United Nations Population Fund
Background
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is the leading UN agency dedicated to advancing a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
UNFPA works tirelessly to further gender equality and women’s empowerment, while addressing the causes and consequences of violence against women and girls, with a particular focus on its impact on women’s sexual and reproductive health.
Policy framework
UNFPA is guided by and promotes the principles of the groundbreaking Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (1994), which includes the commitment that advancing gender equality and equity and the empowerment of women, and the elimination of all kinds of violence against women, and ensuring women’s ability to control their own fertility are cornerstones of population and development-related programmes.
Areas of Focus
It remains a strategic priority for UNFPA to prevent and respond to gender-based violence across humanitarian, peace and development settings, including eliminating harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, child marriage and gender-biased sex slection. UNFPA supports comprehensive, survivor-centred responses in humanitarian, development, and peace-responsive actions across more than 150 countries. In 2023, UNFPA invested $505 million in initiatives to eliminate GBV and harmful practices.
UNFPA’s Work on GBV:
Advocacy/Policy:
UNFPA collaborates with national and international stakeholders to address gaps in legislation and law enforcement related to GBV and harmful practices. It supports the development of culturally sensitive, rights-based policies and plans for GBV prevention and response, with a strong emphasis on integrating these efforts into the health sector. UNFPA also works to align national frameworks with international agreements such as the SDGs, CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action.
Capacity Development:
UNFPA partners with women’s and youth feminist organizations, civil society, governments, and other stakeholders to transform harmful gender and social norms to promote gender equality in families, communities and institutions. . It focuses on building the capacity of governments, civil society, and service providers to respond and prevent GBV, across the social services, health, legal and justice and education sectors.
Data and Evidence Generation:
UNFPA plays a critical role in collecting, analyzing, and utilizing data to understand the prevalence, incidence, and impact of GBV worldwide. It partners with national statistics offices and relevant ministries to strengthen national data systems and ensure the ethical collection of GBV-related data. Through initiatives like kNOwVAWdata UNFPA provides technical support and capacity building for evidence-based policymaking in several regions and languages.
In humanitarian settings, UNFPA co-leads the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS), which harmonizes data collection across 25 crisis contexts. An adapted version of GBVIMS is also used in development settings to safely collect, store, analyze, and share survivor-reported data. These efforts ensure that data informs decision-making, resource allocation, and the development of effective GBV prevention and response programmes.
Service Delivery:
UNFPA promotes a survivor-centred integrated approach to addressing GBV through dynamic systems of prevention, protection, and response, including through sexual and reproductive health services. It strengthens survivors’ access to quality health care, social services, and legal and justice support, guided by the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence and the Interagency Minimum Standards on Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies Programming. UNFPA also leads the Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility (GBV AoR) under the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, coordinating global and national efforts to address GBV interventions in humanitarian settings.
From 2023 to 2026, with the support of Takeda, UNFPA is implementing the Women at the Center programme, which strengthens case management and professional social-service workforce capacities in Azerbaijan, El Salvador, Indonesia, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe.
Preventing GBV:
UNFPA works to dismantle harmful social and gender norms that perpetuate inequality and violence. It implements prevention programming as outlined in the RESPECT framework, partnering with UN Women, WHO, and UNDP. UNFPA also promotes comprehensive sexuality education as a primary prevention tool, fostering gender-equitable attitudes among adolescents to reduce violence and promote healthier relationships.UNFPA also engages communities, including men and boys in advancing gender equality and ending harmful practices, while remaining accountable to feminist movements.
Responding to GBV Across Contexts:
UNFPA supports comprehensive, survivor-centred responses in both humanitarian and development settings, ensuring access to health care, social services, and legal support. Its initiatives are guided by the Flourish: UNFPA Gender-Based Violence Operational Plan and the UNFPA Strategy and Operational Plan to Scale Up and Strengthen Interventions on Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies 2023–2025. UNFPA also addresses the growing intersections between GBV, climate change, protracted crises, and population movements, working across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus to strengthen preparedness, resilience, and long-term development.
