United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

As part of its triple mandate, UN Women has continued to support the development of global normative standards and the full implementation by Member States to of the existing international and regional legal and policy framework on ending violence against women and girls, including the CEDAW Convention and other international and regional human rights treaties, and relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and Human Rights Council, through its operational functions and UN system coordination and broader convening role on EVAWG.  

 

Specific examples of UN Women’s work include:

 

• Drafted UN Secretary-General reports on:
  • Eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls (A/79/500) – 2022, 2024
  • Ending female genital mutilation (A/79/514) -2022, 2024
  • Trafficking in women and girls (A/79/322) - – 2022, 2024
• Provided technical support for a UN General Assembly resolution on survivors’ access to justice, strengthening international commitments.
• Supported CSW67, ensuring technology-facilitated GBV (TF GBV) was recognized as a critical emerging issue.
• In 2024, UN Women co-developed new Human Rights Council resolutions on domestic violence (A/HRC/53/L.5/REV.1) and TF GBV (A/HRC/56/L.15), ensuring international recognition of digital violence against women.
• Worked closely with the EDVAW Platform (7 UN entities) to address the backlash against women’s rights, strengthen legal frameworks, and combat new forms of violence exacerbated by climate change and digitalization.
• UN Women Americas and Caribbean RO works with the Follow-up Mechanism of the Belém do Pará Convention (MESECVI) to develop tools and resources to strengthen the implementation of the Belém do Pará Convention in the region.
  • In the framework of the Programme ACT, UN Women ACRO is working with the MESECVI to develop the Inter-American Model Law on TFVAWG
• UN Women Americas and Caribbean RO worked with the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) to establish international standards for investigating threats against human rights defenders in the framework of the Esperanza Protocol.
• UN Women Americas and Caribbean RO works with the Gender Specialized Network of the Ibero-American Association of Public Ministries (REG-AIAMP) to develop regional frameworks for the investigations of violence against women. In the past years, the REG-AIMP adopted, with the support of UN Women ACRO, the following:
  • Working Methodology for the Adaptation Process of the Latin American Model Protocol for the Investigation of Gender-Related Violent Deaths of Women (Femicide/Feminicide) by the United Nations
  • Protocol for the Investigation and Litigation of Cases of Violent Deaths of Women (Femicide)
  • Organized or Complex Crime and Violence Against Women: Proposed Guidelines for the Public Prosecutors' Offices / Prosecutors General Members of the AIAMPUN Women supported ASEAN’s implementation of the Regional Plan of Action on EVAWG and led development of the ASEAN Guidelines for Developing National SOPs for a Coordinated Response to VAWG, aligning with international human rights norms.

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Inadequate public investments in essential services and care infrastructure continue to impede women’s ability to fully participate in the economy, access justice and social protection, and live free from violence. With support from UN-Women, over nine and a half million women, across 79 countries, including many survivors of violence and internally - displaced women and refugees, accessed information, goods, resources and/or services. Forty-nine countries have implemented systems, strategies and/or programmes to advance women’s equal access to and use of services, goods and/or resources (including social protection), and 60 countries have strengthened protocols, guidelines and initiatives to prevent and respond to violence against women. Meanwhile, more than 6,600 organizations across 87 countries have enhanced capacities to deliver and/or monitor essential services, goods and resources for women and girls in humanitarian and development settings. Pervasive unequal social norms affect the daily experiences of women everywhere and present a significant obstacle to achieving structural change. With dedicated focus on transforming inequitable gender norms, 15 countries have adopted comprehensive, coordinated strategies for preventing violence against women. 

Specific examples of UN Women’s work include:

UN Women enhanced survivor access to essential services:

• Antigua and Barbuda: Supported the establishment and operationalisation of the first Support and Referral Centre (One-Stop Centre)
• Moldova: Opened its first Centre for Specialist Services for sexual violence survivors.
• Bangladesh: Expanded Victim Support Centres to nine police stations, improving survivor access to justice.
• Jamaica: Supported the establishment of DV zero-rated hotline and Domestic Violence Intervention Centres DVICS).
• St. Lucia: Supported the establishment of a One-Stop Centre in partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank and NGM.
• Ukraine: Partnered with JurFem to provide legal, medical, and psychological support to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.
• Nigeria: Established a Private Sector GBV Fund, expected to aid 10,000 survivors.

UN Women strengthened the capacity of institutions and service providers:

• Developed the Handbook on Gender-Responsive Policing Services, now used in police training in multiple countries.
• Implemented a gender-responsive policing programme in Trinidad and Tobago, training over 400 police officers and embedding the programme into the Police Academy.
• Led the first-ever Gender-Responsive Policing Summit, setting new standards for policing practices.
• Supported Latin America’s Model Protocol for Investigating Femicide, helping 18 countries criminalize femicide.
• Trained 770 national and local institutions across 49 countries, enhancing survivor-centered service provision.
• UN Women strengthened survivor-centered multisectoral services through supporting use of the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence in translation, and the ASEAN Regional Guidance on Social Work Services. This includes support for GBV counsellor training packages, national service protocols, and ESP practice-based knowledge reflections.

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UN Women initiated the implementation of the United Nations Protocol on the Provision of Assistance to Victims of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse through its regional and country prevention of SEA focal points, while ensuring maximum coordination with UN Country Teams efforts in country locations.

In Brazil UN Women provided technical assistance to government institutions to set up VAWP monitoring and case referral mechanisms. With UN-Women’s technical support, the national call center for women in a situation of violence (Ligue 180) managed by the National Secretary of Policies for Women of the Ministry of Women (Secretaria Nacional de Políticas para as Mulheres - SNPM) added a dedicated channel to receive reports on VAWP and assist with a referral mechanism to the Public Electoral Ministry (Ministério Público Eleitoral – MPE). UN-Women ensured country wide dissemination of this new resource for women candidates, through the national campaign on VAWP.

In Central African Republic (CAR), UN-Women, UNDP and MINUSCA supported women's organizations through the African Women Leadership Network (AWLN) CAR Chapter, to set up situation rooms to promote a more inclusive and peaceful election. Through this mechanism, 210 monitors were trained and deployed in all 16 prefectures in the country to conduct violence prevention initiatives and collect data. In addition, UN Women, in partnership with UN Police and the Ministry of Internal Security, UN-Women established a “hotline 1325” which served as an early warning and early response mechanism used primarily by women candidates. This initiative was well received by key national stakeholders including CSOs, government partners and donors who highlighted its significant contribution to preventing and reporting VAWE.

