Mar 2013 - Feb 2014

In Mexico, UNODC supported mainstreaming national and international standards into local legislation regarding prevention, punishment and eradication of violence against women. The organization also provided 6 countries in West and Central Africa, North Africa and the Middle East and the Caucasus with legislative assistance to implement the Trafficking in Persons Protocol.

As of end 2013, 12 out of the 15 countries, where the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilations/Cutting (FGM/C) operates, have developed a legislative framework which criminalizes FGM/C. Legislation has been recently adopted in Ethiopia, Kenya, Guinea and Guinea Bissau banning all forms of FGM/C.

OHCHR supported the formulation and implementation of laws on violence against women in accordance with international human rights standards, including in Iraq and in Panama, where the law also established the specific crime of femicide (2013). In Afghanistan, it released a report on 8 December entitled A Way to Go: An Update on Implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan, in which it reported limited results in its implementation.

In 2013, UNDP progressed work on a forthcoming publication “UNDP Support for Domestic Violence Law Reform” to assist staff and partners to support national and other partners to undertake domestic violence law reform.UNDP supported several initiatives to enhance capacity of the UN system in addressing VAW through a training to UNCT members on their professional and personal roles in addressing VAW and in changing societal attitudes (Albania); compulsory online training course for UNDP staff on “UN Programme on the Prevention of Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority in the Workpl

OHCHR supported the following human rights mechanisms: the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences (SRVAW) in the conduct of 3 official country visits in the reporting period: India (22 April to 1 May, 2013), Bangladesh (20 to 29 May, 2013), and Azerbaijan (25 November to 5 December, 2013); the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children in convening 5 regional consultations (Geneva, Santiago, Bangkok, Abuja and Amman) and two global consultations (New York and Vienna) on the right to an effective remedy for trafficked persons p

UNICEF has been consolidating key actions to address violence against children, including through the provision of support to the field with programme response to prevent and respond to violence in early childhood, violence in schools, and sexual violence, as well as through regional and global partnerships. This includes the Together for Girls Initiative to End Violence against Children, which reaches 14 countries across 4 regions, and which has been established as a global reference on ending violence against children.

In November 2013, the second Gender Academy, supported by ILO, UN Women and the European Commission, was held at the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITC-ILO). The Academy examined policies and methods to respond to gender-based violence and risks at work.

Two Global Strategic Priorities of UNHCR for the coming two years will focus on SGBV by addressing provision of support to SGBV survivors as well as prevention and protection of SGBV survivors through community involvement. In order to strengthen its accountability, UNHCR also began focusing on joint monitoring and evaluation for the implementation of its three strategies on Education, Child Protection, and SGBV, as these three areas are complementary and often overlapping, and organized a seminar for protection and programme officers to this end.

The new UNDP Strategic Plan (2014-17) includes for the first time specific reference to sexual and gender based violence. The second corporate gender equality strategy (2014-17) also prioritizes actions to prevent and respond to SGBV.

VAWG has been recognized as an integral area of UNFPA’s work and its Strategic Plan (2014-2017). UNFPA has also elaborated a GBV strategy in Africa which was launched during the GBV Regional Forum held in Rabat, Morocco, in November 2013 and resulted in the Rabat Declaration on Violence.