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UN Women is working with UNDP in the finalization of a policy and programming guidance for prevention of violence against women in elections (VAWE). The guidance aims to fill gaps in current knowledge by providing an overview of the specific forms of VAWE, including scope, types, victims and perpetrators, and the range of actions that can be taken at each phase of the electoral cycle to prevent and mitigate it. The Guide is targeted at the key stakeholders and actors who are positioned to act to prevent and mitigate VAWE, and to international organizations and those providing programming support on electoral assistance, women’s political participation and ending violence against women. It is also targeted at members of political parties, particularly the leadership of those parties, civil society organizations (CSOs), women’s groups and gender equality activists.
In Kosovo, five survivors of domestic violence were granted ownership of apartments as part of an initiative by the mayor of Gjakova Municipality providing housing to society’s most vulnerable individuals. This example of women’s reintegration and empowerment is part of the municipality’s Coordination Mechanism Action Plan on Domestic Violence, and these plans were developed and implemented by UN Women in three municipalities throughout Kosovo. The Coordination Mechanisms include representatives from municipal gender equality office, victim advocates, police, judiciary, health and education sectors, urban planning directorate, shelters and civil society organizations. UN Women worked with municipalities to support capacity building of coordination mechanisms, police and judiciary; support a comprehensive approach to domestic violence case management; implement gender-responsive budgeting; align legislation and practices with international norms and standards; and improve implementation of monitoring mechanisms. UN Women ensured full support from local mayors and engaged them during the development of the Municipal Domestic Violence Action Plans. With this local support, the coordination mechanisms have become fully institutionalized and functional.
UN Women organized an international seminar on Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the Gaza Strip in September 2016 with 350 participants representing local and international actors working on GBV including governmental actors, INGOs, UN agencies, humanitarian sectors and clusters, NGOs (from the West bank and Gaza), donors and academics. During two days, participants shared current challenges and opportunities with regards to integrated response to GBV in Gaza, and exchanged national and international experiences around GBV prevention and response in humanitarian settings with the aim of developing concrete, context-specific recommendations for GBV programming in Palestine. The seminar generated very important recommendations including the need to have better inclusion of GBV prevention and response in all stages of humanitarian action in Palestine and the importance of increasing the accountability of different actors to prioritize GBV prevention and response during and after emergencies.