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In 2017, UN Volunteers hosted by UN Women supported communications and public advocacy of gender equality among communities.
In Togo, the UNV-implemented project Voices Against Violence provided interactive, youth-centred ways for people to talk and learn about relationships and gender equity in a safe and inclusive environment. A total of 500 national volunteer teachers were trained in the principles of respectful and non-violent behaviour. They then delivered the programme in their classes and their communities – multiplying the power of the project by spreading the curriculum to thousands of young Togolese.
Partners for Prevention (P4P) was a UNDP, UNFP, UNV and UN Women regional joint programme for the prevention of violence against women and girls in Asia and the Pacific. It focused on the prevention interventions, capacity development and policy advocacy by working on the ground with local volunteers. Volunteers acted as a bridge between the UN, governments and national and regional partners. In 2017, UN Volunteers served as project coordinators with P4P in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Viet Nam.
In Afghanistan, UNV supports the Youth-Mullah Gender Volunteer Caravans, through which young Afghan men and women are crafting campaigns and visiting communities in Herat and Balkh provinces to spread their messages of gender equality.
Adoption of technology in the communication between WFP and its beneficiaries (mostly women) through the exchange of calls facilitated by the Complains and Feedback Mechanisms (CFMs) is changing the role that beneficiaries play in a given assistance.
Through Cash-Based-Transfers approach from one side and regular use of CFMs on the other, beneficiaries are turning from ‘passive recipients’ into ‘active stakeholders’: today, they have a choice and they have a voice. The combination of choice/voice is resulting in a powerful tool to empower vulnerable women and men. It is a win-win solution where thanks to first-hand information received by beneficiaries, WFP improves the effectiveness of its programmes and beneficiaries have a say in their assistance.
Today, Jordan CO has one call centre managed by a total of 15 operators, with an average of 500 calls per day out of which 80% calls are answered and closed the same day. If operators receive calls and are not able to solve them immediately, they assign them to focal points for actions. Out of 15 operators, 13 are women. This due to the sensitivity and great empathy that women can show when calls come in.
Lessons learnt on the improved communication between WFP and its beneficiaries are several:
- Challenges can be turned into opportunities ( ex.: Complains feedback mechanisms, ETC-Connect project, SCOPE Platform)
- Considering the beneficiaries as ‘direct stakeholders’ is a powerful boost to assistance effectiveness. Give them voice and hear them is a ‘must’
- Leave them the choice to decide how best use the entitlement is the best way to empower them
- Providing women an opportunity to find the right place in a given assistance does not only mean an increase in their income or a solution to their distress but also an honourable status in the household or community for being listened and respected.
In March 2018, a WFP-wide awareness campaign on PSEA was conducted. This was part of an annual awareness campaign, started in January 2018 and running monthly, on WFP’s values, principles and standards, as reflected in WFP’s Code of Conduct, including protection from sexual exploitation and abuse.
Based on the UN framework for the prevention of violence against women, WHO, with UN Women, developed and is finalising an 8-page policy-maker friendly, infographic brochure to package the evidence about risk and protective factors , what works for prevention categorised into 7 prevention strategies., and how to scale up proven interventions This brochure packages simple key messages about the evidence on prevention in a user friendly way.
In line with commitments to the global Call to Action and in accordance with the GBV Guidelines, IOM continues to work to improve GBV prevention and risk mitigation in emergency response operations worldwide. Efforts are geared towards the needs of front-line field staff and, to this end, experts from global support teams in Headquarters deploy experts to provide technical and coordination support to field offices to strengthen GBV prevention. The deployments generate several results, ranging from infrastructural site improvements and establishment of women friendly spaces, to integration of GBV prevention in emergency strategies, creation and dissemination of GBV referral pathways and other information, education and communication materials.
At field level, in South Sudan, IOM is working to strengthen social norms, values and existing capacities that support positive health outcomes, violence prevention and gender quality, and to transform harmful social norms which perpetuate high rates of morbidity and mortality, perpetuate violence against women and girls, and undermine gender quality in the POCs and host communities. In Nigeria, under a joint CCCM, MHPSS and Shelter action plan, IOM carried out awareness raising sessions on GBV targeting IDPs.
