United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

UN Women continues to develop, manage and coordinate the largest capacity development resource in English, French and Spanish – the Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls (http://www.endvawnow.org). The 10th programming module on establishing and running shelters was launched in 2012 and the tools database was expanded to more than 850 representing over 60 languages. The site received 375,899 visitors in 2012, an increase from 197,260 in 2011. Hide

In Nepal, UN Women worked with 6 lawyers and 14 police officials to strengthen their knowledge and capacity on UNSCR 1325 and 1820, and on gender sensitive transitional justice mechanisms; 300 Government and CSO functionaries (District Coordination Committee (DCC) members and journalists) were oriented on their roles and responsibilities under the NAP on 1325 and 1820 in 10 districts; and six “Training manual for Gender Equality and UNSCRS 1325 and 1820" were adopted by the Nepal Army. Hide

UN Women leads the MDG-Fund Gender programme in Morocco, a substantial joint programme involving 13 ministries and 8 UN agencies which has supported a coordinated multi-agency response to prevent violence against women and girls. Hide

Issue # 10 of Words to Action, UN Women’s quarterly newsletter on violence against women, was produced, with a feature article on reparations for women who have been subjected to violence.UN Women supported an International Conference of Islamic Scholars (Ulemas) of West Africa, Egypt and Sudan on the position of Islam regarding harmful practices perpetrated on women, at the issue of which a regional fatwa (sharia law ruling) banning female genital mutilation was adopted. This fatwa has become a key instrument to raise the awareness of the population on this issue. Hide

Gender-based violence prevention has been integrated into urban upgrading through the Barrios de Verdad (Real Neighborhoods) World Bank project in Bolivia. The project operates in collaboration with UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, and DFID in sixteen poor neighborhoods in La Paz. Along with other activities the project built indoor sanitation facilities and street lighting to improve pedestrian mobility and women’s security, which are said to have decreased outdoor violence against women. Several urban transport projects financed by the World Bank now include in their design indoor sanitation facilities and street lighting to improve pedestrian mobility and women’s security. Hide

In the Caribbean, the UN Women-spearheaded Partnership for Peace (PfP) Violence Intervention Programme, which was approved in 2010 in Barbados during the launch of the UNiTE campaign, is operating in Grenada, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Belize and British Virgin Islands, It has been designed to encourage men to take accountability for their actions and to support them in achieving a violence-free lifestyle. This program is aimed at men who perpetrated violence against women and have been taken to court for this crime. To date 300 men have gone through this programme that uses a psycho-educational approach to show that violent habits can be replaced with respect, open communication and healthy relationships. Hide

The UN Women Safe Cities Free of Violence against Women and Girls Global Programme has continued to support national partners in five countries (Ecuador, Egypt, India, Papua New Guinea and Rwanda) to produce, test and offer for wide application and upscaling by local governments, a set of model approaches for preventing and reducing sexual violence against women and girls in public spaces in cities, and to expand its full impact potential for strengthening women’s empowerment, and enhance the quality of city life for all. Holistic programming includes building multisectoral partnerships in the areas of community mobilization, engagement of grassroots women, youth, men and boys, private sector, police, media; policy advocacy with local governments on practical urban safety measures, gender responsive budgeting, services provision for victims of violence. The focus of the country activities is on some of the most impoverished areas of the participating cities (Cairo, Kigali, New Delhi, Port Moresby and Quito). UN Women partners in this programme are UN Habitat, UNDP, UNFPA, UNESCO. Hide

UN Women in the Asia-Pacific region has partnered with UNDP, UNFPA and UNV for the Regional Joint Programme “Partners for Prevention: Working with Boys and Men to Prevent Gender-based Violence Regional Joint Programme, which takes a coordinated approach to support primary prevention of gender-based violence with the deeper involvement of boys and men. Hide

UN Women launched an initiative to celebrate the International Day on Violence against Women (25th November) directed to UN Staff in Algeria with the active involvement of all UN resident agencies, in particular UNHCR, UNFPA, UNIC. Hide

In India, UN Women is supporting a social media campaign to engage young men for the prevention of violence against women and girls (VAWG) through the ‘MUST BOL’ campaign, a call to young people to examine violence in their lives and speak out against it. Must BOL has reached over 10,000 people through social media platforms. The campaign is being expanded from Delhi to other parts of India (see http://www.mustbol.in/campaign). UN Women also supported a One Million signature campaign in Pakistan focused on public awareness-raising on some of the pending legislations and for the effective advocacy and lobbying for pro-women legislations at the provincial level. The Elimination of VAWG Alliance provincial chapter was launched in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. See http://saynotoviolence.org/join-say-no/million-names-million-voices-break-silence-end-violence-against-women-girls? Hide