Enhanced Capacity of UN Entity in Relation to Violence Against Women
In 2020, through the Safe from the Start programme, UNHCH deployed gender-based violence specialist staff to 12 operations such as Burkina Faso, Burundi, Mali, Yemen and Sudan, including L2 and L3 emergencies. From quarters 1 to 3 of 2021, GBV experts have been deployed in Mali, Central African Republic, Burkina Faso, Sudan and Trinidad and Tobago, among others. It is estimated that from the launch of the programme in 2012 until 2019, this technical support increased the efficiency of GBV programming from 35% to 82%, increased coverage of GBV programming from 25% to 59% and facilitated the access of 1.56 million additional persons of concern to GBV programming and services.
With the Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and the Center for Women’s Global Leadership, UNFPA convened an Expert Group Meeting to gather current and past research and information by leading media organizations, news entities and key women journalists on the status, consequences and causes of threats to women journalists worldwide. The findings and the submissions received following a call for input issued by the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women contributed to the report the Special Rapporteur presented at the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council in June 2020.
The kNOwVAWdata initiative supports safe and ethical prevalence and administrative data collection, analysis and reporting through technical assistance as well as capacity development programmes. From 2018 to 2019, 65 UNFPA staff participated in the kNOwVAWdata curriculum course from 19 countries. In December 2020 the course was adjusted to an online format which enabled an additional 50 participants, from all regions, to undertake the course. Currently 32 UNFPA staff and close to 100 external participants are enrolled in the course curriculum from over 36 countries. Under the UNFPA flagship programme for disability inclusion, The We Decide Global Initiative, one key focus area is ending violence against women with disabilities and building UNFPA internal capacities accordingly. The UNFPA We Decide Disability Inclusion Guidelines have been implemented in 74 Country Offices. Within the scope of the Joint Programme for UN Partnership for Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) “Building Back Better for All”, UNFPA produced resources that strengthen disability inclusive COVID-19 response and recovery in connection to GBV and SRHR. UNFPA staff was trained on how to use these tools and resources.Under the UNFPA flagship programme for disability inclusion, The We Decide Global Initiative, one key focus area is ending violence against women with disabilities and building UNFPA internal capacities accordingly. The UNFPA We Decide Disability Inclusion Guidelines have been implemented in 74 Country Offices. Within the scope of the Joint Programme for UN Partnership for Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) “Building Back Better for All”, UNFPA produced resources that strengthen disability inclusive COVID-19 response and recovery in connection to GBV and SRHR. UNFPA staff was trained on how to use these tools and resources.
UNDP works to enhance capacity of staff in relation to violence against women.
In August 2020, UNDP India in collaboration with UN Staff Association of India organized a webinar for UN staff with focus on factors and conditions that aggravate incidence and severity of Violence Against Women during COVID lockdown. In addition to the webinar, UNDP Management and Staff association conducted three rounds of surveys to understand how staff were coping with lockdown and working from home. One of the surveys dedicated to women staff was to better understand needs for information and counselling support on violence.
UNDP Bangladesh, as the member of Gender Equality Theme Group and Local Consultative Group on Women’s Advancement and Gender Equality, contributed significantly in joint learning regarding SHAA and SEA through sharing good practices and helping in designing and implementing advocacy events in different occasions such as 16 days of activism, International Women’s Day.
In Malaysia, UN GRG conducted a capacity building session to introduce Political Engagement Strategy Activation Toolkit in June 2021.
UNDP also has ‘Gender Equality Seal’ programme to recognize and certificate the good performance of its country offices with regards to gender mainstreaming.
UN-Women completed the implementation of the recommendations of the independent, victim-centered review of its policies and procedures on tackling SEA and SH in June 2021. Through targeted actions, UN Women was able to maximize the clarity and cohesion of its policy and governance framework, strengthen its prevention and communication efforts, establish sufficient field capacity and proper operationalization, and ensure accountable and transparent investigations.
In coordination with the UN Electoral Assistance Division (EAD/DPPA) UN Women contributed to enhanced UN staff capacities on addressing violence against women in elections (VAWE) through a dedicated sessions delivered during the EAD-UN Staff College course on: A Political Approach to Preventing and Responding to Electoral Violence (7-16 June 2021), with 39 participants from around the world from UNDP, DPPA, OHCHR, UNMISS and UN Women).
UN Women capacities at the regional and national level have enhanced through its triple mandate and technical leadership on EVAW in Africa region. This is evidenced through the leadership on Africa Spotlight Initiative at both regional and country levels, steep increase in the mobilization of resources, strengthening of partnerships with AUC, regional and national CSOs, government and other partners. UN Women in Africa also by leveraging on the Africa Strategy and harnessing the technical capacities of the team through establishment of a regional EVAW Community of Practice (COP) and sharing of innovation and technical knowledge through South-South learning. This helped immensely in initiating, strengthening and upscaling programs on ‘safe markets and safe public spaces’ in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe; addressing tech violence against girls in education institutions through a research and advocacy document; partnerships with regional traditional leaders in establishing a movement of “Council of Traditional Leaders in Africa (COTLA)” and its launch in the sidelines of the African Union Summit in February 2019 through the President of Zambia in grassroot advocacy and prevention of child marriage, FGM and other harmful practices. Strengthened partnerships with the government and CSOs also helped in technical support in legislative reform, strengthening institutions, establishment of referral pathways and multi-sectoral responses in EVAW in the region.
