Prevention, Including Awareness Raising and Advocacy
In Peru, UNODC started implementing a new project on crime prevention and victim assistance, which is aimed at reducing small-arms violence and promoting dialogue for peaceful coexistence, addressing the needs of vulnerable groups and reducing the vulnerability of adolescents to gender-based violence by promoting education and health programmes.
UNESCO’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report (EFA GMR) co-organized a rally to end school-related gender-based violence, together with the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), UNICEF and the UN Global Education First Initiative(GEFI).
On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, UNESCO organized a round table on domestic and intimate partner violence, gendered perspective on conflict, violence, refugee protection and the rights of the child.
In Jordan, UN Women implemented a program to enhance Syrian Women’s Empowerment in Camp Settings. Within the framework of the Jordan Response Plan to the Syria Crisis 2016-18, UN Women operates safe spaces for Syrian women in Za’atari refugee camp. UN Women has been operating in Za’atari camp since early 2013 and in these settings provides a range of services. Among other services, UN Women provides awareness raising sessions on domestic violence and early marriage.
With the Sustainable Development Agenda committed to ending all forms of violence against women and girls, UN Women has led an initiative involving six other UN entities to create the Framework to Underpin Action to Prevent Violence against Women. It maps evidence-based and emerging practices in preventing violence, with a focus on addressing root causes, risk and protective factors.
A global conference in New Delhi in 2015 brought together over 140 participants from 24 countries. Based on accumulating experiences and evidence-based strategies, they agreed on a series of recommendations, such as to include gender across all public safety and public transport policies, to broaden women’s access to technology as part of comprehensive approaches to prevent violence in public spaces, and to strengthen programmes with youth, schools and media that promote changes in attitudes and behaviours among men and boys.
UN Women, in collaboration with UNFPA and the Turkish Government, held a Global Meeting on “Ending Violence against Women: Building on Progress to Accelerate Change” in December 2015 in Istanbul, Turkey, at which over 150 high-level representatives from over 40 Member States, the Council of Europe, civil society and United Nations entities attended.
In Mexico, UN Women and eleven other UN agencies launched a campaign against early and child marriage, to establish eighteen as the minimum age for marriage at federal and state level without exception. The Mexican Senate and the Congress of Oaxaca announced reforms on the issue, while the President pledged to support the campaign and eradicate early marriage in law and practice.
UN Women’s Safe Cities and Safe Public Spaces Global Flagship Initiative has helped Quezon City, in the Philippines, take the first step in its safe city programme towards ensuring safe streets: a scoping study that collects information on violence against women and girls in public spaces.
A project funded by the UN Trust Fund and implemented by Plan Viet Nam is working to address gender-based violence in and around schools, one of the main barriers to girls’ empowerment and gender equality. A research-based model piloted in 20 schools across Hanoi reached approximately 30,000 adolescent girls and boys aged 11 to 18. Following the model’s success, the Hanoi Department of Education has undertaken to replicate the initiative across 766 schools in the city, potentially reaching more than 500,000 adolescents.