United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

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

In the Dominican Republic, UN Women has printed and distributed 100 T- shirts with the UNITE logo. The Interagency Gender Group, to which UN Women is the leading agency in the Dominican Republic, organized a peer working breakfast on “role and responsibilities of the Media on ending violence against women” with Mass Media, led by the Argentinean journalist on gender Liliana Hendel. Hide

Implementation continued of the multi-country programme of UNIFEM now part of UN Women on community-based peacebuilding and prevention of sexual and gender-based violence in Timor Leste, Liberia, Uganda, and Haiti. The joint programming initiative under the Inter-agency Task Force on Violence against Women works to develop the capacities of national stakeholders to achieve specific international commitments. Hide

Former UNIFEM now part of UN Women provided advisory services for the development of the National Action Plan to Implement Measures for the Elimination of Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims of Domestic Violence (2011-2012) in Georgia; the Multi-Sectoral National Action Plan on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in St. Kitts and Nevis; the National Gender-Based Violence Plan of Action (2010-2013) in Belize and Gender Based Violence, Responses and Complaints Protocols in Grenada and Belize; for the formulation of Kosovo’s Draft Strategy and Action Plan against Domestic Violence; and for Nigeria’s development of the Action Plan to Promote enactment of anti-GBV legislation. In Burundi, advocacy for the implementation of the National Strategy to Fight against sexual gender-based violence resulted in national budget allocations to the Ministry of Gender and the Ministry of Justice, including to establish sexual gender-based violence focal points in 6 ministries. Hide

Advocacy and assistance by former UNIFEM now part of UN Women contributed to: improved policies and service delivery for women survivors of violence in Kazakhstan, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan; increased access to legal assistance in Algeria, Kenya, Morocco, FYR Macedonia, Colombia, Argentina and Thailand; and economic empowerment initiatives for women survivors of violence in Morocco and Georgia. Additionally, in the context of the International Conference on the Role of Security Organs in Ending violence against women and girls in the framework of the UNiTE to End Violence Campaign, 12 African countries adopted the Kigali Declaration on the Role of Security Organs, reaffirming their commitments for action to continue building on best practice to expand justice and services for survivors in the continent. Hide

In Asia-Pacific, the work of the inter-agency initiative “Partners for Prevention” (P4P) was ongoing. Engagingmen.net (www.engagingmen.net) is a website where practitioners can share resources and learn about training opportunities. “Partners for Prevention” (P4P) organized several training sessions to support national social media campaigns in China, India, and Indonesia. Demand Media, a leading online media company and expert in developing social media platforms, provides pro bono support for the national campaigns. In December 2010, P4P organized a meeting with various stakeholders from Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Fiji, the Philippines and Vietnam, who work to engage boys and men for ending violence against women. The participants agreed to work together to develop regional curricula and a collective approach for knowledge creation and sharing across the region.In December 2010, the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) “Standing Committee of Male Parliamentarians for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Children” met in Port Macquarie, Australia, where male parliamentarians from 13 countries signed a pledge to take action in their own countries and to stand together as a collective group to advocate for more actions for violence prevention among their peers. “Partners for Prevention” is supporting the Standing Committee of Male Parliamentarians as a collaborative partner with AFPPD and UNFPA. “Partners for Prevention” and AFPPD are conducting research on the challenges that parliamentarians face in moving prevention policy forward, and on ways to support them in their role in preventing violence. Hide

Former UNIFEM now part of UN Women supported ongoing training of judges, lawyers, police and other “duty bearers” in various countries, such as in the Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Haiti and Indonesia. Hide

Former OSAGI, now part of UN Women, led and coordinated the preparation of the annual Report of the Secretary-General on women and peace and security (S/2010/498), which was presented to the Security Council during a Ministerial-level Open Debate (26 October 2010) to mark the tenth anniversary of the adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). The report included as an annex a set of indicators for use at the global level to track the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000). A major recommendation of this report relates to the development of a framework to guide the implementation of resolution 1325 (2000) over the next decade. Hide

Former UNIFEM now part of UN Women provided technical support to stakeholders who contributed to the enactment of the Domestic Violence Bill in Grenada, the Ley Especial Integral para una Vida libre de Violencia para las Mujeres in El Salvador, the development of the Domestic Violence (Crime and Punishment) Regulation in Nepal and the adoption of new provisions in the Law on Protection against Domestic Violence in Albania. Hide