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.

https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2019/10/the-value-of-intersectionality-in-understanding-violence-against-women-and-girls

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.               

https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2019/11/mapping-of-sexual-violence-services-in-the-western-balkans-and-turkey

Regional Service Directory for Women Migrant Workers Subject to Violence in the ASEAN region

The service directory enables referrals of women, especially women migrant workers who are survivors of violence, by sharing information on available violence against women (VAW) specialized service providers across the region. The list includes the leading organizations providing support to survivors of violence against women migrant workers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. Services featured in the directory include the health, police/justice, social, labour sectors and hotlines and shelters, and they are a core set of critical essential services responding to the needs of women migrant workers subject to violence in the ASEAN region.

Training Package for Prosecutors working on cases of VAW

Building on the Trial of Rape study and UN Women's broader work to strengthen Essential Services for survivors of VAW in the Asia Pacific region, UN Women together with Global Rights for Women developed a training manual for persecutors working on cases of VAWG. The purpose of this Training Package is to build the capacity of prosecutors on providing quality and holistic responses to survivors of violence, and to better understand survivor’s perspectives and address their needs. The goal is that gender-transformative, trauma informed and survivor-centered approaches are utilized in prosecution and that gender biases are addressed, to ensure that the legal system supports survivors of violence against women in a respectful and empowering way.

Handbook on Gender-Responsive Police Services

In April 2021, the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific organized a webinar with countries across the region to introduce this handbook.

In Albania: 

• 204 counselling sessions were organized by psychologists and 112 women and girls have been supported through counselling sessions in 6 municipalities of the Region of Elbasan (Gramsh, Peqin, Prrenjas, Belsh, Cerrik, Librazhd). (UN Women) 
• 43 legal counselling sessions were organized in the Region of Elbasan (Gramsh, Peqin, Prrenjas, Belsh, Cerrik, Librazhd), with a total of 7 women represented in court, 7 women were issued IPOs and 8 women supported to report to the police. -315 women and girls and 57 men and boys benefited from Empowerment through Self-Defense training from trainers certified previously from ToTs organized by Aikido Albania. 
• 71 women and 173 children in the municipalities of Tirana, Elbasan and Vlora are already provided with services based on their needs and as per the tailored plan of reintegration including psychological counselling, legal assistance, medical assistance, basic needs such support with food and hygienic packages, counselling and support for employment, financial support for housing rent, support for economic empowerment. 

As a continuation of UN Women Bosnia and Herzegovina’s work on building and standardizing the multisectoral approach to service provision, 13 local protocols on cooperation between service providers (police, justice, social protection, health care, CSOs) have been revised/developed in line with the Istanbul Convention. A total of 11 multisectoral teams have been strengthened/established and 3 cantonal coordination bodies for combating domestic violence. UN Women supported the Safe network (network of shelters) to raise capacities of local service providers in 7 regions for safety risk assessment and survivor-centred informing of rights and duties.

In Canton Tuzla, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, with support from UN Women, police officers have improved their behaviour when it comes to response to cases of domestic violence. In comparison with the rate of proposed protection measures from 2018/2019 - 20%, thanks to the UN Women-supported behaviour impact intervention the rate of proposed measures has increased to 60% in the first three months of 2021. Using the so-called COMBI (Communications for Behavioural Impact) methodology, introduced by UN Women, a targeted campaign coordinated with the Ministry of Interior, included 1600 police officers from 13 municipalities in Tuzla Canton. It was aimed at increasing the rate of proposed protection measures in cases of domestic violence (restraining order, eviction of perpetrator from home, mandatory psychosocial treatment etc.). The campaign was designed to overcome the identified individual, institutional, and procedural behavioural barriers when it comes to responding to DV.

In North Macedonia, UN Women supported CSO Health Education and Research Association (HERA) to strengthen the capacities on the provision of counselling and psycho-social support of 18 providers (CSOs and Centres for Social Work) of general and specialist services to victims of VAW and DV in compliance with CEDAW and the Istanbul Convention. In addition, three local multi-sectorial groups for survivors of violence were established in Strumica, Stip and Veles to ensure regular collaboration and quality of services provided to the survivors of violence.

A series of recommendations on ensuring a uniform application of the international and national standards in the field of gender-based violence have been developed because of the mobilization for coordinated action of 91 (29 women and 62 men) police officers, prosecutors, judges, lawyers, and legal aid providers from Donetsk oblast. This round of workshops was organized by UN Women Ukraine jointly with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and National Police of Ukraine to strengthen the capacity of justice sector actors to implement effectively the gender-based violence legislation and apply a survivor-centred approach.

In Moldova, UN Women CO works with 24 partner communities from Cahul and Ungheni to support capacity building of multidisciplinary teams to respond effectively to cases of violence against women and children; develop and implement gender-responsive budgeting and establish specialist services for women survivors of gender-based violence (including for survivors of sexual violence) in Cahul and Ungheni. 

36 professionals (22 females and 14 males) of local public authorities, health sector, forensic service, social protection, justice, and police sectors co-designed a prospective approach/model towards the development of a specialized service for the victims of sexual violence, in line with international standards and local realities from Cahul and Ungheni district.

To boost the capacities of local civil society, nine CSOs from Cahul and Ungheni were selected and currently undertake a six-month institutional capacity-building exercise in the framework of a Small Grants scheme. At least eight committed local CSOs will be involved as of November 2021 in intensive training, mentorship, and guidance for developing and implementing activities promoting zero tolerance to violence at the regional level.11 CSO’s active in preventing and combating violence against women benefited from exchange of experiences on survivor-oriented approach to provision of services through the support of network of survivors of violence, in close cooperation with a partner CSOs from Romania. The latter builds on the ground-breaking work supported by UN Women on women survivors – positive champions in Moldova and aims at establishing such network in the country.

Four women survivors of violence supported by UN Women CO as positive champions and change makers, continue to hold peer-to-peer sessions for women survivors/potential victims of violence, informing on women’s rights and available support services.

Joint statements issued by the UN-Women Kosovo led multi-stakeholder Security and Gender Group, calling upon central and local institutions to allocate funding to domestic violence shelters In the 2020 budget, resulted in the Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance recommending an increase of funding to Kosovo’s shelters, which will allow for more sustainable year-round funding of shelters. Three additional joint statements were issued in 2021 condemning femicide and sexual harassment against women and girls.

139 service providers including staff from seven Kosovo shelters for protection of domestic violence survivors and local coordination mechanisms against DV were trained on strategies on recognizing trauma and handling of cases and have also participated in a three days’ workshop in April, organized under the auspices of Shelter “Liria” in the framework of the EVAW Programme. The workshop aim was to discuss networking efforts as well as engage in a strategic planning workshop to identify needs, activities and future steps in order to enhance their effective delivery of services to victims of domestic violence as well as draft an action plan for shelter networking. The proposed strategy and action plan is a five year proposed plan that has been drafted in close consultations with the participants with validated results proposed after the workshop with all relevant actors engaged.

