Agencies

UNODC, in cooperation with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), provided updated global estimates of intimate partner/family member femicides through annual publications on femicides (in 2022, 2023 and 2024).  

In addition, in cooperation with UN-Women, UNODC published the Statistical framework for measuring the gender-related killing of women and girls (also referred to as “femicide/feminicide”), which identifies a typology of gender-related killings of women and girls and the list of variables that can be used to identify and count the various types of such killings. 

During the reporting period, UNODC provided training and capacity building on crime prevention and criminal justice responses to gender-based violence against women for criminal justice professionals in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, State of Palestine, Somalia and Viet Nam. 

For instance, in Kyrgyzstan, 200 police officers and 50 prosecutors received gender-responsive training to support victims of violence, and the Office assisted the Government in establishing a “one-window centre” in Bishkek where victims of gender-based violence against women can access essential multisectoral services.  

UNODC also strengthened justice sector responses to violence against women by enhancing judicial capacities through workshops. In the Dominican Republic, the Office conducted a technical needs assessment on access to justice for women in cases of gender-based violence and trained 103 criminal justice professionals through a capacity-building workshop for judges, prosecutors and police officers.  

In Egypt, UNODC organized nine training workshops for 178 judges on facilitating access to justice for women victims of violence and two workshops for 40 administrative prosecution judges focused on violence against women. 

Under the framework of the Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) project in Ukraine, UNODC is working to improve conflict-related sexual violence responses at the national and local level. UNODC is working to ensure that the Ukrainian legislative and regulatory framework is survivor friendly. This includes, for example, the set-up of a Survivor Advisory Board that will advise Ukraine on integrating survivor perspectives and survivors’ lived experiences into the national response to prevent and respond to CRSV. UNODC is also working with other stakeholders in Ukraine including the National and Migration Police and the Offices of the Prosecutor General to put in place institutional mechanisms to ensure rights-based and effective investigations and prosecutions of Trafficking in Persons with a focus on victims of sexual exploitation. 

UNODC, in partnership with the UN Team of Experts on Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict, leads the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict network. Together, they are working to enhance collaboration in preventing and addressing sexual violence within the context of terrorism and violent extremism. In 2022, the network hosted two expert-led discussions and webinars to better understand the challenges and good practices in judicial response, and in improve support and services for survivors of CRSV committed in the context of terrorism and violent extremism.

In Southern Africa and South America, two regional consultations on femicide reviews gathered experts to explore the application of multi-stakeholder in-depth review methodologies. UNODC also briefed 40 judges from 19 European countries during a study visit, enhancing their understanding of femicide review practices and improving efforts to address violence against women and girls. 

In collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Women, and with support from the Centre of Excellence for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CoE-CRVS) and kNOwVAWdata, UNODC co-hosted the global expert meeting “Addressing Femicide: Measurement and Accountability”.

UNODC conducted an assessment in Bosnia and Herzegovina to identify gaps in legal frameworks, victim support services, and access to justice for technology-facilitated gender-based violence.  

UNODC developed a Training Handbook for Criminal Justice Practitioners on Cyberviolence against Women and Girls for Southern Africa and conducted a webinar and trainings based on this and related UNODC tools. 

In Pakistan, UNODC integrated digital services for real-time case tracking and secure complaint registration at police facilitation desks. The Office also partnered with the Balochistan Police to establish a women and juvenile facilitation centre, which offers specialized victim support services, and 10 gender facilitation desks at smart police stations.  

UN Action is an inter-agency mechanism that brings together 26 UN entities across the humanitarian-development-peacebuilding spectrum to coordinate a one-UN response to conflict-related sexual violence. UN Action’s activities on political advocacy, operational impact through catalytic projects, and knowledge building are implemented jointly by at least two, though often more, member entities.  

UN Action serves as the global knowledge hub on conflict-related sexual violence. Leveraging the expertise and experience from its 26 member entities, it develops new, gap-filing, knowledge, guidance, and tools to support practitioners, policymakers, and others to respond to conflict-related sexual violence and disseminates/socialises this knowledge for practical implementation. Thematic areas include: trafficking-in-persons and conflict-related sexual violence, mental health and psychosocial support to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, economic empowerment for survivors and communities affected by sexual violence, implementing the conflict-related sexual violence mandate in the wake of mission transitions and drawdowns, and what it means to take a survivor-centred approach to CRSV. UN Action has also provided trainings on the prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence on an ad-hoc basis. 

Following UN Action’s publication ‘Early Warning Indicators of CRSV Matrix’, which lists the early warning signs that allow prompt action to prevent instances of CRSV, and its socialisation in-country, UN Action developed and launched the Framework for the Prevention of CRSV, which serves as guidance to better understand what it means, and what it takes, to prevent conflict-related sexual violence at its onset (primary prevention) and to prevent further harm from happening once it has occurred (secondary prevention). UN Action piloted the roll-out of the Prevention Framework in Ukraine in 2023, and is anticipating further implementation in other situations of concern. 

UN Action has supported over 60 joint catalytic projects across 18 conflict-affected countries focused on providing holistic, comprehensive support to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, and addressing the root causes of sexual violence. UN Action is currently funded through the Conflict-related Sexual Violence – Multi-Partner Trust Fund (CRSV-MPTF), which was set up in 2020. The CRSV-MPTF has since supported projects in: Somalia, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan DRC, Mali, Ukraine, South Sudan, and Sudan. All UN Action’s projects take a survivor-centred approach and aim to tackle the root causes of CRSV. 

UN Action has provided support and guidance, including to Senior/Women’s Protection Advisors, on the implementation of the Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Arrangements for CRSV (MARA), or similar mechanisms, where they have been established. UN Action is currently undergoing an analysis of the operationalisation of the MARA since Security Council resolution 1960 (2012) and conceptualising improvements to the MARA (or the MARA 2.0) to better fit the needs of a changing context.