United Nations Statistics Division (Department for Economic and Social Affairs)

A meeting of the Friends of the Chair group, organized by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía of Mexico and UNSD, took place in Mexico, in December 2009, on statistical indicators on violence against women. The meeting focused on the content of the recommended set of indicators, irrespective of the source of statistics; the list of indicators for statistical surveys on violence against women; and the future development of international statistical guidelines to conduct statistical surveys on violence against women. The Friends of the Chair concluded that the interim set of indicators adopted by the Statistical Commission needed to be expanded and constituted as a core set of nine statistical indicators for measuring violence against women. The full report of the meeting is available at: http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/meetings/vaw/default.htm Hide

UNSD commenced a trial compilation of national statistics on violence against women, pursuant to the Statistical Commission’s request in its decision 40/110 on gender statistics (2009). Hide

The United Nations Statistical Commission, at its thirty-ninth session held in February 2008 in New York, approved the formation of a “Friends of the Chair” group to conduct an in-depth technical review of proposed indicators to measure violence against women, and requested the group to report back to the Commission at its fortieth session. The work of the group is based on the proceedings of the Expert Group Meeting on Indicators to Measure Violence against Women, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in October 2007. The group consists of representatives from eight Member States (Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Ghana, Italy, Mexico and Thailand), and is chaired by Mexico. Observers include representatives from United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Division for the Advancement of Women of the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the World Health Organization. The Statistical Division is providing substantive and technical support to the Group. Hide