Mar 2009 - Sept 2009

The International Women's Day in 2009 was used to highlight the campaign, with the theme of “Women and Men United to End Violence against Women and Girls.” DPI carried out promotional activities and media outreach to promote the day at UN Headquarters and around the world, including the dissemination of information materials and press conferences.

In support of the Secretary-General’s Campaign, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, coordinated inter-agency efforts towards the launch of the UNiTE in Africa and UNiTE Latin America and the Caribbean regional components of the Campaign. It organized with OSAGI and the Center for Women's Global Leadership a civil society consultation in relation to the Campaign.

DPI worked to promote the Secretary-General's Campaign, focusing on raising awareness of violence against women globally; mobilizing public opinion to urge decision-makers to implement or change policies, in order to end violence against women; and generating awareness about the role of the United Nations in efforts to end violence against women. DPI’s network of UN Information Centres (UNICs) actively participated in promoting the Campaign at the national and regional levels, including through work with governments, students and civil society.

DAW, now part of UN Women, Issues # 3 and 4 of Words to Action were produced, with feature articles on the Secretary-General’s Campaign “UNiTE to end violence against women” and the IANWGE Task Force’s joint programming pilot initiative, respectively.

Since the establishment of a window in the UNAIDS Programme Acceleration Fund (PAF), 8 countries have received funding to undertake programming on violence and HIV.

In June 2009, UNESCO held a policy dialogue in Mombasa on strategies for combating violence against women, as part of the second Forum of Ministers of Women’s Affairs from the Great Lakes Region. This policy dialogue aimed at discussing research recommendations in order to establish/strengthen specific national plans of action, and to create appropriate national mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of national measures taken for combating violence against women, inter alia, in the field of legislation, prevention, victim assistance and rehabilitation.

A Cooperation Platform was launched at the Interregional Meeting held by UNICRI in March 2009 for the Italian regions most affected by trafficking of Nigerian girls and women for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Another joint forum for discussion of strategies, exchange of information and experiences took place in June 2009 at UNICRI HQ with the participation of an official from the Nigerian Embassy.

In Rwanda, WFP supports the national response in fighting GBV through the One UN framework. WFP is active in the UN Gender Task Force and the National Gender Cluster, co-chaired by the Minister, in the Prime Minister's Office, in Charge of Gender and Family promotion (MIGEPROF) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID), which work to harmonize and coordinate responses to sexual and gender-based violence.

In Viet Nam and the Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic, UNFPA has worked at the policy level with the Ministries of Health and relevant partners to advocate for appropriate health care policies and resources for ethnic minority regions.In Bolivia, UNFPA’s advocacy efforts led to the inclusion of sexual and reproductive health and rights and the elimination of violence against women in the five-year Plan for Women’s Equality. In Jordan, UNFPA undertook advocacy and policy dialogues on the importance of integrating gender-based violence issues in health plans and programmes.

A UNV-supported initiative was underway in Guatemala to enhance national capacity to address gender-based violence in all its forms. The Presidential Secretariat for Women (SEPREM) has been at the forefront of the initiative, which seeks to a) design a comprehensive action strategy, b) ensure implementation of the strategy, focusing on government and civil society efforts, and c)increase the political and operational strength of the SEPREM. UNV supports the three pillars of this strategy jointly with UN agencies such as FAO, UNDP, FAO, WFP, UNFPA and UNIFEM.