State actors and civil society organizations in Kazakhstan have enhanced capacity to deliver quality services in prevention and response to VAW through developed SOPs for provision of services for GBV survivors with integration of measures to address the special needs of persons with disabilities (PwD) subjected to violence. The special needs of PwD were integrated into the existing SOPs as well as in the clinical protocol on “Gender based Violence” approved by the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan with support from UNFPA as well as on an OSCE-developed Guide for police inspectors endorsed by the Ministry of internal Affairs also in 2020.

As mentioned above, in Tajikistan:

UN Women built new partnership experience with the Red Crescent Society of Tajikistan, mobilizing technical skills and experience with communities of NGOs with a solid presence in 6 target districts and supplied 168,000 information materials on Impact of COVID19 on Women and Girls. How to sustain family Resilience During the Pandemic; Available VAWG Services and Localized SGBV Referral Pathway along with sanitary and hygiene items for staff SLI project and HIV projects; built women leadership skills to combat stigma and discrimination and improving women’s legal literacy. Awareness-raising activities on HIV related rights and laws for women living with HIV conducted through media community mobilization, education, and peer outreach.

3400 women and girls who faced violence and abuse, benefitted from localized national SGBV case management referral mechanism in six rural pilot districts (Isfara, B. Gafurov, Vose, Rudaki, Hissar and Yavan) and the capital Dushanbe.

The practical scheme with the brief extracts from the related laws, pathways of interaction between the engaged members of the case management mechanisms, contact information on the related state bodies, departments, services and CSOs, that were functioning on prevention of violence against women and girls (by mandate/ and/or having run their own shelter/ women’s center). The developed brochures, booklets and visual materials were made in a user-friendly language and style, with a lot of coloured infographics, and were disseminated broadly among communities by 120 volunteers. Noteworthy, the RCS emphasized project’s further sustainability will be supported by further capacity building of active volunteers in EVAWG realm through a digital tutorial and integration of GBV/VAWG response component in the USAID Tuberculosis project implemented by RCS.

State facilitated localization of VAW case management referral mechanism: NGO-run victim support centres, state health, law enforcement, human rights, social services, other key stakeholders in the 6 target districts and Dushanbe formed a new integrated support scheme, where COVID-19 response facilities became an integral part.  UN Women experts made the design of the latter referral system, localized it in each pilot district, conducted on-job training to service providers.

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UN Women is leading efforts to combat technology-facilitated gender-based violence by pushing for laws to protect women and girls, closing data gaps, adapting support services for survivors, and working with men and boys to challenge gender stereotypes and discrimination.   

Shaping laws and policies: UN Women works closely with governments and international bodies through platforms like the Commission on the Status of Women and the UN General Assembly to establish stronger laws that combat technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Key contributions include supporting and informing frameworks such as the Global Digital Compact, the UNODC Cyber Crime Convention, EU Directive on combating violence against women, and CSW67 Agreed Conclusions. UN Women launched global and regional consultations for legal guidance and in the Americas, UN Women is supporting MESECVI in the development of the Model Law on TF GBV

Supporting feminist movements: UN Women bridges the gap between gender justice and digital rights activism by amplifying the voices of women’s rights organizations and fem-tech activists, ensuring they have the tools, knowledge, and networks to challenge digital exclusion and push for better protection of women and girls. Initiatives such as the EU-funded ACT programme aims to strengthen the digital security and advocacy capacities of women’s rights movements and human rights defenders.

Working with men and boys as allies to transform harmful masculinities. This work includes on-going research with Equimundo to better understand the pathways into misogynistic networks online and entry points for shifting harmful narratives and engaging men and boys to foster positive attitudes towards women and girls. 

Raising public awareness: Through campaigns, educational resources, and bystander intervention programmes, UN Women raises public awareness of such violence and promotes prevention strategies.  Specific examples include:  

• Created a bystander intervention campaign in Latin America to tackle online GBV including for ethical AI use, highlighting risks of automated decision-making reinforcing gender discrimination.

Building knowledge and gathering data: UN Women is closing knowledge gaps by defining technology-facilitated gender-based violence , developing standardized methodologies that countries can use to gather data, as required by the Statistical Commission.  Specific examples include:

• Led the Asia Pacific Learning Series, training 213 EVAWG advocates
• A 2020 regional study provided the first snapshot of women’s online abuse in Asia, followed by the 2023 study on online opposition to gender equality. These findings informed regional advocacy at CSW67 and shaped new  tools for youth and civil society. ROAP also conducted a big data analysis on VAW during the COVID-19 pandemic across eight countries, identifying proxy trends through social media and search behaviours. Regional engagement at SVRI 2024 co-led with WHO and UNFPA helped launch a global TFGBV research agenda. A repository of global TFGBV work ensures continued access to tools and lessons learned

Building partnerships: UN Women collaborates with global initiatives like the Generation Equality Action Coalitions and the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse. It also supports initiatives like Women LEAD, which advances women’s leadership while addressing barriers to participation in both digital and physical spaces.

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Through the UN system, coordinated efforts were accelerated to combat intersecting forms of violence, through joint global, regional and country programmes, the Generation Equality Action Coalition on Gender-based Violence, and UN multi- partner trust funds. For example, in 2023, across 57 countries, more than $109.6 million was disbursed to civil society organizations working towards the achievement of women’s rights, including through the Spotlight Initiative, the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women (UN Trust Fund), and the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF). Over 12,300 civil society organisations or mechanisms, across 84 countries, enhanced leadership capacity and enabled meaningful and safe engagement in decision-making. In 25 countries, 75 initiatives were developed and implemented to prevent, monitor and mitigate violence against women in politics and public life. 

UN Women strengthened coordination within the UN system and across sectors to enhance global EVAWG efforts:

