United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Through the UN Women-spearheaded Partnership for Peace (PfP) Violence Intervention Programme in the Caribbean, statistics from a longitudinal assessment in Grenada show that less than 20% of the men who have gone through the programme return to court as repeat offenders. Even though the programme´s evaluation is currently in progress, the available information suggests that its methods are effective in changing men´s violent behaviours. Hide

UN Women continued to support the first multi-purpose Centre in the occupied Palestinian territory (West Bank) for women victims of violence through provision of technical and financial assistance. The Centre includes a shelter which has hosted twenty women and their children on a monthly basis. Towards the end of 2011, the revision of policies and procedures of the Centre was initiated and will lead to the upgrading to national policies and procedures. The first multi-purpose Centre in the Gaza Strip was established modeling the Centre in the West Bank. Hide

In Algeria, UN Women contributed to the institutional operational Plan of the National Strategy for the elimination of Violence against Women, in partnership with UNFPA and UNDP. UN Women also provided assistance to the process of transitional Justice, specifically to the Tunisian Commission investigating human rights violations during the revolution to strengthen its capacities in terms of gender consideration in its mandate.As the lead agency for the joint Millenium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDG-F) Gender Programme in Morocco, UN Women has greatly contributed to the implementation of the National Strategy to combat VAW (SNLCVF) at two levels: the establishment of legal reforms (Penal code, domestic labor), as well as the strategy’s implementation at the local level, particularly through the empowerment of women's survivors of violence through income generating activities in 6 Moroccan regions. UN Women also supported the national women's machinery (MDSFS) in the country to coordinate and finalize the adoption of the Gender Equality Agenda for 2011-2015 (March 2011).In Cambodia, UN Women offered technical assistance and support to policy formulation and implementation by national partners. In preparation for Cambodia’s new National Action Plan against Violence Against Women (NAPVAW), UN Women has been generating action-oriented research on gender norms and costing of violence. Hide

In Colombia, prior to the adoption of the Victim and Land Restitution Law, UN Women provided technical assistance to the government to incorporate a gender perspective and promoted regional consultations with women`s organizations and a public hearing at the National Congress. This law recognizes that women are among the most vulnerable victims and therefore they need to receive special attention in the provision of medical and physiological services, access to education and restitution of their properties. Hide

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

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

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