Measures

Help Age International implemented a UN Trust Fund-funded project in Moldova which worked to make older women survivors of gender-based violence feel safer.  Through the project, Help Age International provided key recommendations for integrating the needs of older women survivors into the National Strategy on preventing and combating violence against women and violence in the family for 2018-2023 and its Implementation Plan for 2018-2020. In addition, 359 members of 32 district multidisciplinary teams and 26 representatives of Centres for Assistance and Protection received training on preventing, identifying and addressing violence against older women, exceeding targets. An evaluation of the project found that it exceeded its target by nearly threefold, reaching 512 women survivors of violence through individual and group counselling, as well as through diverse outreach activities. In addition, 2,510 older women at risk of violence benefited from different outreach activities and 12,033 women in eight communities benefited from its awareness raising campaigns. The feedback from people who participated in the evaluation process indicated that the project was and remains “highly relevant” and “extremely needed for older women at risk of violence and survivors”.  Hide

The UN Trust Fund is the first, and remains the only, global grant-making mechanism exclusively dedicated to eradicating all forms of violence against women and girls. It is managed by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) on behalf of the UN system and involves UN bodies and organs, civil society organizations (CSOs) and experts on ending violence against women and girls in its decision-making processes through its Programme Advisory Committee (PAC).  With the strong institutional support of UN Women and its regional, multi-country and country offices and working closely with the rest of the United Nations system through its inter-agency Programme Advisory Committee, the UN Trust Fund plays a vital role in driving forward collective efforts to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls. Hide

During the course of the Strategic Plan 2016-2020, the UN Trust Fund invested USD47 million in projects that solely or partly focused on preventing violence against women and girls.

To disseminate the expertise and knowledge of civil society and women's rights organizations, the UN Trust Fund worked with grantee organizations and researchers to create a series of briefings on preventing violence against women. The organizations' practice-based insights are invaluable to planning, designing and funding interventions aimed at ending violence against women and girls.

The main objectives of the knowledge products are to:

make the practice-based knowledge available to all those working to end violence against women and girls;

examine the unique contributions and levels of impact of civil society and women's organizations in preventing violence against women and girls, as well as the challenges faced and lessons learned;

guide the UN Trust Fund’s grant-making priorities; and

inform the work of the UN and other stakeholders on preventing and ending violence against women and girls.

The findings identified 10 key pathways to prevent violence against women and girls. Each theme will be explored in conversations with 10 grantees, resulting in a detailed report per theme published on a rolling basis in starting July 2021 and 2022.

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A project implemented by the Center of Women’s Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina funded by the UN Trust Fund is working to improve protection mechanisms for survivors of intimate partner violence. The grantee worked to create alliances with relevant professionals; adapting during COVID-19 to conduct communication and preparations by telephone and email. The Center of Women’s Rights organized seminars for judges and prosecutors, including obtaining the necessary approvals, disseminating plans and worked to organize seminars with participants in the Multisectoral Working Group and the Expert Group.  This led to an important achievement: for the first time since the establishment of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Training Centre, the seminar on changing attitudes and perceptions of judges and prosecutors was included in the regular Annual Training Programme of Judges and Prosecutors. In addition, the Center drafted and submitted a proposed amendment to the law on protection from domestic violence. Hide

Medica Kosova, a UN Trust Fund grantee, raises awareness among women’s organizations of the Istanbul Convention, which guided preparation of the Kosovo (Under UN SCR 1244 (1999)) National Strategy against Domestic Violence. Medica Kosova works to increase efforts by national and local government bodies to implement the National Strategy. In addition, Medica Kosova supports women survivors of conflict-related sexual violence such as assisting women in applying for the status of survivors of conflict related sexual violence. It works with women’s organizations in relatively small municipalities, focusing on women in under-served communities, including Roma women. During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff worked closely with women survivors of violence and local services.  The organization also took steps to enhance communication and awareness of the women and girls with whom they work. During the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, Veprore Shehu, Executive Director of NGO Medica Kosova, a UN Trust Fund grantee said, “Five team members (a psychologist, lawyer, psychosocial counsellor, project assistant and executive director) make phone calls to survivors asking about their well-being, challenges they face during this period of isolation and their daily activities with their close families.” Hide

From 2017-2020, at least 23,089 service providers around the world have improved their provision of services for women survivors of violence and those at-risk, supported by UN Trust Fund grantees. Ensuring access to essential and adequate services was a cornerstone of many grantees’ COVID-19 response plans in 2020. In addition, grantees reached 72,629 rights holders/beneficiaries with food, hygiene supplies, sanitation and/or with other emergency need parcels in order to ensure the stability of their project and reach those who were most marginalized and at risk. Grantees took action to provide immediate support such as cash-based or in-kind assistance, to ensure the survival of beneficiaries. Grantees rapidly adapted their service provision in light of the pandemic. For example, in Chad, the Public Interest Law Center created a temporary shelter, beyond its permanent counselling centres, to provide additional support for women in need. In the State of Palestine, the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Development, advocated for transitional shelters, where women could quarantine before entering shelters, in accordance with COVID-19 regulations. Results in 2020 on ensuring access to services for women and girl survivors of violence, in the context of COVID-19, included important adaptations and responses from grantees globally. Hide

ESCWA supported the Palestinian Ministry of Women’s Affairs in drafting a “Situation Analysis for the State of Palestine’s Violence against Women and Girls Response,” which aimed to inform the Ministry’s forthcoming Violence against Women Strategy.

