United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

UN Women provided women inmates in Palestinian correction and rehabilitation centres (Palestinian prisons) with legal aid and representation from a gender perspective, social counseling sessions, recreational and rehabilitative activities; and provision of goods for primary needs for the women and their newborn children leaving inside the prison. Regular monitoring of the situation (social and legal) of women inmates in the occupied Palestinian territory was conducted and a paper was produced. UN Women has also provided financial support to the existing toll-free help in the occupied Palestinian territory for women and children victims of violence. Hide

The report of the High Level Panel on remedies and reparations for victims of sexual violence in the DRC was launched in March 2011. A joint follow-up project with UN Women was developed and is being implemented. It focuses on the development of small pilot initiatives in the areas of Bukavu and Shabunda, in close consultations with the victims and with the participation of the State. They include economic reinsertion initiatives; symbolic reparations and support for payment of court awarded damages. Hide

UN Women has expanded the resources available through the Virtual Knowledge Centre (VKC) to End Violence against Women to include a database of 800 tools in 60 languages, including in-depth programming modules on campaigns, health, justice and security sectors. Hide

In Mauritania, UN Women supported gender equality advocates for the implementation of the Africa UNiTE campaign, and a draft law for the prevention and punishment of violence against women was presented in November 2011, to members of the government, more than 50 national non-government organizations, and to the main donors and technical partners. This draft law constitutes a key advocacy tool for bringing about legislation on eliminating gender-based violence and mainstreaming this issue into national policies.In Algeria, UN Women continued to support the advocacy efforts of some members of the non-government coalition for the criminalization of violence against women, which contributed to the submission of a draft law making gender-based violence a criminal offence. In January 2012, it was reported that the Algerian Parliament Bureau reviewed the draft law and decided to submit it to the next session of Parliament for discussion.In Morocco, UN Women supported the Spring Time for Dignity Coalition, which led it to develop its communication and advocacy strategy and finalize the preparation and update of its Memorandum on the gender-sensitive reform of the penal code in light of the provisions of the new constitution adopted in July 2011.In Afghanistan, UN Women provided technical assistance and substantive support to the Afghanistan Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) Commission to support the implemention of the Law on EVAW. OHCHR/UNAMA also supported the implementation of the new law by undertaking monitoring, advocacy and capacity-building activities. Hide