Measures

UNODC supports implementing the HAYA Joint Programme, dedicated to eradicating violence against women in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN Habitat), and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). 

UNODC continues to support the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative. Under this initiative, UNODC developed a toolbox for Mexican universities to support institutional responses to violence against women within the academic community. 

UNODC launched the “#EmpowerHer: Advancing Women in/for Justice” initiative, in partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UN Women and the Philippines.  

UNODC conducted an assessment in Bosnia and Herzegovina to identify gaps in legal frameworks, victim support services, and access to justice for technology-facilitated gender-based violence.  

UNODC developed a Training Handbook for Criminal Justice Practitioners on Cyberviolence against Women and Girls for Southern Africa and conducted a webinar and trainings based on this and related UNODC tools. 

In Pakistan, UNODC integrated digital services for real-time case tracking and secure complaint registration at police facilitation desks. The Office also partnered with the Balochistan Police to establish a women and juvenile facilitation centre, which offers specialized victim support services, and 10 gender facilitation desks at smart police stations.  

In Southern Africa and South America, two regional consultations on femicide reviews gathered experts to explore the application of multi-stakeholder in-depth review methodologies. UNODC also briefed 40 judges from 19 European countries during a study visit, enhancing their understanding of femicide review practices and improving efforts to address violence against women and girls. 

In collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Women, and with support from the Centre of Excellence for Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CoE-CRVS) and kNOwVAWdata, UNODC co-hosted the global expert meeting “Addressing Femicide: Measurement and Accountability”.

UNODC, in cooperation with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), provided updated global estimates of intimate partner/family member femicides through annual publications on femicides (in 2022, 2023 and 2024).  

In addition, in cooperation with UN-Women, UNODC published the Statistical framework for measuring the gender-related killing of women and girls (also referred to as “femicide/feminicide”), which identifies a typology of gender-related killings of women and girls and the list of variables that can be used to identify and count the various types of such killings. 

During the reporting period, UNODC provided training and capacity building on crime prevention and criminal justice responses to gender-based violence against women for criminal justice professionals in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, State of Palestine, Somalia and Viet Nam. 

For instance, in Kyrgyzstan, 200 police officers and 50 prosecutors received gender-responsive training to support victims of violence, and the Office assisted the Government in establishing a “one-window centre” in Bishkek where victims of gender-based violence against women can access essential multisectoral services.  

UNODC also strengthened justice sector responses to violence against women by enhancing judicial capacities through workshops. In the Dominican Republic, the Office conducted a technical needs assessment on access to justice for women in cases of gender-based violence and trained 103 criminal justice professionals through a capacity-building workshop for judges, prosecutors and police officers.  

In Egypt, UNODC organized nine training workshops for 178 judges on facilitating access to justice for women victims of violence and two workshops for 40 administrative prosecution judges focused on violence against women. 

IOM developed the Intersectional Gender Analysis (IGA) toolkit in 2024, which aims to provide practical guidance to apply intersectional gender analysis in their work across different contexts and thematic areas. The toolkit includes guidance on safely collecting and utilizing data on violence, exploitation and abuse. IOM is currently piloting the toolkit in Afghanistan, Costa Rica, South Sudan and Ukraine. The piloting involves GBV technical leads in each country office to ensure protection mainstreaming and clear safe referrals of GBV. Moreover, GBV specialists' involvement adds value to reduce risks of overlooking inequalities and of causing harm, as well as to assure upholding human rights for women, girls and vulnerable groups to GBV.    

In 2020, IOM global GBV support team and Displacement tracking matrix developed tools, guidance and training to strengthen standards for safe and ethical GBV data collection in emergencies. Since 2021 IOM have been rolling this training out across DTM teams.  

In 2023, through the support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, IOM developed the study on Gendered Reintegration Experiences and Gender-Sensitive/Responsive/Transformative Approached to Reintegration Assistance. The study examines GBV as it affects women's reintegration and offers recommendations for specialized services for GBV survivors. 

