United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

DRC  
After the promulgation of the revised Family Code, United Nations agencies mobilized to disseminate texts and laws favorable to women's rights (the Family Code, the Parity Act, the Child Protection Act, the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence and the Act on the Protection of Persons Living with HIV), The Maputo Protocol on Gender and Development, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN Security Council resolutions (notably Resolution 1325) during the 16 Days of Activism campaigns in November 2017, Amani Festival in February 2018 and Women's Month in March 2018. A draft bill on the reparation and compensation mechanism for victims of sexual violence has been submitted to the Senate. The agencies support the government in the process of reviewing the national strategy to combat sexual and gender-based violence and the national action plan 1325. 

SENEGAL  
Senegal has a legal framework favorable to the elimination of gender-based violence through the law against excision, the law on parity, the law for nationality, the Senegal Emerging Plan, the National Strategy for Equity and Gender Equality, the National Strategy for the Promotion of Rights and Protection of Children.

CABO VERDE 
In the continued efforts to support the implementation of the CEDAW and other international and regional normative frameworks on women’s human rights, in 2017 the UN Women supported the evaluation of the 6-years implementation of the law. The evaluation has provided several insights and evidences of the best practices and lesson learnt that informed the Government in how to improve the procedures and promote new responses to face the challenges of the implementation of the GBV law. This analysis has provided key elements for the monitoring of the national goals for eliminating GBV in alignment with international human rights and gender frameworks and provided guidance’s to where the actors responsible for the application of the law should improve to better tackle this phenomenon in Cabo Verde. The Evaluation of the Implementation of GBV Law has been a powerful instrument of discussion and analyses, UNW supported the government by presenting the final results to public and stakeholders. The conducted evaluation has shown, that, even so, challenges persist, including with the moroseness of judicial responses and in the institutionalization of victim support services, geared toward their sustainability thereof.

MALI
Thanks to the support of development partners including UN Women and a draft law against female circumcision submitted to the National Assembly (NA) of Mali by the PACTE Group, the idea of a law against GBV was formed on the initiative of a working commission composed of national and international organizations under the aegis of the NGO ACORD Mali supported by UN Women. The Government of Mali through the Ministry of Women has taken the lead through the National Programme to Combat the Practice of Excision (PNLE). A committee to monitor the law was set up by ministerial order and this committee delegated a technical team of five national and international experts (two lawyers and an anthropologist from Mali and two volunteer Canadian legal advisors) to draft a bill against GBV in Mali. The Ministry of Gender and the Ministry of Justice will bring this draft bill before the Government and the National Assembly.

CAMEROON
In humanitarian settings, the capacity and the level of ownership of police forces as a primary protection actor on violence against women issues has significantly increased in 2017.  Their increased commitment and actions in the field translating the humanitarian principles and national standards in coordination with other humanitarian actors resulted in gender-based violence cases received by gender desk officers at police stations. UNWOMEN also started to work with judicial actors on VAW in 2017 through magistrat training, and it is expected that further collaborative work with Ministry of Justice will continue in 2018 to strengthen their capacity to treat cases with sensitivity and full understanding of the VAW issues

LIBERIA
Except for the 2014 Amendment of the Elections Law of Liberia which calls for the list of candidates from political party or coalition to have no less than 30% of its members/candidates from each gender, there are 3 key laws still before the National Legislature for passage; Domestic Violence Law, Land Rights Law and the CRC.

NIGER
The Constitution of 25 November 2011 and all subsequent texts support the elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls, including the quota law which grants a certain number of elective and nominative places to women the 1325 decree 2017 on the retention of girls in school. All these texts exist but the effectiveness of their application remains problematic.

GUINEA CONAKRY, TOGO, CHAD
Knowledge production and advocacy on violence and maternal health 
In Guinea Conakry, about 100 health workers have been trained on GBV and its consequences.
In Togo, the same study generated strong interest from partners. The United Nations system and UNFPA are taking a closer look at this phenomenon.
In Guinea, the capacities of 100 health providers were sensitized on violence in delivery rooms with the contribution of several local NGOs.
Chad has organized advocacy for the dissemination of the penal code through the training of community leaders on the provisions of the penal code and Law 029 prohibiting child marriage.

DRC
 Database on sexual and gender-based violence based at the Ministry of Gender, Child and Family is regularly updated. To facilitate its updating, communication spaces have been set up and made operational by UNFPA to facilitate organizations involved in data collection on sexual violence to enter data into the database.

