United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

OSAGI, now part of UN Women, participates in the work of the task force responsible for preparation of the Secretary-General’s report on Security Council resolution 1820 (2008). Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, provided support to civil society and women’s organizations for initiatives including community-based Multi-purpose Centres in the Democratic Republic of Congo; HIV/AIDS and violence counselling protocols in Peru. Hide

During the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in 2008, OSAGI, now part of UN Women, and UNFPA organized a panel discussion with the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, which reviewed 15 years (1994-2009) of work of the mandate. OSAGI coordinated the performance of a play, “MIKA”, which highlighted the far-reaching impact of violence against women and which was also performed at United Nations Headquarters in December. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, worked to finalize the development of the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women and the website for the database, as well as to coordinate the launch of the database. It also followed up with Member States in order to obtain further responses to the questionnaire for inclusion in the database. DAW followed up with Member States in order to obtain further responses to the questionnaire for inclusion in the database. Hide

UNIFEM’s, now part of UN Women, support in the formulation, reform and implementation of legislation to address violence against women and girls, in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, included: domestic violence laws and bills in Indonesia and Thailand; a workshop for ASEAN Member States to review domestic violence legislation and best practices (October 2008); a regional workshop on coordinated community responses to domestic violence with local government representatives and civil society organizations (CSOs) (including UN Trust Fund grantees) from Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (October 2008); and a workshop on female genital mutilation/ cutting with Christian and Muslim leaders from West Africa (November 2008). Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, in partnership with various national government, bi-lateral government (donor), non-governmental and United Nations partners, supported legal aid to women survivors in the North of Uganda; training for Rwandan women survivors on handicraft, health and financial skills; the establishment of two referral centres in Afghanistan; efforts addressing post-election rape, including the development of guidelines to prepare women’s court testimonies in Kenya. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, continued to promote and disseminate the ‘Model Framework for Legislation on Violence against Women’, including through presentations at: UNICEF’s Expert Consultation on ‘Legislative Reform to Achieve Human Rights’, held in New York, in November 2008; the Third Conference for Members of Parliamentary Committees on the Status of Women and other Committees Dealing with Gender Equality, convened by the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, in December 2008, on ‘A parliamentary response to violence against women’; the OSCE Experts’ Seminar on ‘Innovative Approaches to Combating Violence against Women’, held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in October 2008; and a round table discussion on domestic violence legislation in Tajikistan, held at the United Nations Office in Tajikistan in October 2008. Hide

In Venezuela, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported gender-responsive budgeting work that resulted in the earmarking of funds for shelters, in selected municipalities. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported the financing of domestic violence courts with senior African judges and, gender-responsive budgeting work that resulted in the earmarking of funds for gender-justice courts and women's prisons in Venezuela. Hide

OSAGI, now part of UN Women, in collaboration with UNIFEM, UNFPA, UNIDO, UNICEF and UNDP, participates in the organization and support of the “International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security”, scheduled to take place in Monrovia, in Liberia, from 7 to 8 March 2009. OSAGI provided substantive contributions to the consultations organized by Member States and United Nations entities on the situation in Democratic Republic of Congo regarding the increase of sexual violence. Hide