• As the Secretariat of the UN Inter-agency Working Group on EVAWG, UN Women facilitated collaboration among 14 UN agencies, leading to 538 new measures to strengthen survivor services in response to COVID-19.
• As the technical lead of Spotlight Initiative during Spotlight 1.0, UN Women played a leadership role representing the Recipient UN Organizations in the highest governing body and holding technical coherence role in 23 out of 32 programmes, reflecting UN Women’s expertise and experience.
  • UN Women was an implementing agency in 30 of the 32 programmes, responsible for the management of 38% (USD 192 M) of the global investment and worked across all outcome areas (laws and policies, institution strengthening, prevention, response, and women’s movement). UN Women’s programming through key partnerships led to impactful results, including:
  • Strengthening laws and policies: Contributed directly to strengthening 477 laws and policies that promote gender equality while supporting 35,000 women’s rights advocated to more effectively feed into laws and policies
  • Strengthening institutions: Supported capacity development of 6,637 government officials on gender responsive budgeting supporting 1,201 government officials to draft and cost action plans to end VAWG.
  • Enhancing prevention: establishing 83 men and boys networks to challenge tolerance of VAWG and supporting 234 awareness raising campaigns reaching over 172 million people.
  • Enhancing Response services: Supported efforts that contributed to 124,035 VAWG cases reported to the police
  • Strengthening women’s movement: UN Women directed USD 86 Million to women’s rights organisations and other civil society organisations[RR1]
• Essential Services Programme standardized multi-sectoral services in 90+ countries, improving access to quality health, legal, and social support.
• UN Women coordinates the Secretary General UNiTE by 2030 Campaign on behalf of the UN System. The campaign mobilized millions globally, with a record 34 million social media impressions in 2023. In 2024, UN Women supported the Office of the President of the General Assembly for a historic high-level meeting on the review of progress towards ending violence against women and girls.
• As co-lead of the Generation Equality Action Coalition on Gender-Based Violence, UN Women created significant momentum by providing a shared vision and accountability framework, resulting in over $5 billion in financial pledges on gender-based violence and the implementation of over 600 programmes supporting 389 new policies. 
• UN Women's Engagement in UN Action: UN Women is a leading entity in the UN Action Network. In coordination with the other 25 member entities, UN Women actively engages in high-level Steering Committee meetings and monthly technical-level discussions on situations of concern, advocacy, and knowledge building. UN Women leads the workstream on understanding the application of a survivor-centered approach, as enshrined in Security Council resolution 2467 (2019), and is engaged in workstreams on technology-facilitated conflict-related sexual violence, the MARA, the nexus of terrorism/violent extremism and CRSV, advocacy, and preventing CRSV. UN Women played a vital role in the development and implementation of the Framework for the Prevention of CRSV (2022), including its pilot roll-out in Ukraine in July 2024. Since 2022, UN Women has chaired the Resource Management Committee for a two-year term. UN Women currently benefits from the Conflict-related Sexual Violence - Multi-Partner Trust Fund as one of six implementing agencies of a joint catalytic project in Ukraine.
• The Inter-Agency Coordination Group against Trafficking in Persons (ICAT), a policy forum mandated by the UN General Assembly to improve coordination among UN agencies and other relevant international organizations to facilitate a holistic and comprehensive approach to preventing and combating trafficking in persons. UN Women attends as an active participant.
• Inter-Agency Gender Group (Grupo Interagencial de Género, GIG, in Spanish), a regional coordination mechanism in Latin America and the Caribbean, led by UN Women, that brings together United Nations agencies and sometimes other international organizations to promote gender equality and women’s rights. GIGs operate at both national and regional levels across Latin America and the Caribbean, and their agendas often reflect local gender priorities, such as: Ending violence against women and girls; Promoting political participation of women; Ensuring economic empowerment; Addressing the gender dimensions of climate change, migration, and health.
• UN Women supported the establishment of GBV inter-agency task forces in Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines under the Build Back Equal Programme. 
• UN Women Regional Office for Asia - Pacific co-led implementation of the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative in the ASEAN region through the "Safe and Fair" programme focused on violence against migrant women. This included developing regional frameworks and supporting service delivery protocols and data systems in 9 countries. The programme reached over 427,000 women migrant workers with services and trained nearly 22,000 stakeholders. UN Women co-chairs and sustains the UNiTE Asia-Pacific Working Group with UNFPA, coordinating regional, joint UN action.

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UN Women integrated the key performance indicators for the prevention of sexual misconduct from the 2020 QCPR monitoring framework into the Integrated Results and Resources Framework (IRRF) of its Strategic Plan 2022-2025. Using those indicators, UN Women will provide regular updates on its continued efforts on preventing SEA and SH within the Strategic Plan reporting framework.

Following the recommendations of the EGM on Data and VAWP held in December 2019, UN-Women has embarked on developing harmonized survey-based data collection tools that can be used across countries to generate comparable data. As a first step, in 2020, country projects on measuring violence against women office holders (members in parliament and local government) and election candidates were developed in Georgia and Nepal. The fieldwork, data sets, and methodological lessons learned in the two countries, as well as surveys in the Arab Region are expected by the end of 2021.

In Chile, within the framework of the constitutional reform process, and to support mitigation of negative perceptions of women’s political leaders, UN-Women has embarked on a systematic analysis and monitoring of hate speech and online violence against women in politics within the framework of the constitutional process. Initial efforts included real-time monitoring and analysis of 100 million websites and more than 1 billion public data publications through Big Data (Brandwatch Consumer Research). Additionally, UN-Women focused on identifying negative social media content and raise awareness on its negative impact not only on women with an active role in politics but also on the advancement of a public agenda with a gender perspective. The data generated will continue informing policy-oriented advocacy strategies to position gender equality issues in the new constitution (report available here: Link).

In Ecuador, UN Women in partnership with Fundación ESQUEL published a qualitative study on cyber violence experience by women in politics during the 2019 elections ( Available here). This study complements study on Study Violence Against Women in Politics Ecuador  conducted  with Fundación ESQUEL and published in 2019 (available here).

UN Women ESARO in partnership with UNW HQ organized a training on “VAW Prevalence Data” was organized for UN Women, Government Ministries of Gender and Statistics, UNFPA and WHO participants in Mombasa, Kenya.  A total of 38 participants attended from 11 countries in the region.  Following the training at least 4 country offices initiated the “VAW Prevalence Data” program in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania.  Having focused data on VAW will help the policy makers and development partners in having targeted interventions in creating a safe VAW free environment for women and girls.

In Tanzania, UN Women played a key role in conducting the Social Institution and Gender Index (SIGI) Tanzania survey by providing technical support on sampling, budgeting, conducting the main survey and reporting writing. The survey will produce the gender data related to discriminatory laws through the collection of consistent, high quality data. One such study is a gender analysis of customary justice systems to ensure that evidence is generated for advocacy at national level to support advocacy calling for the review of customary laws. The findings of the survey will be available in 2020.

In Kenya, UN Women supported in the establishment of the county-based network of S/GBV survivors and through the launch of the S/GBV case data collection mobile application. KCO piloted the use of the mobile application to test its efficacy as a response to the challenges of S/GBV data collection at community level.