SENEGAL
 Studies conducted by the research laboratory of the University of Saint Louis on gender and ANSD (Agence Nationale de la Statistique et de la Démographie) have provided Senegal with some representative data on the situation of violence. However, thanks to the efforts and advocacy of UN Women, the violence module will be integrated into the ongoing DHS (Demographic and Health Survey).

CABO VERDE
• Support the elaboration of IX CEDAW report;
• 2 evaluations conducted: assessment of the 6-years of GBV Law implementation and evaluation of the Programme of Rehabilitation of Men Offenders of GBV
• Development and public presentation of the study on Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services for women with disabilities – “Leaving no one behind” (implementing CEDAW’s recommendations for Cabo Verde – 2013)
• Technical and financial support to the ongoing DHS Survey (to be finalize in 2018), in which VAW data will be collected. UNW supported the DHS planning process by providing technical and financial support specially in the VAW module. New data that includes new types of VAW such as Genital Female Mutilation will be available for the first time in Cabo Verde mainly due to UNW advocacy.
• Technical and financial support to the integration of GBV data and information in the information system of the operational management (SIGO) of the Ministry of Internal Administration. The integration of a specific module on GBV will allow a quicker answer to the risk situation that GBV victims with gender specialized support provided by police sector. The data system is well prepared to integrate, and report complains of GBV crimes and to provide timely and useful information for data analyses and operation at a national level.

MALI
  A study conducted in 2015 by UN Women in the health services revealed that the hospital environment is a place of prevalence of several forms of violence against women. Both medical personnel and patients testified to the existence of acts of violence, including physical violence, particularly against women in childbirth. Faced with this bitter situation, UN Women, in partnership with the Ministry in charge of gender, developed a draft strategy with CSOs and health actors to combat GBV in health facilities. The adoption and operationalization of this new strategy should enable health actors to be more accountable for the treatment inflicted on women, who, in addition to suffering such violence, have limited access to basic social services in general.

CAMEROON
UNW Cameroon had been implementing with UNFPA the GBV IMS in the north of Cameroon(training  of actors, tools...)

LIBERIA
 Through the Government of Liberia/United Nations Joint Programme, UN Women along with UNDP and UNFPA is supporting the establishment of the GBV Information Management System to replace the simple excel spread sheet that is presently used by the Ministry to collate data information received from the county. In 2018, UN Women Liberia Office will compile reports of investigation and prosecution of SGBV cases to determine baseline and target for indicators and conduct a regular assessment on the prevalence of SGBV, FGM, Child Marriage and other HTP to inform the results at the end of the project period.

NIGER
The Islamic argument and the study of the impact of radio programs helped communities understand Islam's position on GBV, women's rights, gender equality and women's rights.  UN WOMEN Niger also carried out two studies on the national gender profile and the profile of survivors, documents with considerable data used by all actors. Thanks to the support of the office for the implementation of the AGDI study, gender-disaggregated data are available for all actors.

NIGERIA : The Development Partners Group on Gender(DPGG) including the federal and state ministries of women affairs were mobilized and technically guided to carry out various activities for the 16 Days of activism 2017

Egypt CO

UN Women Egypt in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Solidarity developed the capacities of over 1500 women community workers across Egypt, capitalizing on their facility to reach women and men in rural and remote areas, to raise the public’s awareness, through conducting house calls, awareness raising meetings, and other means, on the various forms of violence against women and their social and legal ramifications. The community workers also serve as a vital tool for disseminating information on the support services provided by credible organizations for women victims/survivors of violence. In addition, UN Women Egypt in collaboration with Care International Egypt supported the formation of a network of over 400 young volunteers (both women and men) and developed their capacities to engage community members; over 2600 members reached, utilizing innovative context sensitive approaches, such as interactive community theater, shadow theater, graffiti art in addition to conventional methods, such as door-to-door campaigns, to raise societal awareness of various forms of violence against women, change negative attitudes and beliefs of men towards violence against women, and the gender norms that normalize and justify gender inequality and violence. 

