United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Issues # 7 and 8 of Words to Action, DAW’s (now part of UN Women) quarterly newsletter on violence against women, were issued, with feature articles on the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women, and the 15 year review of the implementation of the Platform for Action. Hide

In May 2010, seven UN agencies (UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, UNDP, UNHCR, OHCHR, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO) have launched a three-year UN Joint Program "Ending violence against women - a national priority for Kyrgyzstan". Four strategic compenents of the program include: 1) strengthening policy framework, including through the implementation of the recommendations of the UN human bodies and procedures; 2) improving official data collection system and analysis of collected data; 3) awareness-raising, sensititation and capacity-building with the view to change gender stereotypes; 4) protecting and helping survivors of gender-based violence. Hide

In collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)/Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, DAW, now part of UN Women, organized an expert group meeting on good practices in national action plans on violence against women, which took place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from 13 to 15 September 2010. During the meeting, experts identified key elements and good practice examples for the development, content, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of national action plans on violence against women. Further information regarding the expert group meeting, including expert discussion notes, is available on line at: https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/v-egms-nap2010.htm. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, released Addressing Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: An Analytical Inventory of Peacekeeping Practice, developed with DPKO as part of UN Action and supported emergency efforts in Kyrgyzstan related to gender-based violence. Hide

In addition to ongoing training of judges, lawyers, police and other ‘duty bearers’ in many countries, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, finalized programming modules, available at www.endvawnow.org, which offer state-of-the-art guidance from leading experts and country experiences on how to address violence against women, in three areas: safe cities, engaging men and boys, and legal reform. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported data collection toward the development of effective public policies in Guinea Bissau and Moldova, and supported women’s networks in Ecuador to monitor commitments to end violence against women through surveys. Hide

Through a gender-based violence Coordination mechanism established by UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, and GIZ in 2010, Cambodia has been at the forefront of joint advocacy and behavioral change initiatives. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, continued to update the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women. During the ECOSOC High-level segment that took place from 28 June to 2 July 2010, DAW organized a parallel exhibition featuring the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women. Hide

Through its ongoing work with parliamentarians, women’s machineries and the women’s movement, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, continued to support efforts for legislative reforms including a law on domestic violence in Timor-Leste. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, continued to support the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign, as a member of its High-Level Steering Committee and global working group; as coordinator with UN sister agencies for rolling-out regional campaigns; and through UNIFEM’s Say NO—UniTE Initiative, which recorded over 400,000 actions to end violence against women and supported awareness-raising initiatives in various countries, ranging from the Caribbean, to Tajikistan, and to northern Uganda. Hide