Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

The OHCHR Regional Office for the Pacific, in partnership with the Regional Rights Resource Team and the International Services for Human Rights, held a regional training and consultation workshop for civil society representatives,(6-10 September) presenting, among other issues, a topic on violence against women. The meeting focused on raising human rights issues through local and international mechanisms. Human Rights & Rule of Law Section of UNIOSIL in Sierra Leone organised in October 2010 an interactive forum for Traditional Women Leaders in the northern region and Family Support Units and Local Court officials in Kenema district respectively, addressing human rights, child’s rights and gender-based violence with emphasis on harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation(FGM). Participants resolved to collaborate with human rights institutions to monitor, prevent and prosecute gender-based violence in their communities. Within the joint UN MDG gender programme on gender equality and women’s empowerment in the oPt and in coordination with other specialized organizations, Hide

The OHCHR/Human Rights Adviser in the Russian Federation contributed to activities of the annual campaign “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence” in partnership with the UN Gender Theme group.The OHCHR Regional Office in Central Africa participated in a conference/debate ("causeries éducatives"), organised by the UN Theme Group on Gender, on 8 December 2010, in Yaoundé, Cameroon, where several issues were discussed, including early and forced marriages; female genital mutilation and gender-based violence and HIV/Aids. Several stakeholders participated in the event. The Human Rights Section of MINUSTAH in Haiti, in collaboration with the MINUSTAH Multimedia Center held a session on the different types of violence against women, with representatives of the civil society (November 2010). Hide