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The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) Network, funded by the UN Trust Fund, is implementing a project in the South Sudanese state of Wau to increase the knowledge of students, parents, teachers and administrators about gender-based violence through awareness-raising events in schools in the displaced communities of Wau. Also, women activists are being empowered to prevent gender-based violence more effectively by providing them with advocacy and engagement training, promoting networking among activists and facilitating their attendance at national meetings. Activities are being organized to engage the broader Wau community, in particular men and boys, and encourage community members to help to prevent gender-based violence. The Director General of the Ministry of Gender and the directors general and directors of planning of the ministry responsible for education and youth attended a stakeholder meeting and publicly committed to supporting the project’s goals of ending gender-based violence in schools.
16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence is an organization wide day supported across HQ, Regional and Country Offices. This includes greater advocacy amongst staff members to be agents of change and to better understand the issue to address in their respective programmes.
WFP is also a member of the Protection Clusters in Country across various contexts. This provides a platform to share experiences, raise concerns and find collective solutions to address common issues. WFP is also a member of the Global Protection Cluster since December 2019 – which will enable great voice and agency to better coordinate at a global level.
In Nepal, technical trainings including GESI specific tailored sessions including PSEA and SH are developed and planned to roll out starting in 2020.
In November 2018, the SRVAW and the CEDAW Committee agreed on a Framework of Cooperation as a means of strengthening already established cooperation on combating violence against women in line with their respective mandates, and to advance the rights of women and girls by preventing and combating gender based violence, and supporting the implementation of the Convention and its General Recommendation 35.
The UN Trust Fund cooperates closely with 24 UN organs and bodies through Regional and Global Programme Advisory Committees.
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.
During the reporting period UNRWA developed capacity building plans to extend and improve its capacity to respond, mitigate and prevent GBV in emergencies. The capacity building plans include tools to improve staff knowledge, attitude, and practice when addressing GBV. Further a monitoring and evaluation framework is in place to measure the change generated by the capacity building efforts.
Cairo Regional Bureau (RBC) RBC gender hosted a session in collaboration with UN Women on The Costs of GBV in November 2018. The session discussed: Costs of GBV; Gender Status Update from the Arab States (Gaps and Opportunities); Gender and SDGs (Zero Hunger); HerStory Zero Hunger: WFP and UN Women collaboration
Dakar Regional Bureau (RBD)
Ecuador Country Office
El Salvador Country Office |
WFP actively participates in the interagency group, with contributions in the revision of the Spotlight strategy
ESCWA, in partnership with the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University, organized a youth arts competition for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2018. The competition attracted a record number of submissions – almost 200 – from young people from 10 Arab States, who submitted paintings, photos, videos, songs and poems on the theme ‘#HearMeToo’: Speak up against violence against women and girls.” The best submissions were showcased at an event, which also featured a roundtable discussion on arts and activism.
ESCWA engaged with students enrolled in the Fashion Design Programme at the Lebanese American University School of Architecture and Design to create designs for a tote-bag to commemorate the 16 Days of Activism campaign. This activity engaged students and solicited their artistic abilities to produce a bag with a powerful message. As part of the partnership, ESCWA staff also led a discussion on gender-based violence with the students to inspire their work.
ESCWA launched a social media campaign for the 16 Days of Activism campaign. ESCWA created a set of 16 cards presenting key facts about gender-based violence in the Arab region, as well as concrete steps that can be taken by youth and the general public to address it. The cards were shared on ESCWA social media channels in English and Arabic on each of the 16 Days of Activism, as part of a broader social media campaign that also featured videos, polls and other multimedia content.
ESCWA facilitates gender discussion series, open to all members of the community. The following topics have recently been addressed: How cinema and theatre can advance women’s rights; and Protection orders in the Arab region.
ESCWA, in partnership with UN DESA and Simon Fraser University in Canada, hosted the Symposium on Women and Water Security for Peacebuilding in the Arab Region. The objective of the Symposium was to review and advance the emerging water security gender nexus in the Arab region, through the lens of the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
ESCWA partnered with the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University (LAU) to utilize ESCWA publications in the curriculum for an M.A. program in “Interdisciplinary Gender Studies” at LAU. This included ESCWA staff leading interactive discussions with students on subjects such as women’s political participation, violence against women, the Women, Peace and Security agenda, and the regional state of gender justice in the Arab region.
The High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, become an International Gender Champion and as such, committed to raise global awareness about the gendered impact of weapons, from small arms and light weapons to weapons of mass destruction.
The High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, published an op-ed on the relationship between gender equality and gun violence against women and girls
The United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific (UNRCPD) also presented at a regional workshop on Enhancing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Northeast Asia, which aimed to address global linkages and synergies between disarmament and Women, Peace and Security efforts, as well as gender aspects and approaches in regional disarmament initiatives.
UNODC promotes the Blue Heart Campaign against Human Trafficking. In the framework of the UNODC Education for Justice Initiative, the Office raised awareness on trafficking in persons through education, working closely with youth and academics to look into key concepts of trafficking and how this affects in particular women and girls, and how education can contribute to crime prevention and promotion of legality and justice. This includes dedicated modules and resources on gender and organized crime, including trafficking in persons. UNODC published an article on gender-responsive approaches in evaluation and programming to better address trafficking in persons (p. 22 ff.)
In Mexico, UNODC supported the development of a videogame called Chuka, which aims to teach children to recognize the most common types of violence against women and girls, and act assertively when facing different representations of such violence.