Moreover, a second edition of the Site Planning and GBV guidelines has been published, which will be used for training and capacity building purposes, Shelter/NFI Distribution Guidelines completed, and a site planning and GBV video created. IOM also advocates the inclusion of sexual crimes committed against women and girls during conflicts into large-scale victims’ reparations programmes and policies.
ESCWA hosted the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Committee on Women, eighth session, in October 2017 in Beirut, Lebanon. During this gathering of member states, there was a roundtable discussion on the economic cost of violence against women, which addressed the importance of estimating the economic cost of violence against women, the implications of marital violence on women, children, communities and society, and the efforts exerted by Arab countries in designing strategies and adopting laws aimed at combatting violence against women. A second roundtable discussion addressed the role of institutions in times of peace and war in the Arab region, including the implementation of the women, peace and security agenda.
ESCWA drafted a series of briefs to better inform policy in member states, including: “Institutional Mechanisms for Gender Accountability in the Arab Region,” which argues for greater accountability of institutions to achieve gender justice, including efforts to combat violence against women; “Estimating Costs of Marital Violence in the Arab Region: Operational Model,” which outlines the ways in which costing violence against women can be applied to the Arab region; “The Role of Women in Peacebuilding Processes,” which argues for women’s greater participation in formal and informal peace processes, which may impact the perpetration conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence; and, “Enhancing the Role of Institutions in Achieving Gender Equality in the Arab Region: The Economic Cost of Violence against Women,” which advocates for Member States, academia and research institutions to conduct costings of intimate partner violence in the Arab region.
ESCWA, in partnership with the Swedish Institute of Alexandria and UN Women, coordinated a Regional Consultation on the Economic Costing of Violence Against Women. The consultation aimed to assist Member States in their efforts to eliminate violence against women and to implement their international obligations. The Regional Consultation built upon the results of the first phase of a regional project implemented by ESCWA in cooperation with UN Women on the economic cost of violence against women.
ESCWA hosted a panel discussion on “The Role of Women, Youth and Civil Society in Post-Conflict Peace and Reconstruction Processes” as part of a larger discussion on State-building and Institutional Development in Post-Conflict Settings: Opportunities and Challenges in Libya and Yemen. The panel considered the role of women, youth and civil society in post-conflict peace and reconstruction processes. Case studies from Tunisia, Libya and Yemen provided examples of women, youth and other stakeholders, who have successfully challenged restrictive norms and overcame social barriers to actively participate in the reconstruction of their communities and states.
ESCWA, in partnership with the Institute for Women’s Studies in the Arab World (IWSAW) at the Lebanese American University, hosted a Regional Consultation on Current Political Developments and Their Impact on Arab Women. Engaging with human rights and women’s rights experts from the Arab region and beyond, the consultation sought to achieve a better understanding of the current political situation in the region and assess the impact it might have on women and their recent legal and socio-economic achievements, including violence against women legal reform.
The ILO has supported the Ministry of Labour of Brazil to produce and disseminate training and information materials about sexual harassment at work, including a guide on responses to sexual harassment and a video series of five episodes.
Implementation of training, capacity building and raise awareness activities for the prevention of Violent Extremism, in which women, as key actor of the local communities play an active and important role.
In Namibia, UNODC conducted an assessment and analysis of information about existing responses to gender violence and provided detailed recommendations to national counterparts on policy and practical matters to enhance crime prevention and criminal justice responses to violence against women.
In Kyrgyzstan, UNODC facilitated a public safety and crime prevention planning in 14 municipalities, focusing on domestic violence and other priorities. As a result of the active participation of women in local level dialogues on public safety, gender-based violence was included as a priority issue in approved local crime prevention plans in 4 districts.
In Vietnam, the Domestic Violence Minimum Intervention Package was implemented in two provinces, and 12 Domestic Violence Rapid Response Teams were established.