UN Women succeeded in establishing the Iraq National Steering Committee for the Women Peace and Humanitarian Fund with high level leadership and representation from the government in addition to the UNRC as co-chair and membership of women civil society, the donor community and the UNCT. UN Women, as WPHF Technical Management and Secretariat at global and national levels, convened  the first Steering Committee meeting in March. The National Steering Committee, will be in charge of providing strategic direction, oversight and coordination of implementation of their portfolio, including: provide a platform for partnership, coordination, advocacy and resource mobilization at the national level; manage the WPHF allocation for Iraq; monitor progress and provide oversight on project performance. UN Women has succeeded in securing funding of $2 million for Iraq from the governments of Canada and the UK. A call for proposals is expected to be announced in the second quarter under the guidance of the NSC.

A total of 255 beneficiaries (Jordanians and Syrians) have been reached from different subjects related to GBV and women’s’ rights through 11 awareness-raising activities. Social cohesion have been evident as a result of Including Syrians and Jordanians both in the awareness sessions. Under LEAP, UN Women and IFH organized five awareness raising sessions on protection and all forms of violence targeting 72 Syrian and Jordanian women and men. In addition, awareness of 154 Jordanians and Syrians were raised on issues related to early marriage and gender-based violence through scheduled plays ( through the Hemayati project). A discussion following the play between the audience and the moderator helped to clarify issues related to early marriage.  This approach promotes women's and girl's self-expression and self-awareness, while providing them with skills to articulate changes they would like to see in their reality. A consultative writing process (“writeshop”) was developed with key stakeholders to ensure ownership of the messages that feed into the development of a toolkit to disseminate specialized legal knowledge relating to violence against women and girls among non-specialized audiences. the toolkit was launched in November aiming at familiarizing and sensitizing readers with current gaps, challenges and realities of VAWG in Jordan in order to start a social dialogue that can foster positive changes in attitudes toward women and girls, as well as promote and inform legislative and policy changes. 

In 2017, UN Women MCO continued to develop its own initiatives, strengthened and broadened its support to CSOs, national partners and the private sector’s initiatives to prevent VAW. As a result, a wide audience was reached (more than 3 million people, including through regular tv spots on the main national tv channel) and was mobilized during sensitization efforts and numerous events organized all year-long, and largely intensified during the 16 Days campaign, with a specific focus this year on engaging men and boys through innovative communication campaigns. The MCO succeeded in engaging partner agencies through UNCT and the Gender thematic group, national Ministries (Women’s machinery, Ministry of Justice and Liberties, Ministry of Interior), national institutions (City councils and Wilayas in Marrakech and Rabat, the Parliament), multilateral organizations (European Union Delegation), CSOs, Universities, with young boys and girls, the media and the private sector (telecommunications, public transports).

UN Women Palestine office supported MA’AN (an NGO based in the Negev which focus on legal awareness and protection of women from West Bank and Gaza and Bedouin women who live in the Negev and are subject to Israeli jurisdiction) to conduct raising awarness workshops for the West bankers and Gazan women living in the Negev. Those women face challenging issues related to their legal status with the Israeli authorities (they hold a palestinian ID, but they  live  in  Israel with their spouses without any legal document)  and many suffer from family and intimate partner  violence. During the reporting period UN Women Palestine office supported MA'AN to organize 14 raising awareness workshops and targeted women from the West Bank and Gaza. The workshop covered the following issues: family status laws, residency, legal and citizenship rights and access to social and health services and VAW. Similarly, 4 workshops were  organized in the Negev targeted social workers on different issues; such as:  VAW, legal rights  of women from the West Bank and Gaza who are married to men from the Negev.  Additonally UNW Palestine office supported MA'AN in the publication of two legal newsletter discussing concerns related to the legal status and legal rights of West Bank and Gaza women who live in the Negev. 450 copies of the newsletter were printed and distributed. UNW Palestine supported Al- Muntada ( a coalition of 17 women's organizations that work on combatting VAW) to lead a national advocacy campaign on VAW,  including legal discirmination against women and the need to adopt a responsive FPB. The campaign included radio episodes, TV programmes, and field  awareness sessions in differnet districts , which aimed at raising awareness of public and participants on women's rights, VAW and rights' gaps existing within the applicable legislative framework in Palestine, and building allies to advocate for the adoption of a gender responsive Family Protection Bill.                  

Within SAWASYA - UNDP / UN Women Joint Programme on Strengthening the Rule of Law: Justice and Security for Palestinian People, the PCHR (The Palestinian Center for Human Rights) conducted 30 awareness raising sessions targeted  both males and females with  awareness sessions on femicide,  the so- called honour killing and women’s legal rights in remote and marginalized areas all over the Gaza Strip. Most of the interventions carried out within the project’s duration focused on providing legal awareness,  awareness sessions  about  the so-called " honor  killing" and femicide as a mechanism to prevent violence against women and engage men and youth mainly to advocate for women's rights- as a result of these interventions,  511 women and 247 men were targeted.

