United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

In the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), UN Women has trained Police Family Protection Units (FPUs) officers (level I and II) on violence against women (VAW) cases and has supported them in the development of their first strategy, standard operating procedures and minimum guidelines for the establishment of the Units. An initial group of six Palestinian judges have also been targeted in order to support the development of their capacity to deal with VAW cases during trial. Technical support to the Palestinian Bar Association has also been initiated in order to develop a specialized group of lawyers capable to deal with and legally represent cases of VAW in a gender sensitive manner. Hide

In partnership with DPKO and the Office of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, UN Women developed scenario-based pre-deployment training for military peacekeepers to prevent and respond to sexual violence, which were tested in several troop contributing countries, such as Nepal where 466 army personnel were trained. Both the Security Council, in resolution 1960, and the Secretary-General, in his annual report on conflict-related sexual violence, have encouraged member states to incorporate these modules into their regular training for peace operations. Hide

In the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), UN Women has continued to support the multi-purpose Centre for women victims of violence by assisting in the development of formats for the data collection. Hide

From 13 to 14 September 2011, the Regional Coordination Mechanism Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (RCM TWG-GEEW) (co-chaired by ESCAP and UN Women) organised and hosted the Inaugural Meeting of the Regional Advisory Group on Women and Peace and Security, during which the terms of reference were adopted and priority areas for action and support were discussed. The outcome was shared in an open session (“Priorities for Implementing United Nations Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in the Asia-Pacific region”). In addition, at its 2 September 2011 meeting, the RCM TWG-GEEW agreed to establish a UNiTE Working Group under its auspices, which is now working to implement the UNiTE Campaign in the Asia-Pacific region. Hide

UN Women manages the project Pacific Regional Facility Fund in Support of Organisations and Actions to Eliminate Violence Against Women (EVAW), which is a regional ‘basket fund’ to support a small grants facility for Pacific Island organisations and actions to eliminate VAW. Hide

In Nepal, UN Women advocated with concerned ministries for allocating budget for responding to gender-based violence (GBV). As a result, specific programmes and budgets were allocated by the government for ending GBV in fiscal year 2011-2012. In addition, GBV has been enlisted as one of the sub-indicators for ascertaining gender responsive budgeting (GRB). Hide

UN Women Virtual Knowledge Centre (VKC) to End Violence against Women conducted its first global technical webinar on Costing the Implementation of Violence against Women Laws and Policies for United Nations and government colleagues undertaking or embarking on similar work. Hide

UN Women supported the Afghanistan Ministry of Women’s Affairs to collect data on violence against women (VAW) and set up a web-based database and coding system on VAW. UN Women and UNDP supported an assessment of gender-based violence (GBV) Prevalence, Trends, Legal Recourse, Impact Focusing on Conflict and Transitional Period in ten selected districts of Terai, Nepal. GBV was found to be widely prevalent during the conflict and the transition phase. Recommendations were made to various government and development agencies and non-governmental organizations. Hide

UN Women has expanded the resources available through the Virtual Knowledge Centre (VKC) to End Violence against Women to include a database of 800 tools in 60 languages, including in-depth programming modules on campaigns, health, justice and security sectors. Hide

In Bolivia, under the umbrella of the UNiTE Campaign, the Interagency Gender Group, coordinated by UN Women, and the Ministry of Justice and multiple stakeholders worked together for the adoption of the Supreme Decree declaring 2012 year of No violence against Women. This decree will enable to reform legislation in order to include concepts such as femicide and sexual harassment as well as improving services for women victims of violence.UN Women provided technical assistance to the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Occupied Palestinian territory (oPt)’ shelters’ technical committee to provide comments to the first national by-laws for the establishment of shelters.UN Women has supported the adoption of stronger legal frameworks and policies addressing violence against women (VAW) through ASEAN mechanisms, as well as by supporting national level efforts. In China, Indonesia and Thailand, UN Women and other UN agencies jointly assist the governments to establish multi-sectoral coordination systems to respond to and prevent VAW with the UN EVAW Trust Fund grant. For example, in a project of the UN Country Team in Thailand funded by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, UN Women, along with UNFPA, OHCHR, and UNDP, is working with the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security to achieve effective implementation of Thailand’s Domestic Violence Victims Act (DVVA) through pilot programmes, monitoring and evaluation, and public awareness activities.In El Salvador, UN Women offered technical support prior to the approval of the Law on Equality, Equity and Eradication of Discrimination against Women. Hide