United Nations Development Programme

In Bhutan, subsequent to the Domestic Violence Prevention Act passed by Parliament in 2013, the Domestic Violence Prevention Rules and Regulation have been put in place in 2015 with an adequate legal and policy framework to protect the victims of Sexual and Gender Based Violence. Further, to strengthen coordination of service providers, Standard Operating Procedures on Referral and Management of Cases related to children and women in difficult circumstances have been developed in 2015 with financial assistance from UNDP.

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Applying Social Media Tools for the Prevention of Gender-based Violence: Lessons learned from social media communication campaigns to prevent gender-based violence in India, China and Viet Nam’; was launched and disseminated by P4P in 2013. This resource consolidates learning from the P4P initiative ‘Engaging Young Men through Social Media for the Prevention of Violence against Women’. “Let’s Talk Men 2.0” film series7 launched in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka with accompanying tools for discussion facilitators. Hide

Leveraging existing accountability mechanisms for legal and policy action, UNAIDS, UNDP, UN Women and OHCHR jointly organized a briefing of the CEDAW committee on the link between HIV and violence against women. Hide

The joint UNDP-UN Women regional study "The States’commitment: Plans and policies to end violence against women in Latin America and the Caribbean" analyzes in depth the national plans of action of 32 countries in the region, their links to the existing legislative framework and lessons learned. Hide

The largest-ever cross-country study on men and violence in Asia and the Pacific11 was launched by P4P, in September 2013, providing critical new evidence on men’s use of violence in the region. A UN Women, UK Aid and UNFPA-supported study on individual, institutional, legal and policy responses to VAWG in Nepal, was launched on 10 December. Hide

Numerous UN entities, as key member of the Secretary-General’s Campaign Unite to End Violence Against Women and Girls, launched various campaigns and events to mark the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in 2013. For example, OHCHR created a dedicated web page, organised an online panel discussion on the role of small arms on gender-based violence. UNDP organized a meeting in Namimbia aimed at mobilizing men in EVAW. Hide

UNDP, often in partnership with other UN agencies, supported the development or revision and implementation of national action plans and strategies to address VAW in general (Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, Namibia, Nepal, OPT, and Zimbambwe), or specific forms such as trafficking (Albania), domestic violence (Albania, Serbia), or electoral VAW (Nepal). It also contributed to the integration of gender-based violence and the engagement of men and boys in National Strategic Plans on HIV in Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan and Ukraine. Hide

UNDP supported the provision and improvement of multi-sectoral services through the establishment of referral systems in Somalia; a UN Trust Fund to End VAW project as well as development of guidelines and training in Serbia; increased access to justice for survivors in Sierra-Leone as well as in Somalia with the expansion of mobile courts to remote areas; enhanced legal aid in LAC, Montenegro, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sri Lanka; capacity development of shelters in Albania; development of minimum standards for SOS hotline services provision and capacity development of service providers in Serbia, as well as support to perpetrators programmes; support to networks of women living with HIV in Cambodia to highlight issues such as forced abortions and sterilizations; a Rapid Assessment of Institutional Readiness to Deliver GBV/HIV Services; and counselling in Madagascar. In India, following the gang rape case in December 2012, UNDP provided technical assistance to the Government to set up a model One Stop Crisis Centre in Delhi and provided global best practices to the Justice Mehra Committee on the issue. Hide

UNDP supported the establishment of national databases on VAW and domestic violence in Iraq to ensure unified and consistent reporting as well as effective monitoring of reporting and prosecution of VAW/Domestic Violence cases, as well as on femicide, in Guatemala. It further supported, in partnership with the Huairou Commission, research by grassroots women in seven African countries (Ghana, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe), entitled “Engendering Bottom-up Justice Reform–A Grassroots Women’s Approach to Accessing Justice” on effective strategies and tools used to engage in cases involving women’s land tenure, inheritance and domestic violence in informal systems. It also supported numerous initiatives to enhance data collection and research including a national survey for violence against women in Albania and PNG; a report on economic costs of family violence in Kyrgyzstan, in partnership with UN Women; a Multi-Country study on Policing and Prosecution of Sexual Violence in Asia: India, Thailand and Viet Nam, in cooperation with UN Women and ONODC; a study in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan on laws that protect women from violations of their rights (including forced/coerced abortions and sterilizations) and its gaps at healthcare settings in South Asia; a study on linkages between VAW and HIV in the Asia-Pacific region; research on domestic violence in Timor-Leste, access to justice and barriers; website in Kuwait which includes studies also on VAW as well as a women’s research and studies center and a women’s digital database. Hide

The new UNDP Strategic Plan (2014-17) includes for the first time specific reference to sexual and gender based violence. The second corporate gender equality strategy (2014-17) also prioritizes actions to prevent and respond to SGBV. Hide