UN Women internal policies:

UN Women has policies which are available to its personnel. They receive these through their welcome letter the moment they join the organization, available links on our intranet pages, and in house non/mandatory courses and information sessions.

Here are the policies:

• The UN-Women Legal Framework for Addressing Non-Compliance with UN Standards of Conduct defines misconduct and the mechanisms within UN-Women for reporting and investigating it. The investigations function for UN-Women is assumed by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which has the mandate to investigate all reports of alleged misconduct involving staff members and allegations of fraud and corruption, whether committed by staff members or outside parties.
• TheUN-Women Policy on Protection Against Retaliationestablishes "whistleblower protection."
• The UN Women Policy on Workplace Harassment and Abuse of Authority is a helpful document in providing definitions, measures of prevention, and steps to resolving improper conduct.

Morocco MCO

In 2017, through its chair of the Gender Thematic Group, UN Women Morocco organized several thematic sessions on EVAW issues for gender focal points of the UN System. A session was dedicated to the presentation and analysis of the recently-adopted law on human traffiking, and was animated by UN Women's partner from the Ministry of Justice, the Magistrate in charge of criminal cases involving children and women. Another session was co-organized with UNFPA and the Ministry of Health to present its annual report on State of the World Population and the Ministry's sectoral programme on EVAW. Finally, the GTG served as a coordination platform for the 16 Days campaign and all agencies were invited by UN Women to commemorate together the International Day to End Violence Against Women and Girls that was organized on November 24, 2017, with a release of hundreds of ecofriendly orange balloons and with the presence of the Resident Coordiantor and the Ministry of Women's Affairs.

DRC  
Establishment and strengthening of community mechanisms for the prevention of sexual violence. Support for "Break the Silence" and "HeForShe" campaigns, thousands of people have been reached by awareness messages on the fight against sexual violence, mainly through the involvement of community radio stations. 

SENEGAL 
Senegal benefits from the commitment of communities and state institutions in the fight against gender-based violence. This community dynamic, supported by territorial and administrative authorities and elected officials at local level, strengthens the efforts of sectoral ministries to put an end to violence.

CABO VERDE
 Men’s Alliance has increased on fighting GBV in Cabo Verde thanks to UNW’ support. During White Ribbon Association – Cabo Verde’s second GA, organized in partnership with UNW, a new board and President has been elected the event there was also a renewing of its members and provide a moment of reflection on the future of the Association. The opening ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Cabo Verde Mr. Jorge Carlos Fonseca, in his capacity of the national champion of the HeForShe campaign, who emphasized the importance of the men’s role in achieving gender equality in the country and in the world. Other individualities, such as the President of the National Assembly, representatives of political parties, Presidents and representatives of Civil society organizations, the Minister of Family and Social Inclusion, the UN Resident Coordinator, the Attorney General of the Republic, USA Ambassador and media, have attended to the event. Aligned with the HeforShe, the main lines of intervention of the Network are focused on the challenge that strives for everyone not to remain silent about gender-based violence, to assess men attitudes, language and actions, the education of young people, especially young men. UNW supported also the elaboration and presentation of the new 4 Years Strategic Plan of the Laço Branco Cabo Verde.

MALI
UN Women has adopted a systematic strategy to involve men and boys in GBV projects to have both a significant impact on prevention and repression and to encourage men and boys to be allies to support advocacy for the adoption of the draft law against GBV.  A network of young girls operating throughout the territory from North to South, bringing together educated and uneducated young people, is committed to acting as a relay at the community level to inform, raise awareness and encourage their peers to disclose acts of violence but also to refer and accompany survivors to available rescue services. This network has a website with courses on GBV in French and national languages to inform and raise awareness among young people. 
Another notable development around prevention is the review of the Police Code of Conduct. Indeed, GBV is common in the security forces. These acts are characterized by harassment, abuse of authority either on fellow police officers or civilian women. The country programme, in partnership with the national police authorities, has begun the process of revising the police code of conduct to include a GBV prevention and control dimension.

