Training and Capacity Building

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

In El Salvador, officials of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Public Prosecutor Office and the Police participated in an expert seminar, organized by the OHCHR, on legal frameworks to protect women from violence, including femicide. 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

UNODC published the Handbook on effective police responses towards violence against women, accompanied by a training curriculum, and the Toolkit on Gender (which is part of the overall UNODC Toolkit on Criminal Justice Assessment). In June 2010, UNODC launched the Needs Assessment Toolkit on the Criminal Justice Response to Human Trafficking, found at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/Needs_Assessment_Toolkit_ebook_09-87518_June_2010.pdf. Hide

UNODC has continued its implementation of a project in Viet Nam to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement and justice sectors to prevent and respond to domestic violence. Similar projects are being developed in Panama and Kenya. Hide

In Jordan, UNRWA and UNICEF supported the Ministry of Health in developing guidelines (pilot version) for medical and paramedical staff on addressing violence against women. UNRWA organized a workshop with practitioners from all over the region to develop lessons learned that were documented in the first issue of UNRWA Gender Series on referral systems for victims of violence. Hide

UNHCR has prepared an e-learning tool on gender-based violence, which will be made available to all UNHCR staff and partners. Hide

In Morocco, UNDP is working with UNIFEM and UNICEF to strengthen family sections of civil status courts in the implementation of the new family code which provides for much greater rights for women in marriage, divorce and alimony issues, all of which are necessary steps towards guaranteeing violence-free environment for women. In Kosovo, UNDP supported the establishment of the Anti-Trafficking Secretariat in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. UNDP and MINUSTAH are supporting the Haitian National Police to set up special police groups for increasing surveillance in the camps. Hide

The UNDP Regional Center in the Arab States, in cooperation with UNIFEM, conducts in Egypt training of trainers and sensitization to gender-sensitive measurements for equitable service delivery. UNDP’s regional HIV programme conducted leadership trainings to women living with HIV from Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia. A gender and HIV toolkit was also prepared on human rights and religious perspectives demanding equity, taking also a stand against all forms of violence against women. Hide

In Sri Lanka, the Equal Access to Justice Project, supported by UNDP, has provided training to women and men working as ‘first respondents’, including welfare officers, crèche attendants, midwives and CBO officers, in order to support victims at village level. The programmes have been targeted in the estate (plantation) sector, where relatively high incidences of alcoholism contribute to high rates of GBV, and the former conflict affected areas, where they have been conducted in tandem with livelihood support projects. Hide