2018 Public Perceptions of Gender Equality and Violence Against Women in the Western Balkans and Turkey

The infosheets present the key findings of a baseline survey conducted in selected communities of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (Under UNSCR 1244), North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. The infosheets provide insight of current and dominant attitudes and perceptions (and the factors that influence them) toward gender equality and violence against women at community level.

https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2019/05/2018-public-perceptions-of-ge-and-vaw-in-the-western-balkans-and-turkey

Sexual Harassment and other Forms of Gender based Violence in Urban Spaces in Albania

This study looks at the different dimensions of sexual harassment and other forms of gender based violence against Albanian women and girls in urban public spaces particularly in the cities of Shkodra and Korça. It focuses primarily on women and girls’ perceptions of safety and the impact this issue has on their lives, as well as the forms of violence they experience and what strategies they have at their disposal to cope with the violence. The report also contains general and specific recommendations for each of the municipalities involved in the study in order to improve the conditions and take the necessary measures and actions to turn the studied areas into safe areas for women, girls, boys and men. All findings presented in this report are a result of: 500 survey interviews in the two municipalities (Shkodra and Korça), two Focus Group Discussions with 16 participants and two Structured Observations.

https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2019/05/sexual-harassment-gender-based-violence-in-albania

Analysis of the Cost of Domestic Violence: Estimating the Cost of Multi-sectoral Response at the Local Level in Bosnia and Herzegovina

With the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), Bosnia and Herzegovina committed to establishing, developing or enhancing a wide range of general and specialist services for survivors of domestic violence. While the country has a satisfactory legislative framework, which prescribes the obligation to prevent and protect women from different forms of violence, survivors are still faced with various obstacles to accessing a number of services including health, social, and legal support.  With this analysis, UN Women seeks to support national efforts in informed planning and decision-making by providing an estimate of current allocations of existing services that are rendered in response to domestic violence at the local level. Furthermore, the analysis defines recommendations for enhanced financing of basic and specialized services and multi-sectoral approach in line with the requirements of the Istanbul Convention. The significance of the first such analysis in the country is the estimated value of survivors' direct and opportunity costs of domestic violence. The study employed qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis, and included data collected from questionnaires targeting relevant institutions and beneficiaries.

https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2019/05/analysis-of-the-cost-of-domestic-violence-bosnia-herzegovina

Review of the Multi-sector Approach to Domestic Violence at the Local Level in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Coordination is a central element of the response to domestic violence and violence against women and is crucial both to the victims or survivors and the institutions that respond. This report reviews the viability of applying this approach to the establishment and functioning of multi-sector referral mechanisms at the local level in Bosnia and Herzegovina as the central element of the multi-sector response. The review includes the analysis of the most relevant international and domestic legislation, guidelines and standards on applying a multi-sector response to domestic violence and violence against women in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, in-depth information on the multi-sector referral mechanisms was collected in six selected locations through semi-structured interviews conducted with the relevant representatives of the multi-sector teams, gender mechanisms and non-governmental organizations. The gathered information highlighted the three main aspects of an effective and coordinated multi-sector response:

1) The capacities of the multi-sector referral mechanisms,

2) The quality of the service provided by the multi-sector referral mechanisms and

3) Their sustainability beyond the duration of the projects through which they were established.

https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2019/05/review-of-the-multi-sector-approach

 

Data collection ‘by and for’ minoritized women

Collecting data and conducting research on all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG) is critical in order to design relevant policies and measures needed to protect and support women and to eliminate VAWG. This policy brief examines the lack of data on violence against minoritized women and highlights the importance of utilizing an intersectional approach to data collection and engaging ‘by and for’ in the data collection process.

https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2019/10/data-collection-by-and-for-minoritized-women

Regional report on discrimination of Roma women in the area of healthcare, child marriages and support and protection in cases of domestic violence

The Regional Report examines the violence and discrimination faced by Roma women in the areas of health care, child marriage, and institutional protection and support in cases of domestic violence. Based on survey findings in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The report reveals shocking levels of violence against Roma women, as well as the prevalence of discrimination that prevents Roma women from accessing services and institutional protection in cases of violence. These patterns of violence and discrimination are examined vis-à-vis states' obligations to comply with anti-discrimination and anti-violence frameworks, such as national legislation, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (the Istanbul Convention). This report was developed under the EU-UN Women regional programme 'Ending violence against women in the Western Balkans and Turkey: Implementing Norms, Changing Minds'.

https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2019/10/regional-report-on-discrimination-of-roma-women

Making Progress in Prevention Possible

Developed by UN Women and the Equality Institute, this regional framework to monitor progress on VAW prevention responds to the increasing recognition of the importance of gender sensitive data to guide and monitor evidence-based policies and to the need for a prevention monitoring framework contextualized to the Asia-Pacific region. The purpose of this framework is to guide policymakers and practitioners through the key components for building a prevention framework, and to illustrate how to measure change in the short, medium and long term, using an intersectional and whole-of-population approach.

Big Data Study

In COVID-19 and Violence Against Women: The evidence behind the talk, UN Women, in partnership with UNFPA and Quilt AI, conducted analysis of social media big data in eight countries: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. The analysis explored COVID-19 and online perceptions and concerns on violence against women across Asia and the Pacific. It identified trends from discourse data generated across social media platforms and search engines to inform programming and campaigns on EVAW.

ICT-related VAWG

With the growing reach of the Internet, the rapid spread of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the wide diffusion of social media, new forms of violence against women and girls have emerged online. UN Women’s multi-country study on Online violence against women in Asia focused on five Asian countries – India, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and the Republic of Korea – and investigated forms of online violence, legislation and policies governing digital spaces, and how to prevent and respond to this type of violence. The study found that ICT-related violence is common in all five countries and that women and girls are at higher risks of violence in digital spaces: offline violence against women and girls is replicated online.

VAW VAC Study

UN Women, in partnership with UNFPA and UNICEF, undertook a study on the intersections of Violence against Women and Violence against Children in Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Viet Nam. Based on the country studies, the regional report explores opportunities and challenges for collaborative and integrative approaches that meet the specific needs and rights of both women and children.

Decision tree: Data collection on Violence Against Women Migrant Workers

This decision tree helps organizations working on violence against women migrant workers decide when and how to best collect data on women migrant worker’s experiences of violence and their access and use of relevant services. These organizations include service providers, policymakers, national statistical offices, and development partner agencies. This decision tree guides data collectors through the various considerations, viable options, and alternative data sources for obtaining information without jeopardizing participants’ safety or the data’s integrity. The decision tree explores three types of data: prevalence data, administrative data and qualitative data. It was adapted from the Decision Tree: Data collection on violence against women and COVID-19, by UN Women, UNFPA/kNOwVAWdata and WHO.

UN Women Albania supported an analysis of the Albanian legislation in the area of violence against women and girls in politics and a media monitoring of the 2021 parliamentary elections, which identifies possible areas/provisions that could be amended to address VAWE.

UN Women Bosnia and Herzegovina supported development of a first ever Baseline Study on Criminal Justice Protection, Legal and Social Position of Victims of Sexual Violence in BiH. Findings and policy recommendations from the Study provides clear directions for further engagement in improving social and institutional response to sexual violence. The scoping study on sexual harassment in public spaces in Banja Luka was conducted. The findings on the gaps and challenges in legal and institutional frameworks as well the attitudes around SH against women and girls were used for development of a 5-year strategy for addressing SH in public space in Banja Luka.

