Measures

As a member of the “Gender is my agenda campaign” (GIMAC), the ECA co-hosted the 19th Pre-Summit Consultative Meeting, in partnership with Femmes Afrique Solidarité and The Mary Robinson Foundation–Climate Justice, in January 2012. Participants recognized the need to intensify measures to end violence against women and girls, especially in the areas of sexual violence in conflict. Hide

The ECA Series of Meetings on Gender Statistics held in Ghana in November 2011 followed the workshop and included a session on the role of statistical data and indicators to inform policy and actions to prevent, sanction and eradicate violence against women. Hide

The ECA, through its African Center for Gender and Social Development (ACGSD), has developed the Follow-up Strategy of the Beijing +15 Regional Review, which defines an approach to operationalise the Banjul Declaration as well as those outcomes of the 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women that relate specifically to Africa. The strategy identifies seven strategic focus areas, one of which is violence against women. Key recommendations include the need to adopt and implement a multi-sectoral plan to address gender-based violence, within the framework of the United Nations Secretary-General’s “UNiTE to End Violence against Women and Girls” campaign; as well as ensuring the enactment and strengthening of laws to address it. Hide

ECA produced a synthesis report of studies conducted in Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia which provides an overview of violence against women (VAW) in each country, the scale and prevalence of different forms of VAW, its causes and consequences. It also identifies gaps in knowledge and data collection and gives particular attention to good practices in addressing VAW. Hide

The African Women’s Rights Observatory (AWRO), launched by the ECA in 2007, was presented at the 7th session of the Committee on Women and Development (CWD), held in May, 2011. The 44 member states present during the session commended the initiative and moreover, have committed to appoint focal persons in order to provide data on a timely basis. Hide

As part of the African Gender and Development Index, Phase II, the ECA is supporting 17 countries (Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Cote d’ Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, The Gambia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo and Zambia) to collect data on domestic violence, harmful practices, rape, sexual harassment and trafficking in women. Countries are also tracking government progress in ratifying relevant international conventions; designing and implementing policies and strategies; and in meeting reporting obligations on violence against women. Hide

In September 2011 ECLAC, together with UNFPA, organized a regional dialogue on violence and safety of women in conflict and post-conflict environment in efforts to promote the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325. This dialogue was launched with a three-day workshop entitled “Experts Workshop for the discussion of a Regional Training Program on Women, Peace and Security in Latin American and the Caribbean”, to provide a space for debate and exchange of experiences on the link between gender violence and physical autonomy on the one side, and situations of insecurity, conflict and post-conflict on the other, including the needs for training in this area in the region. Hide

ECLAC also, in coordination with the other Regional Commissions such as ECA, finalized in December 2011 the implementation of the interregional project “Enhancing capacities to eradicate violence against women through networking of local knowledge communities” and undertook the following activities:a) The development and testing of an international questionnaire on violence against women to be applied as a stand-alone or to be integrated as a module in population-based surveys, which contributed to the development of indicators proposed by the Friends of the Chair of the President and approved by the UN Statistical Commission at is 40th session;b) The organization of an international seminar in Peru in May 2011 on Gender Violence administrative registers;c) An international seminar in Ethiopia in October 2011 which resulted in recommendations including the establishment, through the UNiTE Campaign, of a platform to support the creation of national working groups on VAW and the identification of national focal points to link national initiatives on VAW with the ECA; andd) The organization of a meeting on measuring violence against women in the context of the XII International Meeting on Gender Statistics in Mexico in October 2011. Hide

As part of the implementation of the interregional project “Enhancing capacities to eradicate violence against women through networking of local knowledge communities,” ECLAC has:a) Organized a sub-regional meeting to enhance the capacity of eradicating violence against women was held in Guatemala in April 2011 in collaboration with the Technical Secretariat of the Council of Ministers for Women in Central America and the Dominican Republic, attended by representatives of several countries and representatives of the Central American Integration System; andb) Held the interregional e-learning course “Measurement of violence against women through statistical surveys” in October and December 2011, with participants from 41 countries. It aimed at installing sustainable technical capacities at country level to measure violence against women. The course incorporated the results and conclusions of piloting the module in the five regions. ECLAC contributed with 48% of the total number of participants in the course, from 14 countries in the region, with the majority from various central government institutions. Hide

ECLAC reported that the Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean has developed the indicator “Women’s deaths at the hands of their intimate partner or former partner”, reported on by 15 countries in 2010. The office made contact with electoral bodies, judicial bodies and public prosecutor’s offices with a view to promoting greater synergies between producers and users of statistical information and administrative records, such as data on violence against women. As part of technical assistance provided through the Observatory, in August 2011 support was given in Argentina for the development of an Observatory on human rights and indicators on VAW. The Observatory is available online in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish (w ww.cepal.org/oig) Hide