Addressing Technology-Facilitated GBV (TFGBV):
UNFPA has been leading work on addressing TFGBV since 2021 with publication of Making All Spaces Safe: Technology-facilitated GBV and have now launched the Making All Spaces Safe global programme (2024–2027), with the support of Global Affairs Canada, to tackle this issue. This initiative focuses on addressing TFGBV through comprehensive, survivor-centred programming. It integrates digital literacy into prevention and response mechanisms, advocates for rights-based law reform, and promotes safety-by-design standards to mitigate harm. The programme is being implemented globally, with a focus on Kenya and Benin, to address the evolving nature of GBV in digital spaces. UNFPA are also leading the Safety Showcase: Re-imagining Gender in Technology with the support the United Kingdom to highlight tech products, policies and features that represent gender at the centre of design and deployment.
Global Initiatives and Partnerships:
UNFPA is a key partner in the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, supporting civil society initiatives worldwide. It also actively participates in the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, advocating for increased activism to ensure women and girls can live free from violence and coercion. Through its global programmes and partnerships, UNFPA continues to set standards for survivor-centred care and drive transformative change to end GBV in all its forms.
Resources
An Infographic Guide on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/infographic-guide-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-tfgbv)
A Framework for TFGBV Programming (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/framework-tfgbv-programming)
Our Bodies, Our Rights! Addressing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Gender-based Violence for Women and Young People with Disabilities (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/our-bodies-our-rights-addressing-sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-rights-and-gender)
UNFPA Strategy and Operational Plan to Scale-up and Strengthen Interventions on Gender-based Violence in Emergencies, 2023-2025: Executive Summary (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/unfpa-strategy-and-operational-plan-scale-and-strengthen-interventions-gender-based)
Flourish. UNFPA Gender-Based Violence Operational Plan: Summary (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/flourish-unfpa-gender-based-violence-operational-plan-summary)
Guidance on the Safe and Ethical Use of Technology to Address Gender-based Violence and Harmful Practices: Implementation Summary (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/implementation-summary-safe-ethical-use-technology-gbv-harmful-practices)
A Guide to Better Understanding and Using Violence Against Women Prevalence Data (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/guide-better-understanding-and-using-violence-against-women-prevalence-data)
2022 Global Symposium on Technology-facilitated Gender-based Violence Results: Building a Common Pathway (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/2022-global-symposium-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-results-building)
Measuring technology-facilitated gender-based violence. A discussion paper (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/measuring-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-discussion-paper)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Feminist Design (https://www.unfpa.org/resources/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-feminist-design)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Rights-Based Regulation (https://www.unfpa.org/resources/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-rights-based-regulation)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Data and Measurement (https://www.unfpa.org/resources/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-data-and-measurement)
Addressing Gender-Based Violence Across Contexts: Gender-Based Violence Interagency (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/addressing-gender-based-violence-across-contexts-gender-based-violence-interagency)
Addressing Gender-Based Violence Across Contexts: Gender-Based Violence Interagency Minimum Standards and the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/unfpa-implementation-essential-services-package-women-and-girls-subject-violence)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Making All Spaces Safe (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-making-all-spaces-safe)
Getting to Zero: Mapping UNFPA Leadership on Ending Gender-based Violence (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/getting-to-zero)
Reporting on Gender-Based Violence in Humanitarian Settings: A Journalist’s Handbook (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/reporting-gender-based-violence-humanitarian-settings-journalists-handbook)
The RESPECT framework: https://respect-prevent-vaw.org/
The Inter-Agency Minimum Standards for Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies Programming (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/inter-agency-minimum-standards-gender-based-violence-emergencies-programming)
Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/essential-services-package-women-and-girls-subject-violence)
Minimum Standards for Prevention and Response to Gender-based Violence in Emergencies (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/minimum-standards-prevention-and-response-gender-based-violence-emergencies-0)
GBV is increasingly a characteristic of conflict and is often perpetrated against women and girls; and, in some instances, has been used as a tactic of war, UNFPA collaborates with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and is a member of the Steering Committee as well as the Expert Advisory Group. UNFPA contributions are to ensure the particular needs of adolescent girls and women as a result of sexual violence are factored in efforts of the Special Representative to address reintegration. UNFPA contributed to the development of high-level papers and to the SG Reports.
UNFPA plays a pivotal role in addressing sexual violence in conflict by adopting a comprehensive approach focused on prevention, response, and survivor support, ensuring that survivors’ needs are met and their
View MoreUNFPA plays a pivotal role in addressing sexual violence in conflict by adopting a comprehensive approach focused on prevention, response, and survivor support, ensuring that survivors’ needs are met and their rights upheld. UNFPA collaborates with governments, humanitarian organizations, and civil society to provide essential services to women and girls affected by conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).
