Mar 2010 - Sept 2010

OHCHR supported the on violence against women, its causes and consequences in advocating for the elimination of violence against women, such as in the conference on femicide in Latin America, organized with the European Parliament, and in a colloquium on domestic migrant workers in the EU, organized by OHCHR Regional office in Brussels.

DPI promoted the 45th session of the Commission on the Status of Women/15-year review of the Beijing Platform and International Women’s Day 2010, including the issue of violence against women. The Department conducted media outreach and produced information materials, including a poster and information kits for media, delegates and civil society. The Department facilitated a four-week online discussion on “Women and the Media”, one week of which focused on violence against women journalists.

The Department of Public Information continued to provide communications support to the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, including through managing the campaign website (endviolence.un.org) and related online platforms. Several social media platforms managed by the Department, including the UN Twitter account – which had approached 100,000 followers – regularly featured content on violence against women. News and developments in the global campaign to end violence against women were also covered by the UN News Centres in all the official languages.

ECLAC continued to participate in the regional inter-agency working group, responsible for the regional implementation of the Secretary General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign. ECLAC contributed to the preparations of the Caribbean launching of the campaig

Issues # 7 and 8 of Words to Action, DAW’s (now part of UN Women) quarterly newsletter on violence against women, were issued, with feature articles on the United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women, and the 15 year review of the implementation of the Platform for Action.

Through a gender-based violence Coordination mechanism established by UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, and GIZ in 2010, Cambodia has been at the forefront of joint advocacy and behavioral change initiatives.

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UNODC, to implement trafficking programmes in South Asia.

Two WHO publications on violence against women have been released. Preventing intimate partner and sexual violence: taking action and generating evidence provides a framework for developing policies and programmes for the prevention of intimate partner and sexual violence. It emphasizes the importance of evaluating prevention initiatives in order to improve their effectiveness, and expand the global evidence base in this area. Addressing violence against women and HIV/AIDS: what works?

In every region, UNDP – with its national partners and in collaboration with UN Country Teams- continues to support the development and implementation of strategies and actions plans on domestic violence. As convener of the gender thematic window of the MDG Achievement Fund (MDG-F), UNDP supports and partners in the implementation of a number of joint programs which address gender-based violence in an integrated manner, including in many cases through the development of national strategies.

UNFPA is leading the coordination efforts of the gender-based violence cluster to address GBV/VAW in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake. UNFPA Country Offices – in more than 32 countries – are operationalizing various components of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, under the four pillars of the Resolution. UNFPA’s partnership with UNICEF globally and in 17 country offices in co-chairing and implementing activities under the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme and Trust Fund on Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting (FGM/C) and activities under the Trust Fund are ongoing.