To generate data on the sexual harassment (SH) and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls (SVAWG) in public spaces UN Women conducted a comprehensive assessment of the risks and experiences of sexual violence encountered by women in conflict-affected Novoaydar and Zolote, Luhansk oblast and Soledar and Toretsk, Donetsk oblasts. This UN Women Multi-site Scoping Study on sexual harassment and other forms of sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces in Eastern Ukraine includes the findings of the Safety Audits of public spaces, as well as the results of online surveys and focus group discussions conducted with women from these communities.

With the expert support provided by UN Women Ukraine 11 Safety Audits of public spaces were conducted by grass root women’s groups in Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, generating data for the ongoing policymaking aimed at strengthening the investment in gender-responsive urban planning and public infrastructure.

To assess the access of victims/survivors of domestic violence to civil court protection measures and generate evidence for the need to build the capacity of local authorities, law enforcement and judiciary on enhancing the access to justice of victims/survivors of domestic violence through survivor-centred planning, budgeting and coordination UN Women Ukraine conducted an “Assessment of civil court decisions on the issuance of protection orders against domestic violence perpetrators.”

To measure progress on transforming the beliefs and attitudes of women and men on gender norms, power relations and gender-based discrimination and violence in three Ukrainian conflict-affected regions UN Women conducted the “Interim survey of public perceptions and attitudes towards gender-based violence against women in Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia  oblasts..”

UN Women Ukraine in partnership with Internews Ukraine has conducted a content analysis of the regional and local media in 7 target regions based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of gender-sensitive stories produced by local and regional media.

In Moldova, UN Women CO supported capacity building activities so that over 73 specialists, including two men and 70 women from 35 social assistance territorial units have enhanced skills and are fully equipped on collecting administrative data on EVAW, by applying improved Annual Statistical Survey n.9 “Domestic Violence”.

An integrated and unified database for cases of domestic violence was developed with UN Women, Kosovo office support. The database in hosted and managed by the Office of the National Coordinator against Domestic Violence/Deputy Minister of Justice and enable the monitoring and prosecution of domestic violence cases in Kosovo, and ensure accountability, by obliging relevant institutions to feed the database with the necessary information from central and local levels.

In Tajikistan: The publication Men and Women in Tajikistan has most up-to-date, sex-disaggregated and comparable data (over time and across the major regions of the country), particularly important for measuring differences in the situation of women and men (i.e. gender gaps), in line with Beijing PoA priority areas and 14 SDGs identified as relevant to Tajikistan. As stated in the National Statistics Development Strategy (2019), “CEDAW convention, Beijing Platform for Action, and SDGs are major catalysts for the collection, analysis and use of sex-disaggregated data and gender statistics”; gender and other variables become a priority in order to fully measure and address gender inequalities, and ensure gender equality by 2030. 

UN Women contributed to this provision technical assistance and support in data collection, analysis, and presentation in the publication.

The major partner was the State Statistical Agency under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan and Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, who lead the process from the GoT side.

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Violence against women and girls is preventable, and prevention remains central to UN Women’s work in addressing its root causes, including harmful social norms and unequal gender power dynamics. Risk factors such as limited education, childhood exposure to violence, harmful use of alcohol, and societal attitudes that normalize violence and gender inequality increase the likelihood of experiencing or perpetrating violence against women and girls.75 Effective prevention requires mitigating these risk factors while amplifying protective measures such as promoting healthy relationships, fostering gender equality, and creating supportive environments. UN Women has been instrumental in influencing intergovernmental processes, such as the UN General Assembly76 and CSW,77 to prioritize VAWG prevention. Together with partners, UN Women has integrated prevention into government agendas through the development of NAPs and prevention strategies. Foundational documents like the UN Prevention Framework78 and the RESPECT framework79 have been critical in fostering a shared understanding and a coordinated approach across diverse stakeholders. In 2022 and 2023, UN Women led evidence-based prevention interventions grounded in the RESPECT framework’s seven strategic areas.80 These initiatives addressed the root causes of VAWG through interconnected strategies, including shifting harmful norms in families, through sports and within institutions; mobilizing communities; engaging men and boys, as well as religious and traditional leaders; supporting women’s agency and economic empowerment; and partnering with the private sector to ensure safe workplaces and communities where women and girls can thrive free from violence. 

Specific examples of UN Women’s work include:

• RESPECT Framework was implemented in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, reaching community leaders and policymakers.
• UN Women ACRO, in collaboration with PAHO, adapted the RESPECT Global Framework to Latin America and the Caribbean and promoted capacity building workshops in Chile and Bolivia with the participation of more than 130 policymakers.
• Sport-based programs:
  • Get into Rugby Plus engaged 629 children and trained 50% female coaches in Fiji and Samoa.
• Community mobilization:
  • SASA! Together expanded in Uganda, training 1,500+ activists to challenge GBV norms.
  • Strengthening Peaceful Village in Kiribati led to 1,200 community-led actions that reduced household violence.
• The UN Women Foundations Programme was rolled out in Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, engaging over 2,000 facilitators and young people on GBV prevention in and out of school programmes
• Evidence-based prevention was promoted through resources like the VAW Prevention Programming Guide, Voices Against Violence curriculum. Prevention efforts engaged youth, and faith organizations to challenge norms and catalyse behaviour change.   ROAP also launched a regional storytelling initiative, empowering women and LGBTQI+ advocates to challenge harmful norms through public speaking.
• In 2024, UN Women expanded its convening role, leveraging the UN-Women and the European Union in 2023 committed to a 22-million-euro Advocacy, Coalition Building and Transformative Feminist Action to End Violence Against Women (ACT) Programme in Latin America and Africa to counter backlash against gender equality and mobilize resources for women’s rights organizations.

 

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UN Women continued to actively participate in the UN system-wide SEA Working Group PSEA WG, which is being coordinated by the Office of the Special Coordinator on improving the UN response to SEA. Using its technical expertise and experience, UN Women provided input to all WG deliverables, which inter-alia include the Fact sheet on the Secretary-General's initiatives to prevent and respond to SEA, the Secretary-General's Report on Special measures for PSEA, the annual PSEA action plan, and the annual PSEA survey.

Together with UNFPA, IOM, and UNICEF, UN Women co-lead the inter-agency PSEA focal point training, held in March 2021 for the Senegal inter-agency PSEA network.

UN Women actively engaged in the development of the key performance indicators for the prevention of sexual harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse for the monitoring framework of the 2020 QCPR.

