Prevention and Advocacy

DAW, now part of UN Women, made available information on violence against women through its website, especially in relation to the Secretary-General’s in-depth study on violence against women and its follow-up, provided briefings on the work of the United Nations in the field of violence against women, and organized panel discussions and other outreach activities. DAW widely disseminated the Secretary-General’s study, including at the national level to national machineries for the advancement of women and to United Nations resident coordinators/ representatives.

The Special Adviser on Gender Issues raises the question of violence against women in various forums, meetings and during missions, and brings serious and massive violations of women’s human rights to the attention of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. OSAGI , now part of UN Women, developed a Leaders’ Advocacy Kit to combat gender-based violence, in collaboration with several entities of the United Nations system.

As the secretariat for the Humanitarian Coordinator at field level, OCHA ensures attention to gender-based violence and facilitates the implementation of appropriate solutions. When appropriate, OCHA acts as co-chair of the coordinating agencies in regard to prevention of and response to gender-based violence.

DPKO Gender units/advisers implement, or support measures to raise awareness about gender-based violence, including campaigns, workshops, meetings and conferences on violence against women, both within mission personnel and the societies where the mission is stationed, such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Sudan; they are actively working in a number of missions with civilian police advisers to enhance attention by local police to gender-based violence against women; and they have put in place information sharing strategies to enhance knowledge abou

The United Nations Peace-building Support Office in Guinea-Bissau’s (UNOGBIS) human rights section has regular meetings with local NGOs and women’s groups, such as the informal forum with the national network fighting against gender and child violence, to discuss violence and other forms of abuse against women, UNOGBIS also participated in the first national conference on violence against women organized by this Network.

Department of Political Affairs (DPA) collaborates with other UN entities and local NGOs and women’s groups to raise awareness of and advocate for the elimination of violence against women, also at the national level. DPA does not have projects or programmes on violence against women but supports NGOs in their sensitization programmes. The human rights sections of field missions monitor and report on cases of human rights abuses, which may include violence against women.

As part of its celebration of International Women’s Day 2008, UNESCO‘s Division for Gender Equality, in collaboration with WHO, hosted the première of the documentary “Mutilation, Women’s Cries”, by the French-Gabonese association Kerciné. A UNESCO video spot to raise awareness and combat violence against women entitled “Being Fed Up” was posted online in April 2008 and is available at:http://www.unesco-ci.org/cgi-bin/media/page.cgi?g=Detailed/128.html;d=1

FAO is participating in the implementation of joint programmes in Guatemala and Morocco, under the One-UN initiative. The multisectorial joint Programme in Morocco aims at protecting women and girls against all forms of violence (economic, physical, verbal, psychological, sexual and trafficking) and addresses the linkages with poverty and vulnerability.

UNAIDS participated in several workshops and fora at the International AIDS Society Meeting in Mexico which presented new information on violence against women.

UN Habitat held panel discussions during Kenya’s National Youth Forum in February 2008 on preventing gender-based violence. An award ceremony was held in March 2008 in Costa Rica, as part of the “IV Safer Cities Competitions for Women and Girls - Safety and Security for Women and Girls in Cities”, with the following municipalities receiving awards: San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina; Maipú, Chile; and Solidaridad, Mexico.