National Policies

As Protection Cluster chair, the OHCHR promoted coordination on strategy and advocacy among actors working to address violence against women in Timor-Leste.

In collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC)/Subregional Headquarters for the Caribbean, DAW, now part of UN Women, organized an expert group meeting on good practices in national action plans on violence against women, which took place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from 13 to 15 September 2010. During the meeting, experts identified key elements and good practice examples for the development, content, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of national action plans on violence against women.

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.

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, continued to support the incorporation of violence against women in the National Development Plan of Cape Verde (within the UN programme); the development of specific national action plans on violence against women in Pakistan, in collaboration with Pakistan’ s Ministry of Women’s Development, and in Mozambique, through an inter-agency programme with national partners; the development of a strategy on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Burundi, in collaboration with the Government of Burundi; the drafting of a Declaration on Sexual Violence against Women

OHCHR’s country offices in Bolivia, Colombia, Russia and Uganda were part of UN Inter-Agency Groups, working on gender issues in support of national and local authorities, the judiciary and civil society to develop projects proposals, policies and strategies, on combating sexual and gender-based violence.OHCHR’s country office in Guatemala assisted State institutions and, in coordination with the Interagency Group on Women’s Rights, provided technical advice to State officials for the elaboration of policies based on international and national human rights standards in order to accelerate and