United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

In December 2009, UNESCO’s Office in Beijing, along with the UN country team, launched a project on “Preventing and Responding to Domestic Violence in China through a Multi-Sectoral Approach”. The project is supported by the UN Trust Fund and coordinated a host of UN agencies and national partners. UNESCO is taking the lead role to conduct baseline surveys in identifying risks and needs in prevention and response to domestic violence; and developing a pilot program for training community leaders in prevention of violence against women. Hide

UNESCO continues to carry out a series of studies which examine the family laws in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The UNESCO Office in Beijing initiated public awareness campaigns in Mongolia to strengthen the implementation of the law to combat domestic violence in local areas, engaging a broad range of stakeholders. Hide

UNESCO’s Regional Office in Santiago was involved in the development of the baseline assessment conducted in Chile as part of the UN joint programming pilot initiative. Hide

UNESCO is involved in several research projects related to violence against women as a member of UNAIDS, including a research project to consolidate existing evidence from the peer-reviewed literature on the intersections between gender-based violence and AIDS epidemic (led by UNFPA in cooperation with the Harvard School of Public Health); and a research project, led by WHO, which focuses on the relation between HIV and intimate partner violence, as well as sexual violence against women. Hide

In June 2009, UNESCO held a policy dialogue in Mombasa on strategies for combating violence against women, as part of the second Forum of Ministers of Women’s Affairs from the Great Lakes Region. This policy dialogue aimed at discussing research recommendations in order to establish/strengthen specific national plans of action, and to create appropriate national mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of national measures taken for combating violence against women, inter alia, in the field of legislation, prevention, victim assistance and rehabilitation. Hide

UNESCO developed a project on school-related gender-based violence in six post conflict countries in Africa. This project is a follow up to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children. Hide

In November 2008, UNESCO Addis Ababa organized a workshop for film-makers, development workers and media professionals during the 3rd Ethiopian International Film Festival in order to identify strategies for promoting greater awareness and positive behavioural change on HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence/discrimination and climate change through the medium of popular films. Several UNESCO Offices, including those in Montevideo, Brasilia and Almaty, included violence against women as a focus in their activities. Hide

Within the framework of the commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UNESCO Doha Office with the collaboration of the Qatar Foundation for Child & Woman Protection organized a workshop on “The International Conventions for the Eradication of Violence and Discrimination against Women & their Reflection on the Qatari Legislations”. Hide

In Burundi, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, , UNDP, UNESCO and UNICEF worked together to provide training and reporting assistance for civil society organizations and police to improve statistics and data collection on cases of gender-based violence. Hide

UNESCO’s Social and Human Sciences Sector has undertaken a programme of research on women's rights for peace and security in post conflict democracies in Africa. Researchers from 11 countries of the Great Lake Region, Sierra Leone and South Africa submitted papers on violence against women and the relationship between women’s human rights, peace and security in post conflict context, as well as recommendations for the way forward to be addressed to policy- and decision-makers. Hide