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UN Women continued to work with the Government of Moldova and civil society organization partners to help over 1,000 women access services as survivors of violence. Through the positive deviance approach, an innovative approach to help communities drive asset-based solutions, and UN Women’s coordination role, survivors advocated concrete actions to end violence against women and were involved as key experts on eliminating violence against women in legislative, institutional and community initiatives. The number of women who sought services within the first four months of implementing this approach is a ten-fold increase compared to the scope of previous activities. Central and local public officials, civil society organizations and media were also essential actors in this approach and subsequent result. The world renown academic institutions like Oxford University and others have expressed their interest in further analyzing Moldova’s innovative experience and results and further document it for academic use. The Executive Program, run jointly by HEC Paris and the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford has invited the Moldova Country Office to present the Innovation in EVAW, and thus, to mainstream the case into their mainstream curriculum already from March, 2017.
As in previous years, UN Women held the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women under the banner of the Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women in November 2016. The commemoration placed a spotlight on the critical need for sustainable financing for efforts to end violence against women and girls across the globe within the particular framework of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The event began with remarks from the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Karel van Oosterom of the Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the UN, and UN Trust Fund programme participant Aiturgan Djoldoshbekova. It also included a musical performance from The Color Purple, Tony Award winner for Best Musical Revival, and a panel discussion on sustainable financing to end violence against women and girls.
In 2016, Serbia continued to make significant improvements in multi-sector coordination and monitoring of violence against women, with substantial support from UN Women. Twenty municipalities in Serbia achieved high levels of multi-sector cooperation in response to cases of violence against women. Professionals from the Centers for Social Work, health and educational institutions, judiciary and police participated at the case conferences on individual cases of violence and in line with the local level protocols responded to the specific needs of women victims of violence. The women victims of violence benefited from the services and protection measures provided by the local institutions in a timely, complementary and coordinated manner. The Results of the case conferences are captured in reports and published by the Provincial Secretariat for Demography, Social Welfare and Gender Equality (PSEEGE). PSEEGE and UN Women piloted a model for monitoring violence in Vojvodina Province and initiated discussions to implement the model at the national level.
In 2016, a new record number of at least 105 countries joined the UNiTE campaign’s “Orange the World” movement in support of the 16 Days of Activism. From marches in Uganda, Serbia, and Timor-Leste, a public rally on motorbikes in Pakistan, orange bike rides in India and the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, and the lighting of symbolic buildings in orange across the globe.
Together with UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States launched the “Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence” in October 2016 in the United Arab Emirates. The package of services was introduced to the Arab States for the first time as the launch took place on the side of the second “Investing in the Future” conference organized in the UAE by UN Women and the UAE’s “The Big Heart Foundation” under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. The launch was an opportunity to emphasize the importance of coordination among various multi-sectoral responses for women and girls subject to violence and offered the space for over 100 participants from civil society, academia and governmental institutions to exchange experiences about violence against women in the region.
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.
Supported by UN Women, Georgian Public Defender’s Office developed and institutionalized a monitoring tool to monitor the state shelters for survivors of violence against women on a regular basis.
In Albania, UN Women has worked with civil society groups, the government and media to stop human trafficking that feeds the sex trade. A national campaign has raised awareness, including through a powerful anti-trafficking video broadcast on national television. A 30-member Advisory Media Forum supports professional and ethical reporting among journalists by providing information and training, and tracking gaps in accuracy of reporting. Since employment or small enterprise by women can be among the most critical elements of successful reintegration for trafficking survivors, UN Women has helped service providers in shelters stress economic empowerment as core to their assistance.
Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality organized a session on Ending Violence againt Women during the 15th Annual session of the IANWGE with panelists from UN Women and UNODC in March 2016.
In Jordan, through the support of the Governments of Norway, UN Women - in partnership with UNFPA and UNICEF - implements the second phase of the joint project “Hemayati: Promoting Women and Girls’ Health and Well-being”. The project is also implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), Ministry of Health (MoH) and partner NGOs including the Jordanian Women Union and Un Ponte Per (UPP). The project’s overall aim is to increase sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) survivors’ access to comprehensive lifesaving protection services, including health, psychosocial and legal services. Building on a successful first phase (2013-2014), the second phase of the project is being implemented in five governorates of Jordan (Amman, Irbid, Zarqa, Mafraq and Maan) benefiting from the expertise of all participating UN agencies and partners. The objective is to bring all the services necessary for women and girls who have experienced violence in a one-stop shop to ensure that they receive quality, survivor-centered support when they need it most.