CAMEROON
UWN Cameroon  worked in the humanitarian settings, awareness raising activities in different forms reached a great number of women, men, girls and boys including traditional and religious leaders who maintain significant influence over social norms and behaviours at the community level, on gender-based violence, girls' education, importance of women's economic empowerment, early/forced marriage and other relevant issues. These community outreach activities were not only prevention measures but also served as a first step to inform the population on available GBV services and to encourage them to report cases in the social environment that traditionally silences the survivors of violence. 

LIBERIA
UN Women Liberia continue to conduct series of community engagement including community dialogues, the conduct of the socio-cultural audit consultative session in 6 counties with high prevalence of SGBV cases, and capacity building training for about 83 Women and Children Protection Officers, 65 prosecutors, city solicitors and court officials and 81 health workers.  A total of 905 persons (478 women and 427 Males) have been reached in 2017 with targeted SGBV Messages) 2,700 youths were also reached through awareness raising and sensitization information.

NIGER
In recognition of the high impact activities implemented by UN WOMEN's Niger office in recent years, it enjoys the commitment of communities (men's clubs, multidimensional clubs), institutions such as CENI (National Independent Electoral Commission), social nets, National Assembly, sectoral ministries (Gender, Hygiene and Sanitation) in the fight against gender-based violence. The results achieved by the men's and multidimensional clubs (men, women, religious and local leaders) to raise awareness among more than 10,000 people about GBV, gender, and the promotion of women's rights is a successful community model imitated by several actors

CHAD, BENIN, GUINEA, TOGO
The Community Response 
In Chad, hundreds of community leaders were trained and oriented on their roles and responsibilities in the fight against GBV, maternal and child mortality through the committees to combat maternal, newborn and child morbidity and mortality. Thanks to the commitment of mayors.

"He for Her", Mobilizing Men to Promote Women's Rights
In Benin, Chad, community radios support the activities of men's clubs for training on violence prevention, promotion of the SSRAJ and the rights of girls and women.
In Togo, the "Papas Champions" continue their activities to prevent violence.
In Chad, Guinea, Benin and Togo, 464 women and adolescent girls were taken in charge

Sexual and Reproductive Health for Adolescents and Youth   and the fight against violence in schools and in the informal sector
In Togo and Benin, 568 girls and boys in schools and in the non-formal education system, 200 parents were sensitized. Conferences and debates are organized through the production of teaching materials. Apprentices have also benefitted from this awareness targeting the improvement of their SRH, prevention and management of violence and the prevention of early pregnancies.
A VAWG reporting watchdog committee system has been set up in the Dantokpa market (the largest market in West Africa). They are made of groups of 5 men and women per sector in the market for a more effective fight against violence. At the end of the year, 20 cases of violence, rape, with or without sequestration are denounced by these committees and legally prosecuted

The safety of the girls working in the market, often between the ages of 14 and 24, is ensured  throughout the year at the "House of Hope" (ME), built a Christian Association. 1458 girls are benefitting from it. Among them are sex workers and sexually Active girls in the Marketplace who After a psychological support are also referred to Saint Luc hospital for complete health care. 

DRC: The DRC is a signatory to several international agreements and texts without restriction. The internal legal framework is improving with the promulgation in July 2016 of the revised Family Code. The challenge remains strict law enforcement. The country is also a signatory to international agreements for peace, notably the Addis Ababa Agreement, the Kampala Agreement, etc.

SENEGAL: Senegal has endorsed the international conventions for the elimination of violence against women, which consider such violence as a violation of human rights.

CABO VERDE: IX CEDAW report elaborated with UNW support

CAMEROON: UNW Cameroon worked to reduce violence against women through creating a legislative and policy environment in line with international standards on EVAW and other forms of discrimination and promoting social norms, attitudes and behaviors at community and individual levels to prevent VAW. A national strategy on Gender Based Violence has been adopted in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender. Moreover, women and girls among refugees, IDPs, and host communities, including Boko Haram survivors know and use the protection mechanisms available to them through Un Women intervention in collaboration of others humanitarian actors
LIBERIA: Except for the 2014 Amendment of the Elections Law of Liberia which calls for the list of candidates from political party or coalition to have no less than 30% of its members/candidates from each gender, there are 3 key laws still before the National Legislature for passage; Domestic Violence Law, Land Rights Law and the CRC. 

Some members of parliament have introduced a bill to amend the 2006 Rape Law to allow bail for perpetrators accused of sexual violence. 