With UN partners including OHCHR, DPPA, UNDP and DCO, UN Women advocated for UN key messages about Violence against Women in politics for the UN system, endorsed by the Executive Committee in 2020 and available to inform UN Leaders' advocacy efforts on this issue.

Almost all the countries in the ESA region have functional GBV Working Groups led by UNFPA and the PSEA Task Forces led by UN Women and the UNRCO.

To bring the global commitments to the field and to create an enabling safe, secure and equitable environment in line with the UN Secretary-Generals guidance, a Training of Trainers program on "Gender Parity" and "Prevention of Sexual Harassment, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA)" was organized in partnership with UN Women HQ with participation by 42 participants from 12 countries in the region representing UN Women, UNPFA, UNHCR, IOM, ICAO and UNDSS in Mombasa, Kenya. Following the training at least 5 countries have replicated the training in their countries and also took initiatives to establish and strengthen the PSEA task forces.

In Burundi, UN Women supported the development of UNCT gender strategy which serves as a frame of reference for in planning process within UNS in Burundi.

To support Secretary-General's Campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women, UN Women (ROAP) organised and supported multiple regional events including Regional Curated Dialogue (link) organised in the form a TV style talk show, multi country study on Online Violence against Women in Asia (link), study on the linkages between violence against women and violence against children jointly produced with UNICEF and UNFPA (link) , Guidelines on Responsible Representation and Reporting of Violence Against Women and Children also jointly produced with UNICEF and UNFPA (link), 16 stories from frontline service providers, and social media campaigns (link) and a virtual event with the World Design Organization showcasing innovation and youth-focused approaches to prevent VAWG. The estimated reach of the 16 days of campaign events and messaging was around 94,250 with 65,273 direct engagement through likes, comments, and shares.

Generation Equality and 2020 Information Note

The year 2020 is a pivotal year for advancing gender equality worldwide, as the global community takes stock of progress made for women's rights since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action. This information note explores UN Women's upcoming actions throughout 2020 including its multigenerational campaign: “Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights for an Equal Future”, Generation Equality Forums and Action Coalitions.

https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2020/02/generation-equality-and-2020-information-note

Trough GTG (Gender Thematic Group), UN Women Moldova CO a) lead the joint UN effort in supporting the government to implement the existing normative commitments (implementation of CEDAW CO, UPR, Beijing +25 national report); b) strengthen joint advocacy for improved normative framework and ratification of the Istanbul Convention on VAW as per CEDAW Committee Recommendations and of ILO Convention no. 190 on Violence and sexual harassment at the workplace; d) use corporate tools such as SWAP Gender Scorecard recommendations and CCA updates to strengthen GEWE as well as UN Women Moldova is co-chairing the PSEA (Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse) Task Force.

In 2020, UN Women Kosovo collaborated with UNFPA and UNDP to conduct two Rapid Socio-Economic Impact Assessments (SEIAs) of the impact of the pandemic on health, financial and emotional well-being of people, including the impact on women. Findings showed that 59% of the respondents felt that domestic violence had increased since the begin of the pandemic and that gender progress may be stalling. The Security and Gender Group chaired by UN Women Kosovo allowed quick mobilization of UN family and International Community to respond to COVID's differentiated as impact on women and this was well recognized by international community in Kosovo Several joint statements and activities including more than 100 activities during 16 days were coordinated and organized aiming to call on government to adopt measures to address the economics effect of the COVID19 pandemic on women and girls and on ending violence against women. Efforts continued also in 2021, through regular meetings of the SGG and GTG.

 

In Tajikistan, UN Women chairs GTG and coordinates work of UNCT, partners (government, national and international) in implementation of the UNiTE campaign since its launch. UN Women oversights implementation of UN TF projects and serves as the technical advisor to the PSEA interagency team. UN Women is a member of REACT Humanitarian Response team and internal UNCT Humanitarian Team. UN Women is the technical coherence lead at the Spotlight Programme Tajikistan. In Albania UN Women CO:

 

1- Conducted a Gender Responsive mapping of the linkages between social inclusion and vulnerabilities at local level, in the framework of the Global SDG Fund-supported UNJP on Improving Municipal Social Protection, implemented jointly with UNDP, UNICEF, and WHO. This sets the foundation for identifying and piloting social services for vulnerable women in existing municipalities through existing social care plants and in coordination with the Social Fund administered by the MoHSP.

 

2- Within the framework of Leave No One Behind UNJP with UNDP, UNICEF, and UNFPA, gender responsive budgeting processes were strengthened at the local level, prioritising interventions that combat violence against women and girls, in conjunction with the EVAW JP. As a result, main municipalities in Albania are increasing their capacities in: (i) applying gender responsive budgeting (GRB) within Medium Term Budget Programme (MTBP 2021-2023) ensuring that needs of vulnerable women and girls, including survivors of violence are incorporated in policies and related budgets associated with municipal social care services; and (ii) developing socio-economic schemes/plans for reintegration of women survivors of violence.

 

3- Led and coordinated with other UN agencies in Albania towards a successful 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, which saw engagement and direct contribution of the private sector towards women survivors, as well as increased visibility through awareness raising efforts.

 

4- On International Day of the Girl (11 October) UN Women partnered with UNFPA and UNICEF under the global theme "My voice, our equal future" and invited everyone to write a short inspirational letter to a GIRL under 18 years old. 13 letters were received, and later snapshots of main message and quotes were shared through infographics on social media. An activity around the initiative was organized in 'Mersin Duqi' high school in Ibe village. Students shared the letters they had prepared and discussed gender equality and girl's rights.

 

5- Advocated for a standalone gender outcome in the new UNSDCF. UN Women's leadership on the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) System-Wide Action Plan (SWAP) Gender Equality Scorecard conducted in 2019 and the Country Gender Equality Brief supported solid gender analysis in the new Common Country Analysis (CCA) and resulted in positioning a stand-alone gender equality outcome level result in the development of the new UNSDCF. UN Women ensured knowledge sharing among Gender Theme Results Group (GTRG) members about best approaches to strengthen gender mainstreaming in the programming cycle and actively engaged in UNCT discussions on strategic priorities and comparative advantages.

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A number of initiatives were undertaken by UN Women country offices through the support of RO and other partner agencies in undertaking advocacy and awareness on addressing sexual violence in conflict situations. 

Through the ICGLR Program support and as part of the Domestication of the Protocol on the Prevention and Punishment of Sexual Violence Against Women and Children in the ICGLR member states, a total of 9 countries out of the 12 ICGLR Member States that have established the special court, special sessions and special procedures as mechanisms to fast track SGBV cases within the region. For example, in 2018 Uganda established a special session as a strategy to clear SGBV case back log and they were able to clear a total of 788 cases surpassing the target of 650 set for one month. Countries that do not have any mechanisms to fast track SGBV cases are Tanzania, Central African Republic and Angola. Sudan however implemented special procedures for cases involving children for the period between 2014- 2016.

