United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

DAW, now part of UN Women, produced an updated brochure on the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women in all official United Nations languages. Hide

UNIFEM’s, (now part of UN Women) continued support for advancing legislation on violence against women, in collaboration with national institutions, included: domestic violence legislation in Kazakhstan, Mozambique and Nepal; law reform and harmonization in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Georgia, Mexico, Senegal and the Solomon Islands; legal measures against sexual harassment in Bolivia and Pakistan. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, continued to provide technical and other support, in the context of joint United Nations efforts, to service provision initiatives. Hide

UNIFEM’s (now part of UN Women) efforts to strengthen programming and institutional responses included support for: the establishment of a domestic violence office in Argentina’s Supreme Court, with UNDP and UNICEF; judicial guidelines on in-camera hearings (Nepal), on domestic violence (China) and on traditional justice in indigenous communities (Ecuador); a reference guide for Albanian magistrates; a legal assistance guide for Haitian SGBV survivors; technical assistance for the International Commission of Inquiry for Guinea Conakry; training for justice sector personnel in the Great Lakes Region, Kenya, Paraguay and Thailand; South-South study tours for Ugandan police to Liberia and Sierra Leone; and specialized police units in South Sudan and Tanzania. Support to national institutions contributed to: India’s Integrated Women's Protection Scheme; and national coordination of Moldova’s Stakeholders Council on Violence against Women. UNIFEM also provided support to civil society and women’s organizations for initiatives, including: advocacy for the first special court on trafficking in Mumbai; using CEDAW to reform domestic violence redress in the Philippines. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, continued advocacy related to Security Council resolutions 1888 and 1889. UNIFEM participated in UNCT programmes and other inter-agency initiatives in many countries, such as in the development of the UN Action-supported strategy on sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Hide

DAW, now part of UN  Women, finalized the report of the expert group meeting on legislation to address harmful practices. The report sets out recommendations for legislation to address harmful practices against women, with particular attention to female genital mutilation, so called “honour” crimes, acid throwing, stove burning, and harmful practices related to marriage.

DAW, in cooperation with ECA, convened two multi-stakeholder workshops at sub-regional level, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in December 2009, bringing together representatives from 12 countries to support and accelerate legislative reform on violence against women.

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UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, provided support to civil society and women’s organisations for initiatives, including training for Pakistani civil society groups on masculinities; and developing a high school curriculum on violence against women in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, continued to provide technical and other support in the context of joint United Nations efforts in the Asia-Pacific region, engaging men and boys to prevent violence against women. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported the establishment of the Kacyriu Police Hospital One Stop Centre for survivors in Rwanda (with UNFPA and UNICEF) and the national mapping of organizations providing services for survivors of gender-based violence in Kenya. UNIFEM also continued to provide technical and other support in the context of joint United Nations efforts, including: in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, developing capacity of non-governmental organizations to provide legal services to survivors of domestic violence; in the Asia-Pacific region, engaging men and boys to prevent violence against women; and in Venezuela, strengthening referral networks, increasing access to services, and conducting psychological care and legal workshops. UNIFEM supported the development of an integrated protection plan for victims and witnesses of human rights violations in Colombia (with the Swiss Program for the Promotion of Peace). Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported public events and information dissemination on ending violence against women through various mediums, including: International Women’s Day in India, Nigeria and Viet Nam; youth conferences on sexual harassment in Egypt and on support to sexual and gender-based violence survivors in Tanzania; a Zimbabwe television series to highlight trafficking issues; a documentary on good practices in ancestral justice for indigenous women in Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador; and a youth rock concert in Colombia. Within an interagency programme in Haiti, UNIFEM supported the dissemination of information regarding especially to sexual and gender-based violence protection measures through media and schools (in collaboration with the Ministry for the Status of Women and Women's Rights). Hide