Measures

In follow-up to an expert group meeting of April 2007 on regional strategies for implementing the recommendations from the Secretary-General’s in-depth study on all forms of violence against women, ESCAP posted on its website a sub-regional study documenting harmful traditional and cultural practices as forms of violence against women in South Asia. The study covers Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Hide

ESCAP held an expert group meeting on “Gender statistics and the use of violence against women indicators in support of the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA)”, in October 2008. It aimed at building partnerships between national statistical offices (NSOs) and national women’s machineries (NWMs) in the development and use of statistics in policymaking, implementation and monitoring. Hide

OCHA is the co-chair of the Executive Committees on Humanitarian Affairs and Peace and Security (ECHC/ECPS) UN and NGO Taskforce on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse. It led the development of field-guidance for the implementation of a victim’s assistance programme in accordance with GA resolution 62/214. Since 2008, 25 OCHA advisors have been deployed through GenCap to 18 humanitarian emergencies. Hide

OCHA’s Policy Development and Studies Branch organized an experts meeting to review current research on, and identify gaps in relation to: 1) Sexual violence in armed conflict: understanding the motivations; and 2) The nature, scope and motivation for sexual violence against men and boys in conflict. Key outputs of the meeting were: 1) Identification of research priorities in order to design more effective strategies for preventing sexual violence in armed conflict; and 2) Identification and agreement on next steps to build on the current knowledge-base and establish communities of practice. Hide

The UNAIDS Gender Guidance for National AIDS Responses was distributed to field offices. In November 2008, UNAIDS established a US$3 million dollar window in the UNAIDS Programme Acceleration Fund (PAF) mechanism to assist Joint UN AIDS Teams to catalyze country level action on gender and AIDS, including programming on violence against women and its intersections with HIV. Hide

A meeting "Stopping the HIV epidemic – young women, girls and HIV in southern Africa. What must be done!" was convened in June 2008 by UNAIDS with the University of Witwatersrand Reproductive Health Research Unit. Three research papers relevant to violence against women were presented: intergenerational sex; sexual violence; and risk perception, knowledge and behaviour. The findings of the meeting were presented at ICASA in December 2008 along with communication material put together by Soul City to engage communities and decision makers. They were published in a special supplement of AIDS that was distributed at ICASA. Hide

The World Bank office for the region of Latin America and the Carribean held an internal learning event on gender-based violence, focusing on challenges in the measurement of gender-based violence and in the costing of its effects; on policy implications; and possible interventions and links to the Bank’s operations. Hide

The World Bank’s Post-Conflict Fund (FCF) is supporting a “Risk Assessment of Schools in Afghanistan and Identification for Mitigatory Action”. The objective is to assess the specific local context of attacks on schools, teachers and students (attacks primarily target females) and to identify sustainable models for community involvement in protection of schools. This research is being conducted by CARE International. Hide

In December 2008, a senior World Bank manager made a presentation at the “Cairo Declaration on FGM + 5 Meeting”. In November 2008, the World Bank contributed to the “Women and Security” conference in Abu Dhabi, organised by the Arab Women's Organizations. Hide

The World Bank’s Post-Conflict Fund (FCF) provides umbrella funding for a range of activities in Africa, including work on gender-based violence. An example is a US$733,000 grant to administer a "Protection from Gender-Based Violence" programme in Côte d’Ivoire. The project aims to prevent sexual violence against women and provide assistance to victims, and it builds on initial work carried out by the International Rescue Committee. Hide