UN Women also participated and provided briefing to the HQ DPA high level missions and advocacy initiatives towards developing strategies for addressing PVE, CVE with focus on prevention of sexual violence in conflict situations.

The Strategy for Prevention of and Response to the Conflict Related Sexual Violence in Ukraine

The present strategy provides guidance and recommendations on how governmental institutions of Ukraine, civil society organizations, international organizations and UN system can join efforts to effectively prevent and respond to CRSV. The document has a narrative part, which sets out the general context, mandate and scope of the strategy, implementation mechanism, coordination mechanism and tools. Second part of the document is a roadmap matrix that suggests specific objectives, actions for specific actors to carry out to accomplish those objectives, leading to a more targeted approach. The strategy is currently being developed at the initiative of government of Ukraine, applicable to whole of Ukraine.

https://eca.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2019/04/the-strategy-for-prevention-of-and-response-to-the-conflict-related-sexual-violence-in-ukraine

On 20 May 2021, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted the Draft Law No. 2689 “On Amendments to Legislative Acts of Ukraine on Implementation of Provisions of International Criminal Law and Humanitarian Law” updating Ukraine’s Criminal Code with a full catalogue of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which include, inter alia, sexual violence.

The Second National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 (NAP 1325) was developed and adopted on 28 October 2020. UN Women provided expert support to ensure the alignment of the NAP 1325 with UNSCR Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security and with UN SG Call to Action – Women Transforming Peace and Security, issued on the 20th anniversary of UN SCR 1325.

To implement the first and the second NAP 1325, the List of Early Warning Indicators (EWI) in Ukraine has been drafted based on the UN Matrix and in consultations with the Government Commissioner of Gender Equality Policy, national and local authorities, CSOs and OHCHR, and with expert support of UN Women Ukraine. In September 2021, the List of EWI is expected to be validated by relevant stakeholders to be further institutionalized by the Government for effective prevention and combatting CRSV.

A training module for district police officers on the concept and prevention of Conflict Related Sexual Violence through community policing was developed by UN Women. The training module will be further piloted through the organization of 4 trainings for police from the conflict-affected Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

In Tajikistan, the WPS agenda, especially role and needs of young women and girls, were discussed by participants of the UN Women supported National Forum “Modern approaches to PVE among youth” in February 2020. Over 250 young people (30% of them- women and girls) and 50 officials discussed emerging PVE risks and policies and programmes to reduce them. As a result, young women and girls enhanced their participation for networking and collaboration between young people across the country and youth they learnt innovative forms of youth empowerment in decision-making. The Forum opened new avenues for dialog between youth and decision-makers on WPS and empowered young women girls to contribute to the PVE processes.

As a part of celebration of 20th anniversary of SCR 1325, UN Women conducted special information campaign for pos. pulation. In the frames of the campaign UN Women jointly with CoWFA developed and broadcasted on the National TV a video Women in Peace Processes. The video dedicated to the 20th anniversary of SCR 1325 and brought various views and opinions on the importance of the SCR 1325 and NAPs in Tajikistan’s peacebuilding and development processes. Partnership with UN Women and UN Women’s projects on the topic have been reflected in the video. Additionally, UN Women interviewed Ms. Bozgul Dodkhudoeva, the only women in the National Reconciliation Commission (1997-2000). M Dodkhudoeva’s extended interview on the civil war and post-war processes was posted in local press; the part of the interview on Beijing conference and other important global women’s processes - on the ECA website. Three thematic articles (on SCR1325, women’s role in peacebuilding, and on Tajik-Kyrgyz cross-border cooperation on peace between women) were published in AsiaPlus – the most popular media-resource in Tajikistan and among Tajik citizens abroad.  

Women-peacemakers of the Tajikistan’s civil war were vocal in the Generation Equality campaign. One of the UN Women events with the Embassy of France highlighted the WPS agenda.

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UN Women has taken a leadership role in tackling the gender-related killings of women and girls (also referred to as femicide or feminicide) through legal frameworks, policy development, and data collection in collaboration with UNODC and regional partners.

Specific examples of UN Women's work include:

• 18 Latin American Countries Adopt Femicide Laws: With support from UN Women and MESECVI, 18 countries in Latin America now recognize femicide/feminicide as a specific crime in their legal frameworks. This milestone was achieved through sustained technical assistance, policy recommendations, and legal advocacy​
• Latin American Model Protocol for Investigating Gender-Related Killings of Women: UN Women has provided both technical and financial support for the adoption and adaptation of this model protocol in Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay, and Chile, ensuring its alignment with each country's legal and institutional structures​
• Ecuador’s National Protocol for Investigating Femicides: Established in partnership with the State Attorney General’s Office, this protocol standardized evidence collection, streamlined investigative procedures, and ensured comprehensive reparations for victims. By the end of 2022, 113 prosecutors had received training on implementing this protocol​
• Statistical Framework for Measuring Gender-Related Killings: In collaboration with UNODC, UN Women developed  the framework, which was formally adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) in March 2022. This framework enhances global data collection on femicide, moving beyond intimate-partner and family-related killings to include broader gender-related killings​. Since its endorsement, UN Women and UNODC have been piloting the framework in different countries across all world regions and will be reporting on progress to the Statistical Commission in 2026.
• Annual Global Report on Femicide Estimates: In 2022, UN Women and UNODC jointly published the first-ever global report on femicide, providing data-driven insights and policy recommendations to strengthen prevention and response measures. This has now become an annual research series published each year on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women 25 November).
• Commitment to Femicide Data Collection in Asia-Pacific: At a 2023 conference on femicide data, co-hosted by UN Women’s Asia and the Pacific Regional Office, 60 international experts convened to improve femicide data-collection methodologies. This led to pilot commitments from Fiji and Mongolia, while experts from Indonesia and Pakistan pledged to integrate gender analysis into femicide case assessments​
• Regional Femicide Monitoring Mechanisms in Europe: In Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania, UN Women has led efforts to establish Femicide Watch mechanisms and improve data standardization. A key achievement was the analysis of 140 final court decisions on femicide cases, bringing to light previously unrecorded cases and systemic gaps in prosecution.
• Regional Office of Asia-Pacific helped elevate femicide as a regional concern through co-organisation of the 2023 International Conference on Ending Gender-Based Killings of Women and Girls. Following the conference, UN Women and UNODC began piloting the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Gender-Related Killing of Women and Girls in Fiji and Mongolia to improve national data collection and coordination. Building on the findings of the global femicide report, ROAP and UNODC continue to advance regional advocacy to raise awareness and inform policy responses.

 

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