Mar 2013 - Feb 2014

UNESCO organized a regional workshop on Women's Empowerment for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence in the Pacific in Nadi, Fiji.

Progress has been made in recent years in relation to the widespread grassroots abandonment of the practice of FGM/C. Several individuals have been gradually been arrested and convicted in 2013, while since the inception of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme and Trust Fund on Female Genital Mutilation in 2008, more than 10,000 communities in 15 countries, representing more than 8 million people have denounced the practice.

The Regional UN Women Campaign ‘El valiente no es violento’ was launched in Quito, Ecuador, aimed at raising awareness among especially young men on ending VAW, and has been further launched at the national level in Cuba, Argentina, Honduras, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

ESCAP and UN Women organized an advocacy event on “Ending Violence against Women and Girls” at the Sixth Asian and Pacific Population Conference on 18 September 2013 which focused on coordinated and multi-sectoral actions to prevent and end violence against women and girls in Asia and the Pacific.

At the conclusion of the recent ESCWA’s 6th Session of the Committee on Women, Member States unanimously adopted the “Kuwait Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women”, collectively condemning all forms of VAW and declaring their commitment to enhance joint and individual efforts to monitor, address and combat GBV.

The UN Trust Fund organized a number of events in order to raise its visibility, build new partnerships and expand its outreach to the corporate sector. On 25 November, the UN Trust Fund announced its 18th call for proposals and launched its 2014 fundraising drive with the message “They count on us, we count on you”.

61 countries and the European Union joined UN Women’s COMMIT to End Violence against Women initiative, a call for action for Governments to make new and concrete national commitments to end violence against women and girls. The commitments ranged from passing or improving laws, ratifying international conventions, to launching public awareness campaigns, providing safe houses or free hotline services and free legal aid to survivors, supporting education programmes that address gender stereotypes and violence, and increasing women in law enforcement, peacekeeping forces and frontline services.

UNRWA has continued its advocacy work by participating in the International Women Day (IWD) and the International 16 Days Campaign through various events, including the launch of a short-film “Ana Ahlam4”, highlighting forms of GBV within the family, in cooperation with ABAAD5. In November 2013, UNRWA focused on strengthening community response to GBV by including men and youth within the programme. In addition, the Gaza Field Office conducted a signature campaign with over 6,500 handprints stamped on posters - and organising awareness-raising sessions and activities for over 2,450 persons.

The UN Department of Public Information (DPI) supported and facilitated activities carried across the System for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (25 November), as well as for the V-Day “One Billion Rising for Justice” initiative in February 2013. On the occasion of the International Day, a partnership was established with Google to include on their homepage a special “doodle” linking to DPI’s International Day website.

In commemoration of International Women’s Day, ESCAP and UN Women organized an event on “Ending Violence against Women - Our Shared Responsibility” during which new research findings on men’s use of violence against women and girls in Asia and the Pacific were presented. The ILO Director General along government, workers' and employers' representatives participated in a panel debate with the theme “STOP Violence at work” (http://www.ilo.org/gender/Events/international-women-day/lang--en/index.htm).