UN Women Liberia supported the National Council of Chiefs and Elders and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to host a 3 days consultative session with over 150 traditional leaders and paramount chief to discuss positive aspect of traditional practices in Liberia. The Forum agreed to conduct an inventory of all grooves or “Traditional bush schools” as well as a list of practitioners in the 10 counties that practice Female Genital Mutilation.

NIGER
Like all other African countries, Niger has ratified international conventions and agreements for the elimination of forms of violence against women. But texts like CEDAW have been ratified with reservations. the taking of appropriate measures to eliminate all customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women, especially in matters of inheritance; the modification of the socio-cultural patterns and patterns of men and women; the right of married women to choose their domicile or residence; the equality of spouses in the choice of surname ;the attribution of the same rights to women as men have in deciding the number and space of births and ultimately the attribution of the same rights and responsibilities to women as men have during marriage and at its dissolution. This is merely a misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the terms of the text.  To this misinterpretation is added the lack of knowledge of these texts by the actors of justice and the litigants themselves; the amalgam between positive law and Muslim law, custom, .... the UN Women Niger office works for a better consideration of women's rights and the fight against GBV.

NIGERIA
Within the period there was no passage of any international bill into law in Nigeria, however, the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition)(VAPP) Bill and this was signed into law by the former president on the 25th of May 2015 is being utilized by lawyers and advocates to facilitate access to justice for women and girls. UN Women engagement with national coalition of stakeholders - Legislative Advocacy Coalition on VAW (LACVAW) has continued to ensure that the advocacy for implementation is amplified. UN Women also continue to partner with the Gender Technical Unit (GTU) to ensure that legislators are effectively lobbied for issues that affect women

Lebanon PP

In 2017,  UN Women Lebanon in consultation with the Ministry of Social Affairs,  supported  13 centers within 5  regions (Akkar, Tripoli, Beirut, Maten  and Bekaa) to conduct GBV awareness sessions. 4 of these centersl also provided access to GBV multi-sectoral services  to women and girls including legal, health and psycho-social support advisory services.  Furthermroe, UN Women in partnerhsip with UN-Habitat & UNICEF  finalized the establishment  of a Referral Center in Bab Tibaneh/Tripoli,  which will be providing PSS and  multi-sectoral services center for GBV victims.  The Referral Center will be luanched in  June 2018.  

UN Women Palestine office supported MA’AN  to provide legal aid and psychosocial support to Westbanker and Gazan women living in the negev. Those women face challenging issues related to their legal status with the Israeli authorities (they hold a palestinian ID and live in Israel) and many of them suffer from family and intimate partner violence. During the reporting period UN Women Palestine office supported Maan center to provide  legal aid to 110 women from the West bank and Gaza who live in the Negev (inside Israel). The cases evolved around issues related  to personal status matters : (divorce, child custody, alimonies), issues related to their legal status inside Israel (citizenship and family reunification), residency, eligibility to social and health services, national insurance and cases of VAW. Additionally, 79 women from the Bedouin community in the Negev were provided with psychosocial support throughout Ma’an hotline, 30% of them are from the West Bank and Gaza.  Topics covered included legal status inside Israel (citizenship related issues and family unification, residency, eligibility to social and health services, national insurance, etc… ) and on VAW cases.  UNW Palestine in collaobration with the PBA- West Bank provided legal aid support and counselling to more than 100 female inmates in 3 CRCs in the West Bank . As a result of this support, many women have their cases proceeded in courts and some received mitigative sentences. On the other hand, through the support that lawyers provided to inmates, some cases witnessed progress in their relaiton with families, including spouses, as some cases  managed to reach  agreements with their families and  spouses, particularly regarding children visitation matters.

In 2017, UN Women has contributed to enhance the capacity of the providers of essential services to Women Survivors of Violence to be able to effectively prevent and respond to VAW. It has been successfully done through Justice stakeholders training, South-South cooperation and the fostering of coordination. In partnership with the Ministry of Justice, a cycle of three workshops aimed at developing the capacities of a group of magistrates has been finalized. In fact, a third, and final, workshop has been organized and saw the participation of 14 magistrates on andragogy.  Also in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, over 70 social workers from 56 cities participated in a week-long training on the implementation of the Family Code. Various topics were addressed, such as divorce procedures, the Family Support Fund, models and practical cases in the Family Code, and general skills management for social workers. Finally, both South-South cooperation and coordination were fostered thanks to a regional workshop organized in Cairo in December with the attendance of representatives of the relevant sectors (Justice, Police, Health, Civil society) to present the Essential Services Package and to engage the attendees’ departments towards the qualitative upgrading of services and their coordination.

