United Nations Development Programme

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia, UNDP supported the development of curricula and the training of judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement agencies on how to approach cases of sexual gender-based violence: capacity-building for monitoring trials related to sexual gender-based violence, in Bosnia and Herzegovina by targeting NGOs, and in Kyrgyzstan through the Ombudsman Institute. Hide

A joint mission by UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre/Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery made recommendations to the Justice and Human Rights project in Afghanistan to enhance the involvement of women in shuras/jirgas, to raise awareness on rights and entitlements under the law, and to continue engagement with religious leaders on issues related to women in Islam. Hide

Several initiatives in countries in the ECIS region were supported by UNDP to raise awareness and support advocacy work related to sexual gender-based violence. In Kosovo, documentaries were produced and a series of debates were held, including one on the possession of firearms and its potential impact on households and communities in Kosovo. In Kyrgyzstan, multi-stakeholder fora were organized. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, civil society organisations were supported to implement advocacy and awareness-raising campaigns. Several countries organized events and activities around the “16 days of activism” campaign to end violence against women. Kosovo held an SMS campaign and debates with students, Kyrgyzstan hosted a forum promoting the role of women in peace-building, and Croatia organised, in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and Croatian police, a nationwide awareness-raising campaign, where influential Croatian men participated, including the president. Hide

In the ECIS region, legislative development support was provided by UNDP in Kosovo, where the Law on Domestic Violence was adopted. In Serbia, UNDP assisted with drafting recommendations for legislative changes related to sexual gender-based violence. In Nepal, UNDP, in cooperation with UN Women, facilitated the establishment of a witness protection task force which will work on the elaboration of witness protection legislation.In Argentina, UNDP worked with national women´s organizations to plan workshops and create a toolkit to guide stakeholders,on the adoption of laws that ensure a woman’s right to a life free of violence. In El Salvador, UNDP, UNIFEM, and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation for Development (AECID) supported the Women’s Parliamentary Group (GPM), consisted of parliamentarians from all political parties, to incorporate a gender perspective in the parliamentary agenda. UNDP, UNIFEM, AECID, and the Salvadoran Institute for the Development of Women (ISDEMU) provided technical assistance to the Family, Women, and Childhood Committee of the Legislative Assembly in relation to a law entitled “Special and Integrated Law for a Life for Women Free of Violence”, which was approved in November 2010.In the Pacific, UNDP continued its support to the Government of the Cook Islands to draft its first comprehensive civil family law, also with provisions on domestic violence, including consultations with national stakeholders. Hide

A new space dedicated to gender-based violence was created in Teamworks, UNDP’s extranet web-based platform, which identifies staff working on or interested in gender-based violence, and provides them with resources, and relevant information on gender-based violence and programming.In January 2011, the UNDP Gender Team hosted a learning and information-sharing event for staff of UNDP, UN Women, UNFPA, and UNICEF, in HQs and several countries. Hide

In Nepal, informal legal aid desks, operating in police stations, were supported by UNDP. Mobile legal aid clinics in three districts provided free legal services and information to 1524 people (80% were women). The paralegal programme, at the community level, was expanded in 2010 and the paralegal committees received training on gender-based vioelnce and justice, helping to mainstream a national awareness initiative on sexual gender-absed violence. Hide

The UNDP project “Access to Justice” in Nepal supports training and the establishment of community-based paralegals to provide information, awareness, and support for women seeking redress in cases of gender-based violence. Hide

In Nepal, UNDP has provided assistance with regard to (a) the development of a training manual and provision of five trainings on gender-based violence and gender justice (reporting, investigation and prosecution) for 125 judges and lawyers; (b) a gender-based violence assessment (on-going); (c) transitional and gender justice training of trainers programmes for civil society actors; and (d) a series of district and central level consultations on “gender-sensitive transitional justice”. Hide

In Serbia, UNDP supported the development of strategies to address sexual gender-based violence and a draft document on this topic was finalized. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, strategies to address sexual gender-based violence were also developed as a part of the transitional justice strategy, which includes a focus on survivors of sexual gender-based violence from the 1992-95 armed conflict. Hide

In Somalia (Somaliland), a referral system, facilitated by UNDP, was established in 2010 through which clan elders refer cases involving serious violations of gender violence to the formal courts. As a result of the new referral system, and the work of the Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Hargeisa (SARC), there has been a 44% increase of sexual violence cases referred to the formal courts, compared to 2009. Hide