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In 2012, through the advocacy efforts of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on FGM/C, 1,775 new communities publically declared their intention to abandon FGM/C, with Guinea Bissau becoming the 15th country where communities have announced their commitment to abandon. Since the establishment of the joint programme (2008), nearly 10,000 communities in 15 countries, representing about 8 million people have renounced the practice. Hide

UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) supported passage of laws criminalizing FGM/C in Kenya and Guinea-Bissau. Hide

UNICEF developed in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) a 5-day curriculum “Protecting Women and Child Survivors of Gender Based Violence in Emergencies through Improved Coordination.” This course is unique in its attention to the gender-based violence (GBV) coordinators’ role in effectively prioritizing specialized response for children, and its consideration of how GBV coordinators can effectively work with other clusters, especially Child Protection Working Groups, to mitigate risk to women and girls in diverse emergency response settings. Hide

UNICEF continued its global advocacy for free and universal birth registration which supports the implementation of national legislation on minimum ages, including for child labour, child recruitment, child marriage and trafficking for the purpose of exploitation. Hide

UNICEF and WHO, supported by UN Action funds, organized a technical meeting on Responding to the Psychosocial and Mental Health Needs of Sexual Violence Survivors in Conflict-Affected Settings from 28 to 30 November 2011. Hide

UNICEF is undertaking secondary analysis of Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) and Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data on harmful practices (FGM/C and child marriage) to be published in 2012. The organization has also completed the revision of the research toolkit on children born of sexual violence and survivors. Hide

UNICEF and OCHA completed phase 1 of a joint project to prevent use of sexual violence by armed groups. In October 2011, UNODA New York provided expertise to a meeting of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) on ‘Why Women? Effective Engagement for Small Arms Control’ that launched a report on why it is important to include women in small arms control and disarmament initiatives. Hide

UNICEF has led the development of a Prevention Framework to inform field level programming on how to increase the safety and security of women and children. UNICEF is also working to strengthen programme monitoring and evaluation of interventions to prevent and respond to violence against children. This includes global evaluations of UNICEF’s work in emergency and development contexts to address violence, as well as providing technical and financial support to an interagency action research project on the functioning and effectiveness of community-based child protection mechanisms. As part of a greater focus on programme monitoring across the Organisation, concerted efforts are being made to improve programme monitoring on violence against children globally, and focused support is being provided to countries in East and Southern Africa to improve monitoring and evaluation systems related to violence prevention and response in collaboration with governments. Hide

Under the Child Protection Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group, UNICEF leads a technical working group that is developing guidelines for data collection on violence against children. UNICEF also continues to support data collection on violence against children through the Together for Girls initiative, which is a public and private sector partnership to address sexual violence against girls. The study undertaken in Tanzania was launched in August 2011 by the Ministry of Community Development, Gender and Children with support from UNICEF and the Centers for Disease Control Prevention (CDC). In Kenya, the results of a similar survey are being analysed, and in Haiti preparations are underway to undertake the survey in early 2012. Hide

At the global level, data analysis, drawing largely on Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) and Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), is also being undertaken by UNICEF, in collaboration with the Population Council, to determine the markers of vulnerability that make children more susceptible to various forms of violence. Hide