By building the capacity of long term service providers, UN Women works to institutionalize efforts to respond to and prevent SGBV. This is done through service provision and awareness raising. In 2017 UN Women directly supported 4 centres in Amman, Ramtha, Khaldeya and Zarqa to provide service and referral options to meet the needs of both local vulnerable Jordanian women and Syrian refugees (alltogether the joint programme supports 11 centers). In the four centers UN Women supports directly, 1,515 beneficiaries have been able to reach safe spaces and receive quality services. 91 women survivors of violence were offered quality safe and confidential access to shelter through the Jordanian Women's Union's shelter for women. Throughout this reporting period, 36 women survivors of violence were offered quality safe and confidential access to shelter through the Jordanian Women's Union's shelter for women and rehabilitation of their facilities was undertaken. Through UN Women Oases in Zaatari Camp UN Women worked with UNHCR and all camp partners to provide referrals to women survivors of violence for legal and medical and other protection services. UN Women also accepted referrals in from other camp partners for vulnerable women in need of livelihoods opportunities. On average UN WOmen supports 10 refugee women protection cases per month per Oasis. 

DRC : 
UN Women supported the UN system through the Gender Score Card in 2015 but in February 2018 the gender focal points of the agencies were on gender accountability. In June and July 2017, there was a regional capacity-building workshop on gender mainstreaming and gender-based violence response in emergencies and humanitarian crises. Several agencies (UN Women, UNFPA, UNHCR, GenCap) took part. The revitalization of the One UN Gender Team allows a good readability of gender interventions in the DRC.  Jointly, support was given to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Family for the organization of the forum of ministers and heads of gender division for the coordination of gender issues. 

SENEGAL :  
UN Women in Senegal, through its leadership ensured the coordination of interventions on the elimination of gender-based violence. Thus, the activities of the gender thematic group work to strengthen this momentum for the protection and health of women and girls.

CABO VERDE: 
In additional to mobilizing UN agencies to implement advocacy campaigns and of knowledge sharing, UN Women Cabo Verde has been able to engage different agencies in the elaboration of joint programme proposals to address gender inequality, including gender-based violence. Among projects in pipeline, there are 3 projects related to GBV, being one about Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights program (UN-Women, UNFPA, UNICEF), the second on human security and resilience (UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA and UNODC), and the third one on GEWE, being GBV one out of the three domains. In the two first GBV is considered as one of the main issue to be addressed. 

CAMEROON:
UNW Cameroon has coordinated the UNCT SWAP scorecard process and the elaboration of action plan. The country office has been engaged in the implementation of the UNSWAP Scorecard plan and has succeeded in inscribing gender in the 2018 UNCT annual work plan. The office has also worked to mainstream gender in joint programs of the 2018-2020 UNDAF

LIBERIA:
Through the Gender Theme Group, UN Women Liberia coordinates UN Support to the Government of Liberia, especially with international celebrations such as the International Women Day and the 16 Days of Activism. Besides, in 2018, UN Women is hosting a GenCap Advisor to strengthen the capacities of Gender Specialist within the UN System.  The GenCap Advisor provides technical leadership and support to UNCT on Gender Equality programming as well as building the capacity to ensure that Gender specific needs are taken into consideration in the planning and the implementation of programes in Liberia. This includes mainstreaming gender in the development of the new UNDAF.

NIGER
UN-Women Niger is the vice-chair of the thematic group. This status enables it to contribute to the coordination of activities on the elimination of gender-based violence, gender mainstreaming and women's rights.

NIGERIA
The UN Women support the GTG to ensuring that the capacity of members are built to enable them better understand the issues of GEWE and GBV.

UN Women has embarked on a number of prevention and awareness raising campaigns and advocacy such as “Take a Stand” initiative.

Internally, within the UN system, UN Women is coordinating closely with other UN agencies on issues related to Prevention of and Reporting on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (by UN personnel)

In addition to this, we have UN Women Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) focal points in all of our six regions whose roles within UN Women are to:

• communicate their role and raise awareness of the ST/SGB/2003/13;
• to ensure that  complaints against the individuals/entities to whom the ST/SGB/2003/13 applies are reported to OIOS;
• to report to the UN Women SEA working group at HQ in order to share any issues, cases or local observations; and gather data for onward reporting;
• to educate the UN Women workforce regarding the prevention of SEA.