United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

With the assistance of UN Women, the national machinery for women (MASEF) and the National Statistical Office (ONS) in Mauritania launched the first national survey on the prevalence of violence against women (VAW). This survey will establish a baseline of accurate data that will allow the development of a policy on gender-based violence and provide stakeholders with reliable and relevant information that will help define strategic guidelines in the field of VAW. UN Women also organized for the capacity building of non-governmental organizations in Mauritania, Algeria, and Tunisia on counseling techniques, data collection, and database management improved the ability of counselors to assist women survivors of violence and elaborate relevant periodic reports on gender-based violence based on the collected data. Hide

In Nepal, UN Women advocated with concerned ministries for allocating budget for responding to gender-based violence (GBV). As a result, specific programmes and budgets were allocated by the government for ending GBV in fiscal year 2011-2012. In addition, GBV has been enlisted as one of the sub-indicators for ascertaining gender responsive budgeting (GRB). Hide

From 13 to 14 September 2011, the Regional Coordination Mechanism Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (RCM TWG-GEEW) (co-chaired by ESCAP and UN Women) organised and hosted the Inaugural Meeting of the Regional Advisory Group on Women and Peace and Security, during which the terms of reference were adopted and priority areas for action and support were discussed. The outcome was shared in an open session (“Priorities for Implementing United Nations Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in the Asia-Pacific region”). In addition, at its 2 September 2011 meeting, the RCM TWG-GEEW agreed to establish a UNiTE Working Group under its auspices, which is now working to implement the UNiTE Campaign in the Asia-Pacific region. Hide

Under the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund-EVAW), UN Women was supporting activities to monitor cases of sexual and gender-based violence committed under the Khmer Rouge regime, as well as to build safe working conditions for women workers. Hide

In partnership with DPKO and the Office of the Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, UN Women developed scenario-based pre-deployment training for military peacekeepers to prevent and respond to sexual violence, which were tested in several troop contributing countries, such as Nepal where 466 army personnel were trained. Both the Security Council, in resolution 1960, and the Secretary-General, in his annual report on conflict-related sexual violence, have encouraged member states to incorporate these modules into their regular training for peace operations. Hide

The Regional Coordination Mechanism Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (RCM TWGGEEW) (co-chaired by ESCAP and UN Women) established a Working Group on Gender Statistics, which includes a focus on VAW statistics. Hide

The first Violence Against Women Strategy in the Arab Region was developed in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) with technical support of UN Women to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. The VAW Strategy was endorsed by the Palestinian Cabinet at the beginning of 2011. Technical Committees (five in the West Bank and four in the Gaza Strip), composed of government organizations and non-government organizations working on VAW and human rights, private sector and UNRWA, were formed for the elaboration of the action plan. Hide

UN Women organised a workshop jointly with the Ministry of Women and Child Development in India (Goa) in September 2011 to strengthen capacity of National Women’s Machineries at State and Central levels on gender and planning, which deliberated on integration of trafficking, gender biased sex-selection and violence against women in development planning. Hide

In Bolivia, with the sponsorship of UN Women, the Centre for Integral Development of Aymara Women (CDIMA) worked with local authorities from the municipalities of Mocomoco, Comanche and Simanco. Following this collaboration, the authorities signed agreements to ensure indigenous women´s access to justice in particular in cases of gender based violence. In the process of improving women´s access to justice, CDIMA has strengthened the coordination between ordinary jurisdiction and indigenous justice systems. Hide

UN Women supported the Afghanistan Ministry of Women’s Affairs to collect data on violence against women (VAW) and set up a web-based database and coding system on VAW. UN Women and UNDP supported an assessment of gender-based violence (GBV) Prevalence, Trends, Legal Recourse, Impact Focusing on Conflict and Transitional Period in ten selected districts of Terai, Nepal. GBV was found to be widely prevalent during the conflict and the transition phase. Recommendations were made to various government and development agencies and non-governmental organizations. Hide