Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

The OHCHR Regional Office for South-East Asia participated in the Commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of UN Security Council 1325, on Women, Peace and Security held by the Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (TWG-GEEW). The event also launched the Regional Advisory Group on Women, Peace and Security, where several stakeholders were present. The OHCHR Regional Office in the Pacific gave a presentation on “Women and Conflict and Peace and Security” at the Regional Training Program on violence against women, which was organized and facilitated by Fiji Women’s Crisis Center (FWCC). On 26 October, the Regional Office and the OHCHR New York Office organized a workshop for the 1325 anniversary in New York entitled: Unrecognized Conflict: Women’s Survival and Security. The workshop discussed issues of unknown and unrecognized conflicts and how they impact women’s security. On 27 October, in New York, the OHCHR facilitated a workshop on “Building Peace: Exploring the Intersections of Militarism and Violence against Women”, as part of the 1325 anniversary. The OHCHR Regional Office in the Pacific published a discussion paper for the 10th Anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, entitled “Armed Tribal Conflict and Sorcery in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.” On 25 October, the Regional Office further presented issues from the discussion paper at a workshop ‘Voices from the Frontlines’ organized by the United Methodist Women and World Council of Churches. Hide

The OHCHR Regional Office for Central America provided in El Salvador technical advice to the Salvadorian Institute for the Advancement of Women (Instituto Salvadoreño para el desarrollo de la Mujer, ISDEMU), the Prosecutors’ Office and the Parliamentary Group on a new legislative act on the elimination of violence against women, which was adopted on November 25th 2010. Hide

The OHCHR Regional Office for Central Africa, in partnership with the UN Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Cental Africa (CNUDHD) contributed to the elaboration of the Cameroon National Gender Policy, which includes activities to combat gender-based violence, by providing technical advice, sharing documentation, and supporting, with other UN system partners, the national validation workshop for the draft national gender policy.The OHCHR Regional Office for Europe provided advocacy and advice on the preparation of an EU strategy on Violence against Women in October 2010. On 24-25 November 2010, OHCHR organized a two-day Expert workshop: The elimination of all forms of violence against women – challenges, good practices and opportunities. Hide

The OHCHR Regional Office for the Pacific, in partnership with the Regional Rights Resource Team and the International Services for Human Rights, held a regional training and consultation workshop for civil society representatives,(6-10 September) presenting, among other issues, a topic on violence against women. The meeting focused on raising human rights issues through local and international mechanisms. Human Rights & Rule of Law Section of UNIOSIL in Sierra Leone organised in October 2010 an interactive forum for Traditional Women Leaders in the northern region and Family Support Units and Local Court officials in Kenema district respectively, addressing human rights, child’s rights and gender-based violence with emphasis on harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation(FGM). Participants resolved to collaborate with human rights institutions to monitor, prevent and prosecute gender-based violence in their communities. Within the joint UN MDG gender programme on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the oPt and in coordination with other specialized organizations, 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 DRC,in order to strengthen assistance and support to victims of sexual violence, OHCHR has assembled a high-level panel of experts that will convene in the end of September 2010. The panel, led by the Deputy High Commissioner, will hold a series of hearings in various parts of the DRC with survivors of sexual violence as well as other actors. It will examine how victims perceive and evaluate institutional responses to the crimes committed against them. Ultimately, this project will provide a much needed advocacy tool not only for developing a reparations mechanism for all victims of sexual violence, but also for addressing the many weaknesses in the judicial system that affect prosecution of this crime in the DRC. Hide

The OHCHR/Human Rights and Transitional Justice Section in the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste worked on the Draft Laws on Reparations, through an OHCHR-funded consultant, tasked with producing the original draft laws, and the follow-up institution for the truth commissions, such as the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) and the Commission for Truth and Friendship (CTF), advocating for the inclusion of victims of sexual violence. Hide

The Regional Office of the OHCHR in Panama has provided, occasionally together with UNDP, technical support for the elaboration of a law on violence against women, which is expected to be adopted on 25 November 2010. Hide

In Panama, the OHCHR has participated in the Common Country Assessement (CCA)/UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) processes of Panama throughout 2010 and has an active role in the inter-agency group of gender and the SG UNITE Campaign. The OHCHR organized a human rights-based approach training in Costa Rica, highlighting, inter alia, issues related to women’s rights and violence against women. The OHCHR participated, with a resource person, in a human rights-based approach training, at the UN Staff College, for the UNCT in El Salvador, in connection with the preparation of CCA/UNDAF.Gender Advisors of OHCHR were deployed in four regional offices (Fiji, Lebanon, Panama and Senegal). In the Regional Office in Panama, for example, the role of the Gender Advisor, is to integrate gender analysis into the Office’s areas of work and to raise awareness about violence, against women. Hide

The Panama Regional Office of the OHCHR undertook training activities in Panama in connection with the Universal Periodic Review. Women’s organizations participated in trainings for the civil society and made submissions to the process. The OHCHR also provided training to Instituto Salvadoreño para el Desarrollo de la Mujer (ISDEMU) in El Salvador, for the preparation of the follow-up report to CEDAW’s concluding observations. The follow-up report will focus on priority recommendations, including on efforts to eradicate violence against women. Hide