Technical Support to Country Offices and Partners
ROAP has supported country offices to strengthen capacities on EVAW through dedicated technical support on VAW prevention and Essential Services, webinars, introduction of knowledge products and guidance developed, efforts to establish anti-sexual harassment policies at universities, and providing technical inputs in national EVAWG strategies.
As a response to a social (media) movement against sexual harassment in public space, especially in relation to young actresses and women in the entertainment business, which was started by several actresses in the region of Western Balkans, UN Women Bosnia and Herzegovina mobilized UN agencies to create a joint response to the movement. This initiative gathered relevant portfolios from different UN agencies (UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA) putting forward a mapping of actions against domestic violence, violence against women and children, gender-based violence and a plan for joint action together with the government for a large-scale systemic response to sexual violence.
UN Women Kosovo, jointly with UNFPA initiated a multi-sectoral dialogue involving actors such as the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Agency for Gender Equality/Prime Minister's Office. Through this dialogue, the establishment of provisional quarantine facilities was made possible. UN Women and UNFPA delivered hygiene packages, clothes, PPE and other items to provisional quarantine facilities for gender-based violence and domestic violence survivor cases prior to admission in the shelters.- UN Women Kosovo jointly with UNFPA assisted the Ministry of Justice in developing an emergency protocol for handling cases of domestic violence during the pandemic.
- UN Women Kosovo liaised with donors to respond to the needs of survivors from non-majority communities: liaised with Embassy of UK to support the shelter in North Mitrovica; with Swiss Embassy to support a women's organization providing essential services in North Mitrovica.
In Tajikistan, UN Women led the process of institutionalizing PSEA and development the UNCT PSEA plan. Currently PSEA Country Risk Assessment is being developed.
Number of activities to enhance Capacity of UN Entities in Relation to Violence Against Women, including recent GALS training for several UN agencies have been implemented to date.
UNODC established a new professional network on violence against women, composed of staff working on gender-based violence across UNODC, in order to more effectively assist countries in preventing and responding to violence against women.
UNODC conducted an internal survey on efforts and potential progress regarding gender equality and the empowerment of women in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal 5 of the 2030 Agenda. The results indicated increased internal knowledge and understanding due to the provision of accessible and regular information, as well as gender being included more clearly in the 2030 Agenda and given greater priority. Respondents indicated that further training was needed, especially regarding project development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Furthermore, the appointment of a dedicated gender focal point and the adoption of a clear gender strategy were mentioned as helpful to facilitating greater progress.
UNHCR has improved data management and analysis on SGBV, which strengthened programming and enhanced services for survivors and those at risk. Moreover, UNHCR has deployed senior-level protection staff to ten emergency operations in 2019, 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. An evaluative review found that this technical support increased the efficiency of SGBV programming from 35% to 82%, and increased coverage of SGBV programming from 25% to 59%. Moreover, SGBV mainstreaming projects have been implemented in areas such as livelihoods, energy and cash-based interventions.
UN Women capacities at the regional and national level have enhanced through its triple mandate and technical leadership on EVAW in Africa region. This is evidenced through the leadership on Africa Spotlight Initiative at both regional and country levels, steep increase in the mobilization of resources, strengthening of partnerships with AUC, regional and national CSOs, government and other partners. UN Women in Africa also by leveraging on the Africa Strategy and harnessing the technical capacities of the team through establishment of a regional EVAW Community of Practice (COP) and sharing of innovation and technical knowledge through South-South learning. This helped immensely in initiating, strengthening and up-scaling programs on ‘safe markets and safe public spaces’ in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe; addressing tech violence against girls in education institutions through a research and advocacy document; partnerships with regional traditional leaders in establishing a movement of “Council of Traditional Leaders in Africa (COTLA)” and its launch in the sidelines of the African Union Summit in February 2019 through the President of Zambia in grassroot advocacy and prevention of child marriage, FGM and other harmful practices. Strengthened partnerships with the government and CSOs also helped in technical support in legislative reform, strengthening institutions, establishment of referral pathways and multisectoral responses in EVAW in the region.
UN-Women continued to support the mainstreaming of gender and development of training sessions on violence against women in politics, which were delivered in the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) 2019 courses on Political Approaches to Preventing and Responding to Election-Related Violence.
Protection Policy is being updated in November 2020. A cross cutting theme identified is Gender Based Violence, which will set the direction for broader Mainstreaming across programmes. This will be of closer focus over the coming years to build on existing initiatives and create opportunities for new programmes.
ILO was member of a panel, held 9 September 2019 in New York by UNFPA and UN Women, on “Where do we stand within the UN system on addressing sexual harassment?”, which was part of a special briefing for UN system gender focal points on progress against sexual harassment.
ILO held a webinar on Convention No. 190 for UNWOMEN ECA RO staff on September 18th, 2019.
ILO also held seminars, webinars and training sessions for ILO staff both at HQ and in the field on the new ILO Convention NO. 190.