mapping of GBV and child protection services, capacity building, and case management. In Syria, UNRWA is part of the UN protection working group and participated in the GBV national matrix in addition to mapping available services for survivors, with both processes intended to support drafting the GBV responses plan at the country level. Hide

ECLAC provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Woman of Paraguay on the elaboration of their National Action Plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security, which was the second one in the region to be published. A pilot course for the regional training curriculum on the implementation of UNSCR 1325 was carried out highlighting the need to involve women in conflict resolution processes and peacekeeping. Hide

UNHCR carried several awareness-raising activities which culminated in the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, which focused on the theme Safety in School: Teachers and Students Unite to Make Schools SGBV-Free. Hide

UNHCR conducted missions to emergency operations in order to strengthen SGBV response in several countries including Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo-as part of an interagency mission with UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Action- and Jordan in order to improve collection and analysis of SGBV data. UNHCR also conducted an assessment on SGBV in the Syria crisis-affected countries in 2013 such as Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq with a view to producing an action plan to respond to the needs identified. Hide