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In 2016, Serbia continued to make significant improvements in multi-sector coordination and monitoring of violence against women, with substantial support from UN Women. Twenty municipalities in Serbia achieved high levels of multi-sector cooperation in response to cases of violence against women. Professionals from the Centers for Social Work, health and educational institutions, judiciary and police participated at the case conferences on individual cases of violence and in line with the local level protocols responded to the specific needs of women victims of violence. The women victims of violence benefited from the services and protection measures provided by the local institutions in a timely, complementary and coordinated manner. The Results of the case conferences are captured in reports and published by the Provincial Secretariat for Demography, Social Welfare and Gender Equality (PSEEGE). PSEEGE and UN Women piloted a model for monitoring violence in Vojvodina Province and initiated discussions to implement the model at the national level.
In Kosovo, five survivors of domestic violence were granted ownership of apartments as part of an initiative by the mayor of Gjakova Municipality providing housing to society’s most vulnerable individuals. This example of women’s reintegration and empowerment is part of the municipality’s Coordination Mechanism Action Plan on Domestic Violence, and these plans were developed and implemented by UN Women in three municipalities throughout Kosovo. The Coordination Mechanisms include representatives from municipal gender equality office, victim advocates, police, judiciary, health and education sectors, urban planning directorate, shelters and civil society organizations. UN Women worked with municipalities to support capacity building of coordination mechanisms, police and judiciary; support a comprehensive approach to domestic violence case management; implement gender-responsive budgeting; align legislation and practices with international norms and standards; and improve implementation of monitoring mechanisms. UN Women ensured full support from local mayors and engaged them during the development of the Municipal Domestic Violence Action Plans. With this local support, the coordination mechanisms have become fully institutionalized and functional.
In Kosovo, OHCHR and technical partners provided key support services for survivors of gender based violence, including psychosocial counselling and psychotherapeutic services, legal aid and access to economic empowerment programs, benefitting more than 200 women in 2016. After a successful advocacy initiative involving OHCHR, North Mitrovica municipality allocated premises for a shelter for survivors of gender based violence. OHCHR further provided necessary equipment and furniture for the shelter and will organize capacity building of relevant staff who will work with survivors in the shelter. Moreover, OHCHR ensured sustainability of support services in 2017 and 2018 through technical support to a partner CSO in drafting a project proposal which was recently approved for funding by the EU.
Supported by UN Women, Georgian Public Defender’s Office developed and institutionalized a monitoring tool to monitor the state shelters for survivors of violence against women on a regular basis.
In June 2016, UNICRI carried out a survey to explore the level of gender mainstreaming in the working agenda of substance use treatment centres in Italy. Gender responsive approaches are relatively new in the substance use field, although many studies highlight barriers to women's access to substance use services. The aim of this exploratory study was to investigate to what extent a gender responsive approach is applied in the Italian substance use treatment services and to explore the professionals’ opinions regarding the advantages and the challenges of applying such approach. The majority of professionals recognize the importance of including a gender responsive approach in their working agenda, and the need for specific training. Overall, the gender-responsive approaches are limited to pregnant women and mothers. A subset considered this approach counterproductive as compared to individualized treatment options. Results seem to indicate a general lack of understanding and awareness among professionals about the potentials of applying gender responsive approaches and about the social, economic and cultural factors that determine health inequalities and influence women's access to services. A reductionistic interpretation of the gender responsive approach seems to prevail, which limits women’s needs to those of pregnant women and mothers and does not take into account the role previous trauma and violence experiences might have on drug use in women.
Together with UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, UN Women Regional Office for the Arab States launched the “Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence” in October 2016 in the United Arab Emirates. The package of services was introduced to the Arab States for the first time as the launch took place on the side of the second “Investing in the Future” conference organized in the UAE by UN Women and the UAE’s “The Big Heart Foundation” under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. The launch was an opportunity to emphasize the importance of coordination among various multi-sectoral responses for women and girls subject to violence and offered the space for over 100 participants from civil society, academia and governmental institutions to exchange experiences about violence against women in the region.
In DRC, the UNJHRO (United Nations Joint Human Rights Office) facilitated access to justice to victims, through free legal aid in judicial procedure and judgment execution process, referral to medical, psychosocial and economic services. 22 legal clinics were funded by UNJHRO in order to provide free legal information to population and legal aid to victims for regular and mobile trials supported by UNJHRO, and enhance referral mechanisms for services to victims and bridge with prosecution special cells.
WHO is developing clinical guidelines to respond to children and adolescents who have been sexually abused for use by health care providers.
In various countries (e.g. DRC, Burundi, Colombia, Ecuador, Malawi) WFP supports gender based violence survivors during their temporary stay in the shelters and afterwards, during their process of reintegration in the community. Food assistance contributes to women's full nutritional and psycho-social recovery and subsequently supports their livelihoods, thus increasing the resilience of survivors, their self reliance and, ultimately, their capacity of disengaging from an abusive situation and rebuilding a safer life.
UNRWA provides protection, support, and services (education, health, relief and social services) through established referral systems in all five fields of operations, in more than 150 locations (which include camps, health centres, and schools). Referral systems created pathways between the different UNRWA programmes internally, as well as externally involving other service providers to ensure holistic support to survivors. Through these internal and external pathways, UNRWA is able to provide psychosocial counselling, legal services, and medical services among other. The Agency looks into survivors’ satisfaction with GBV services based on a survey tool with close-ended questions on satisfaction with services received through UNRWA as well as through external service providers. Over the course of the two-year period, 2014-2015, UNRWA was able to identify 5950 survivors, who have in turn accessed 8362 services, primarily on psychosocial counselling and legal services through the referral systems set up.