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In collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), DAW, now part of UN Women, organized an expert group meeting on legislation on harmful practices, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 26 to 28 May 2009. The report of the meeting will supplement the model framework for legislation with specific recommendations and commentaries in relation to legislation on the forms of violence against women referred to as “harmful practices”, including child and forced marriage, female genital mutilation, and so-called “honour” crimes.DAW released the Handbook for legislation on violence against women (2009). The Handbook, intends to provide all stakeholders with detailed guidance to support the adoption and effective implementation of legislation which prevents violence against women, punishes perpetrators, and ensures the rights of survivors everywhere. It is hoped that the Handbook will be of use to government officials, parliamentarians, civil society, staff of United Nations entities and other actors in their efforts at ensuring that a solid legal basis is in place for tackling the scourge of violence against women. DAW also uploaded three videos on its website containing discussions on legislation on violence against women.On 4 March 2009, during the fifty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women, DAW organized a joint dialogue of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice on “Addressing violence against women through legal reform”. Hide

UNODC convened an Intergovernmental Expert Group Meeting (IEGM) to review and update the Model Strategies and Practical Measures on the Elimination of Violence against Women in the Field of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, adopted by the General Assembly with its resolution 52/86 in 1997. The IEGM was held in Bangkok, Thailand in March 2009. Hide

OHCHR’s country offices in Bolivia, Colombia, Russia and Uganda were part of UN Inter-Agency Groups working on gender issues in support of national and local authorities, the judiciary and civil society to develop legal frameworks, on combating sexual and gender-based violence.OHCHR’s country office in Guatemala assisted State institutions and, in coordination with the Interagency Group on Women’s Rights, provided technical advice to State officials to reform the law to prevent domestic violence. In Sudan, OHCHR worked with the human rights component of UNMIS to propose amendments to existing rape laws. In the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), OHCHR participated in a special session of the legal Working Group of the Palestinian Legislative Council during which a draft decree-law against honour killings was discussed and was subsequently approved. Hide

In Serbia, a report on “Domestic Violence - Protection and Prevention” was presented by UNHCR in March 2009, providing an analysis of the legislative framework and a recommendation for the adoption of a Law on Domestic Violence, ensuring a coordinated and effective response to instances of domestic violence. Hide

UN Action continued to finance the Programme Manager for the Joint Government-UN Programme on Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Liberia. The Programme Manager worked to develop management and coordination systems as well as to establish benchmarks to monitor the implementation and impact of the Joint Programme.The recruitment specialist continued to develop a roster of senior and mid-level professionals specialized on gender-based violence and who are available for rapid deployment to conflict-affected countries.The Comprehensive Strategy to Combat Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) developed by UN Action’s Senior Adviser on Sexual Violence in MONUC, DRC, was launched by the UN and the Government of DRC in March 2009 and formally presented to the UN Security Council on 9 April 2009. The Comprehensive Strategy provides a clear framework for addressing sexual violence in the DRC. The Strategy is based on four interlocking pillars: 1) combating impunity for cases of sexual violence; 2) prevention of sexual violence; 3) security sector reform; and 4) multi-sectoral response to improve access of survivors of sexual violence to a wide range of services.In April 2009, UN Action undertook an assessment of the effectiveness of its strategic support to addressing sexual violence in the DRC. The assessment concluded that the UN Action network should continue to provide strategic support to MONUC and the UNCT to help operationalize the Comprehensive Strategy.UN Action continued to develop the Stop Rape Now website (www.stoprapenow.org). New web features were developed, including an Updates from the Field page, which showcases UN Action efforts to combat sexual violence in Liberia and the DRC. Significant support was garnered following the posting of a photo of UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman at the StopRapeNow site. UN Action is encouraging all UN member entities to contribute photos of their respective Goodwill Ambassadors. UN Action also created a “Fans of SCR1820” page on Facebook, and a UN Action Twitter page, with links from both sites to the News hub on the StopRapeNow website. As at September 2009, there were over 1,380 fans of SCR 1820 on Facebook.As part of the StopRapeNow campaign, and in conjunction with the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security, UN Action developed tools on Security Council Resolution 1820, including a poster, notebooks, pins and banner-pens. In order to improve collaboration with NGO partners, UN Action chaired a session on sexual violence during the Consultation with Civil Society on the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign in March 2009.UN Action undertook a number of advocacy events throughout September 2009 to coincide with the presentation of Security Council resolution 1888 on sexual violence in armed conflict, which was adopted unanimously by the Security Council on 30 September 2009.Under the aegis of UN Action, WHO was spearheading efforts to develop a standardized instrument and methodology to collect data on conflict-related sexual violence. UNICEF and WHO were leading a process to develop programmatic benchmarks for measuring progress in preventing and responding to sexual violence. Hide

In March 2009, the UN Trust Fund issued its fourteenth Call for Proposals to support the implementation of laws, policies and action plans on ending violence against women and girls.While the UN Trust Fund has been able to rely on the support of its leading donors in 2009, the global financial crisis has reduced the resources available for grant-making to less than half of the US$22 million granted last year. In an effort to secure adequate funds for grant-making in 2009, the UN Trust Fund and UNIFEM, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, have reached out to private foundations and philanthropic leaders. An Urgent Alert was launched in July, in the context of the Framework for Action of the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, which has set a target of an annual contribution to the UN Trust Fund of US$100 million by 2015.The UN Trust Fund partnered with the International Centre for Research on Women to develop a capacity development programme to enhance the skills and knowledge of grantees to conduct quality, evidence-based programming and M&E.An external and independent evaluation to assess the overall implementation and effectiveness of the UN Trust Fund 2005-08 Strategy took place the first half of 2009. Four field missions to eight countries and a desk review of 21 projects gathered data for in-depth assessment. A broad range of stakeholders were consulted through interviews, focus groups and online surveys. Hide

The IASC Gender Sub-Working Group (SWG) on Gender and Humanitarian Action, in collaboration with InterAction, developed an e-learning course for humanitarian workers to teach them how to develop programming that ensures that the needs and capacities of women, girls, boys and men are met in humanitarian situations. This course draws on important IASC handbooks, including:- Women, Girls, Boys and Men, Different Needs – Equal Opportunities- Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings Hide