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UN Volunteers are an important component of capacity on the ground in the global pursuit of gender equality. The gender ratio of UN Volunteers improved from 43% female in 2015 to 47% female in 2017.
UNRWA has continued the implementation of its multi-year programme titled 'Building Safety' aimed at enhancing the Agency's capacity to address GBV in emergencies. Work has progressed during this period focusing on the following areas: i) prevention of GBV among Palestine refugees; ii) mitigation of GBV risks in emergencies; iii) enhancing the capacity of Agency staff to respond to GBV.
Joint research activity with the Unicef Office of Research Innocenti on “Transformative Change for Children and Youth and the SDGs” (2017-2018) includes topic of violence against girls.
UNODC developed a “Strategy for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (2018-2021) establishes the first institutional framework on gender equality for the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) and UNODC. This Strategy seeks to ensure that gender equality and the empowerment of women are integral parts of all aspects of the work of UNOV/UNODC in making the world safer from drugs, crime and terrorism and in ensuring the peaceful uses of outer space.
This Strategy will assist UNOV and UNODC-by 2021-to be workplaces where gender equality and the empowerment of women are actively promoted by staff in all aspects of institutional processes, programmatic work and activities thus fostering an enabling, inclusive and diverse work environment and improving the representation of women at all levels in order to reach gender parity.
DRC :
UN Women supported the UN system through the Gender Score Card in 2015 but in February 2018 the gender focal points of the agencies were on gender accountability. In June and July 2017, there was a regional capacity-building workshop on gender mainstreaming and gender-based violence response in emergencies and humanitarian crises. Several agencies (UN Women, UNFPA, UNHCR, GenCap) took part. The revitalization of the One UN Gender Team allows a good readability of gender interventions in the DRC. Jointly, support was given to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Family for the organization of the forum of ministers and heads of gender division for the coordination of gender issues.
SENEGAL :
UN Women in Senegal, through its leadership ensured the coordination of interventions on the elimination of gender-based violence. Thus, the activities of the gender thematic group work to strengthen this momentum for the protection and health of women and girls.
CABO VERDE:
In additional to mobilizing UN agencies to implement advocacy campaigns and of knowledge sharing, UN Women Cabo Verde has been able to engage different agencies in the elaboration of joint programme proposals to address gender inequality, including gender-based violence. Among projects in pipeline, there are 3 projects related to GBV, being one about Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights program (UN-Women, UNFPA, UNICEF), the second on human security and resilience (UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA and UNODC), and the third one on GEWE, being GBV one out of the three domains. In the two first GBV is considered as one of the main issue to be addressed.
CAMEROON:
UNW Cameroon has coordinated the UNCT SWAP scorecard process and the elaboration of action plan. The country office has been engaged in the implementation of the UNSWAP Scorecard plan and has succeeded in inscribing gender in the 2018 UNCT annual work plan. The office has also worked to mainstream gender in joint programs of the 2018-2020 UNDAF
LIBERIA:
Through the Gender Theme Group, UN Women Liberia coordinates UN Support to the Government of Liberia, especially with international celebrations such as the International Women Day and the 16 Days of Activism. Besides, in 2018, UN Women is hosting a GenCap Advisor to strengthen the capacities of Gender Specialist within the UN System. The GenCap Advisor provides technical leadership and support to UNCT on Gender Equality programming as well as building the capacity to ensure that Gender specific needs are taken into consideration in the planning and the implementation of programes in Liberia. This includes mainstreaming gender in the development of the new UNDAF.
NIGER
UN-Women Niger is the vice-chair of the thematic group. This status enables it to contribute to the coordination of activities on the elimination of gender-based violence, gender mainstreaming and women's rights.
NIGERIA
The UN Women support the GTG to ensuring that the capacity of members are built to enable them better understand the issues of GEWE and GBV.
The UN Trust Fund as a UN system wide grant giving mechanism, specialized in ending violence against women, coordinates and collects inputs from 21 UN agencies present at the Program Advisory Committee of the UN Trust Fund’s governance body throughout the grants selection stage.
During the implementation and monitoring stage, the UN Trust Fund provides training to UN Women field colleagues on the reporting requirements for the grantees, as well as on EVAW programmatic and technical aspects of the grantees’ project implementation.
The Department of Public Information’s Development Section worked closely with the European Union to launch a strategic partnership, called Spotlight, for ending violence against women and girls on 20 September 2017. This includes an initial pledge of EUR 500 million from the EU to finance programmes on EVAW. DPI developed a website as well as video, web and social media products to raise awareness and drive advocacy. We conducted interviews with and supported media outreach for high-level officials, including the EU European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, the Deputy Secretary-General as well as heads of UN Women, UNFPA and UNDP on Spotlight during the 62nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women.
The Section also continues to support UN Women communications efforts to raise awareness and action around the International Day to End Violence against Women (25 November 2017), cross-promoting advocacy materials across the UN platforms.
All communication messages and products on EVAW were shared across the Department, including with our network of 59 operational United Nations Information Centres who communicate the UN’s work to local audiences in more than 80 local languages.
A network of field ethics focal points has been created to receive and escalate complaints related to sexual exploitation and abuse. Trainings have been conducted for focal points on ethics procedures and the handling of these complaints, as well as on Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and FAO's PSEA procedures.
In Serbia, OHCHR organised and facilitated capacity building training sessions, including on topics of VaW and gender-based violence for Government officials.
In Colombia, OHCHR continued to strengthen its capacity to address sexual and gender based violence in conflict-affected areas, in the context of the Peace Agreement implementation. This included training sessions on the use of SGBV reference documents, such as the sexual violence case investigation manual and a practical guide to understanding the protocol to follow in the context of SGBV.
In the margins of CSW62 in March 2018, OHCHR organised a consultation bringing together international and regional women’s rights mechanisms to exchange experiences and practices in the protection and promotion of women’s rights. Another event was held on “Defending the Right to Life: Securing Accountability for Violence against Women and LGBTI Persons during Conflict” in support to the SR on summary extra judiciary killings.
ESCWA, in partnership with the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW) at the Lebanese American University and UNFPA, organized a youth arts competition for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2017. The competition received over 75 submissions of artwork from youth in the Arab region and the awards event involved a presentation on engaging with visual arts as a means to respond to gender sensitive legal reform.
ESCWA, in partnership with UN Women, produced a brochure targeting policy makers on estimating the economic costs of violence against women and a created a series of eight infographics conveying key messages on the impact of violence against women in the Arab region and responses by ESCWA Member States.
ESCWA facilitates a quarterly gender discussion series, open to all members of the community. The following topics have been addressed: Child marriage in the Arab region; Prioritizing women, peace and security on the Arab agenda; Estimating the cost of violence against women in the Arab region; and the Arab position on gender equality.
ESCWA, in partnership with UNFPA, screened the film ‘Nour’ (2017) about a fifteen-year-old girl from a Lebanese village who is forced to marry a much older man. In response to the film, audience members remarked that activists, government official and NGOs must strategize how to confront child marriage once it happens, in addition to promoting legal reform.
ESCWA, in partnership with the Asfari Institute on Civil Society and Citizenship at the American University of Beirut, launched the “Lazim Campaign” during the weeks leading up to International Women’s Day 2018. Through the Lazim Campaign, prominent women throughout the Arab region shared their hopes for change in 2018, including criminalizing violence against women and developing gender-sensitive legislation.