Jul 2007

UNAIDS works closely with its co-sponsors (WHO, UNPFA, UNICEF), and partners (UNIFEM, Amnesty International, the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership, and others) to better understand and document the linkages between violence against women and AIDS.

UN-Habitat undertakes surveys under the umbrella of the Safer Cities Programme, and assesses four types of violence against women, i.e. economic, physical, emotional and sexual abuse. These surveys have been developed in South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Cameroon and Papua New Guinea, with the aim of assisting policy development and advocacy at international, national and local levels.

UNICEF’s current round of Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys provides data on child marriage, on attitudes towards domestic violence, and on FGM/C. The Secretary-General’s study on violence against children includes as one of its principal recommendations that States develop and implement systematic national data collection and research, calling for the disaggregating of data by sex and emphasising this as a factor in strengthening child protection.

UNECE organizes regional and sub-regional meetings and workshops where experts from national statistical offices, users of statistics and international organizations can discuss the value of surveys on violence against women and can develop guidelines on how to improve them.

UNODC was a partner in the roll-out of the International Violence against Women Survey, which was carried out in 11 countries worldwide.

OHCHR has the responsibility to provide support and advice to country and thematic special rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council, including the Special Rapporteur on violence against women.

OHCHR commissions and conducts research and analysis on access to justice for victims of sexual violence, clarifies and draws attention to this issue, and develops materials to assist the development of policy and advocacy strategies. One of the mechanisms for so doing is through the development of legal analyses, guidelines and principles based on human rights, which address issues of critical importance for women.

DAW, now part of UN Women, was responsible for the preparation, and now supports the follow-up to the 2006 Secretary-General’s in-depth study on all forms of violence against women (A/61/122/Add. 1 and Corr.1).

IOM implements a cross border project at Beitbridge, Zimbabwe and a project for internally displaced persons in Colombia to assist returnees and facilitate their protection, particularly women, by building capacities of local entities and liaising with existing health facilities to ensure access to needed health services.

The World Bank is executing pilot projects in Bolivia, Honduras and Nicaragua to improve the health system’s ability to identify and appropriately refer cases of violence against women. These projects are designed to promote sustainable institutional change in the way that the health sector deals with violence against women.