As the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) mandated agency for GBV prevention and response, UNFPA leads and supports multi-sectoral responses to GBV, including CRSV, coordinating efforts across health, legal, protection, and psychosocial sectors. This includes establishing GBV Sub-Clusters in humanitarian settings to coordinate responses, share information, and prevent duplication of efforts.
As a member of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict and other global initiatives, UNFPA works to strengthen system-wide responses, supporting UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace, and Security (1325, 1820, 1888, 1960) and collaborating with UNICEF, UN Women, and UNHCR to ensure a comprehensive approach to sexual violence in conflict.
In 2024, UNFPA, with funding from the UN Action Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF), directly supported CRSV survivors in Sudan, South Sudan, Ukraine, and Mali. Data collected through the GBVIMS on CRSV is shared with the Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Arrangements (MARA), adhering to strict safety and ethical protocols in countries such as South Sudan, Mali, Central African Republic, Somalia, and Iraq. UNFPA also co-leads MARA Working Groups in Myanmar, Mali, and the Central African Republic, strengthening responses through a survivor-centered approach.
2024 highlights:
- ASRO provides tailored support to seven crisis-affected countries (Sudan, Palestine, Somalia, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Libya), offering essential medical supplies, GBV survivor assistance, MHPSS, and safe spaces for women and girls. It also supported 42 women-led organizations and enhanced GBV coordination in humanitarian contexts.
- In Palestine, ASRO partnered with OHCHR for training on CRSV and safe referral processes.
- WCARO worked with WHO to strengthen clinical management of rape (CMR) capacities, conducting ToT sessions in Côte d'Ivoire and Chad, and planning cascade training in Niger, Central African Republic, Chad, and Mali.
- UNFPA Nigeria piloted a national CMR ToT focused on testing the new CMR-IPV inter-agency toolkit.
UNFPA is uniquely positioned to promote an integrated approach to the provision of sexual and reproductive health services and GBV response in emergency settings, including through ensuring implementation of the Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP), the set of actions required to respond to reproductive health needs at the onset of every humanitarian crisis. UNFPA is working to ensure that the MISP is systematically implemented in all new emergencies and as a minimum standard in ongoing emergency settings. Access to health services for rape survivors has been identified as a major gap in humanitarian response; there is a critical need to ensure that established protocols for the clinical management of rape are implemented. As co-lead of the GBV Area of Responsiblity, UNFPA is mandated to build the capacity of national authorities and health providers in the clinical management of rape and facilitate distribution of reproductive health kits, including medical supplies for post-rape treatment such as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to reduce HIV transmission. UNFPA also supports data collection and analysis on sexual violence incidents in emergency settings.
UNFPA, in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), has developed a Regional Training Programme on Gender and Security and the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security for government officials, military and civilian peacekeeping personnel, professionals and academics, and NGOs and civil society organizations (CSOs). The purpose of the training programme is to promote greater knowledge of UNSCR 1325 in the Latin America and Caribbean region, so that the goal of mainstreaming gender in the area of peace and security becomes a critical function of peace-keeping forces sending nations. Originally developed for the Latin America and Caribbean Region, the curriculum has now been designed in a manner that can be adapted to suit local contexts in other regions and countries that have a peace-keeping and peace-building role. The programme has been piloted in a few countries in the region over 2014 and 2015 and will be globally rolled out in 2016.
In 2015, together with UNFPA, ESCWA produced a regional study on “Child Marriage in Humanitarian Settings in the Arab region: Dynamics, Challenges and Policy Options”. The study examined the root structural causes of child marriage in the Arab region, including the national, social, institutional, legal, and cultural frameworks that facilitate the perpetuation of child marriage. It analyzed the factors that drive child marriage in humanitarian and conflict settings, including physical vulnerabilities, shifts in family relations, gender roles, economic conditions, availability of community support, and demographic profiles. It also investigated the socio-economic and health implications of child marriage for young brides, their children, and their communities, particularly in post-conflict contexts.
UN Women, UN ECLAC and UNFPA held a sub-regional capacity development workshop in Paraguay – targeting mainly defense forces and civil society - on SCR 1325, with a focus on GVC and sexual and reproductive health. The workshop was based on the curriculum that was developed on the issues for the Latin American and Caribbean region in 2012.