In 2023, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, IOM published the Global Report - Mapping and Research to Strengthen Protection and Assistance Measures for Migrants with diverse SOGIESC, highlighting protection risks and vulnerabilities, including GBV, as well as key assistance measures for migrants with diverse SOGIESC.  

 IOM continued to be committed and proactive partner of the UN Action Network on Sexual Violence in Conflict, demonstrating its engagement through work on survivor reparations, the intersection of trafficking and CRSV, and, more recently, its intellectual and practical contributions to the nexus between terrorism, CVE, and CRSV. As the key lead within the Network on Reparations for CRSV, IOM played a central role in both civil society and government engagement, particularly in supporting the reintegration of female ex-associate survivors of sexual violence linked to violent extremism. In 2024, IOM contributed to the CRSV Prevention Framework launched by the SRSG, which seeks to enhance structural and operational prevention, including tackling gender inequality as a root cause of sexual violence. Through its Land, Property, and Reparations (LPR) technical unit, IOM also provided governments with specialized training for professionals and promoted non-stigmatizing services to aid survivor rehabilitation. Additionally, IOM reviewed the SG Annual Reports on CRSV, providing critical input on its positioning and contributions to addressing CRSV globally. 

IOM has continued to strengthen GBV programming across diverse operational contexts. IOM conducted 930 capacity-building intiatives for IOM staff, national authorities, and partners to ensure all stakeholders understand how to safely and ethically respond to a disclosure of GBV.  

Through coordination calls, capacity-building initiatives, and deployments, IOM has provided technical support to over 40 country missions in 2024. The support included developing and disseminating materials, offering guidance on GBV-specialized programming, supporting protection scale-ups, and resolving complex GBV challenges.  

As part of these efforts, IOM also launched an e-course “Introduction to gender-based violence (GBV) in crisis” in 2023 and an upcoming e-course on “Introduction to IOM Intersectional Gender Analysis” is planned in 2025. 

Furthermore, IOM reviewed 405 proposals, concept notes, reports, Regional Migrant Response Plans, and Crisis Response Plans from over 70 countries. These reviews ensure alignment with IOM’s institutional standards for addressing GBV, adherence to the Do No Harm principle, and the promotion of gender equality. 

In 2024, IOM in alignment with institutional commitments made against the 2021-2025 roadmap of the Call to Action to protect against GBV in emergencies, advanced gender equality and the prevention of gender-based violence through our programmatic interventions aimed at protective outcomes. Recognizing that gender inequality and power imbalances lie at the root causes of GBV, IOM has further reinforced the third pillar of the Institutional Framework for Addressing GBV in Crises, which focuses on GBV prevention. This effort has been achieved through a key partnership with Raising Voices enabling IOM to implement the SASA! Together approach, an evidence-based community mobilization methodology that supports communities in creating positive and sustainable changes in social norms that perpetuate violence against women.   

The approach has been piloted at both community level and using an institutional strengthening modality by four IOM Country Offices including Bangladesh, South Sudan, Iraq, and Pakistan. In 2024, IOM conducted its second training on SASA! Together, focusing on the critical fundamentals of the “Set Up” and “Start” phases of the methodology. This training equipped IOM staff and partners across 17 countries with the tools and knowledge to implement the structured approach in their respective contexts.

Amid the increasing reports of violence against women and girls and the critical need for services that support survivors' recovery, IOM has developed the Survivor’s Support Package to strengthen the second pillar of its institutional framework for addressing GBV in crises (GBViC framework), which aims at addressing the consequences of gender-based violence. This resource provides tools and guidance for a holistic and integrated approach to GBV response services, incorporating and aligning key components such as health, mental health, psychosocial support (MHPSS), and other essential services provided by IOM to support survivors’ recovery and well-being.  The approach is set to be piloted in 2025 in an IOM mission that has a GBV response ongoing.