ESCWA, in partnership with UNFPA, supported the National Council for Lebanese Women in developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS) for the public and private sector to fully operationalize the “Law to Criminalize Sexual Harassment and [for] Rehabilitation of Its Victims.” 

ESCWA delivered a workshop for the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Development and Family Equality in Morocco on “Costing the Implementation of the National Strategy on Combatting Violence against Women and Girls by 2030 in the Kingdom of Morocco” on 29-30 June 2021. 

ESCWA supported the Jordanian National Commission for Women in evaluating Jordan’s National Action Plan (NAP) to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), on women, peace and security (JONAP-I (2018-2021)) to inform the design of JONAP-II.

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ESCWA, in partnership with UN Women, held an Expert Group Meeting on “Methodologies for estimating the costs of achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5)” to receive input and expert advice on the proposed approaches and methodologies to estimate the opportunity cost of achieving the SDG 5 in the Arab States.ESCWA, in partnership with UNDP, UNFPA, and UN Women, under the Gender Justice & the Law project, has updated all country studies to account for amendments to legislation impacting gender justice and violence against women in the Arab region. Additionally, ESCWA developed the Gender Justice Portal (http://genderjustice.unescwa.org/), which includes all relevant materials on the legislation impacting gender justice and violence against women in the Arab region.ESCWA published the “Violence Against Women Survey Implementation Toolkit: Complete questionnaire for a stand-alone survey.”ESCWA contributed to a “Situational Analysis of Women and Girls in MENA and Arab States Region” coordinated by UNICEF and in partnership with UN Women, UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, WFP, WHO, UNESCO, FAO, Tdh, and Plan International.  The situational analysis aims to present a snapshot of the lives of women and girls in the Arab region, including instances of violence against women and women’s access to justice.ESCWA, in partnership with UN Women, UNICEF, UNFPA and National University of Ireland, Galway, produced the technical report on “Estimating the Cost of Child Marriage in the Arab Region: Background Paper on the Feasibility of Undertaking a Costing Study”  ESCWA, in partnership with UN Women, UNFPA, UNDP, UNODC and WHO, is undertaking a research study on domestic violence service provider coordination and referral systems in the Arab regionESCWA, on behalf of the Palestinian Ministry of Women’s Affairs, is currently conducting a Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) of the May 2021 aggression against the Gaza Strip, including an analysis of the impact on GBV and access to GBV services.ESCWA contributed to a Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA) of the Beirut Port Explosions, which was coordinated by UN Women, in partnership with UNFPA, CARE and ABAAD. The analysis includes a discussion of the impact of the aftermath of the explosion on GBV and access to GBV services.ESCWA, in partnership with the National University of Ireland, Galway, supported the Palestinian Ministry of Women’s Affairs with the technical paper on the “Economic Costs of Marital Violence against Women in the State of Palestine.”ESCWA is supporting the Jordan National Commission for Women to implement a national survey to estimate the cost of the out of pocket expenses for survivors of domestic violence. Hide

ESCWA, in partnership with the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University, organized a youth arts competition for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence 2020 to address the theme “Life in Times of Emergency.” To accompany the competition, ESCWA ran a social media campaign throughout the 16 Days, which included facts about violence against women during different types of emergencies. The campaign closed with a panel of women’s rights activists from the region discussing different facets of activism during conflict, revolution and transition.

ESCWA provided an academic module on Gender Justice and Violence against Women in the Arab region to the MA programme on Gender Policies and Women's Rights course at the Saint Joseph University of Beirut.

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ESCWA participated in several side events at the 65th session of the Commission on the Status of Women in 2021. This included:

 

A side event with the Palestinian Ministry of Women's Affairs and the Jordanian National Commission for Women on "Examining the Implementation and Efficacy of National Strategies to Combat Violence and Ensure the Advancement of Women."

 

 

A side event with the Jordanian National Commission for Women, the Ministry of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development in Morocco, UNDP, UN Women, and UNFPA on "Gender Justice & The Law: Implications of inequality before the law for full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence."

 

 

A side event with the Palestinian Ministry of Women's Affairs on "The Social and Economic Situation of Palestinian Women under Israeli Occupation (2018-2020).

 

ESCWA, in partnership with the Arab Institute for Women at the Lebanese American University, the Georgetown Institute for Women and Peace and Security (GIWPS), and the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), held a regional Capacity Development Workshop on the Women, Peace, and Security Index on 19-26 January 2021.

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