United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, provided support to national surveys on gender-based violence in Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Uganda, as well as the second iteration of the Cambodian Gender Assessment, including in regard to violence against women. Hide

In June 2008, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, organized a workshop with representatives from Afghanistan, Haiti, Liberia, Rwanda, Timor-Leste and Uganda as part of a programme on Supporting Women’s Engagement in Peace-Building and Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict: Community-Led Approaches. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, and DFID supported a conference organized by the Rwandan Defense Forces in Kigali in March 2008 on women’s participation in peacekeeping missions, as part of prevention of gender-based violence. In collaboration with UNFPA and UNDP, UNIFEM organized a satellite session “From acknowledgement to action: Intersections between violence against women and HIV/AIDS”, at the International Conference on AIDS in Mexico City, in August 2008.UNIFEM leads or partners on several joint United Nations initiatives on violence against women, including programmes in Bangladesh, Colombia and Morocco; the Asia Pacific Regional Joint Programme Partners for Prevention: Working with Boys and Men to Prevent Gender-based Violence; and the One UN pilots in Albania, Rwanda and Uruguay, which include violence against women in their programming. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported the issuance of two publications to raise awareness about the linkages between violence against women and HIV, namely “The Multiple Faces of the Intersections Between HIV and Violence Against Women” and “Women, Violence and HIV&AIDS: Exploring Interfaces”. Hide

In June 2008, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, in cooperation with UNICEF, OHCHR, UNFPA and the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, held a regional consultation towards the creation of the regional action plan to eradicate sexual violence and end impunity in the Great Lakes Region. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, collaborated with several agencies to support “Women on the Frontline”, a seven-part series of the BBC aired in April 2008 that profiled forms of violence against women around the globe. Hide

In February 2008, UN-INSTRAW, now part of UN Women, in collaboration with the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), published the Gender and Security Reform Toolkit that aim to support gender mainstreaming; the participation of women in the security sector; the capacity-building of the security sector to respond to violence against women. The toolkit includes 12 tools and corresponding practice notes on gender and police reform, gender and border management, gender and justice reform, and gender training for security personnel, among other topics. The Gender and SSR Toolkit was launched during the fifty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Advocacy is being carried out among Member States and other stakeholders to encourage the use of the toolkit in ongoing security sector reform processes. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, co-sponsored, together with the Permanent Missions of Canada and of Finland to the United Nations, the presentation of the book "Violence against Women: An International Perspective" which presents comparative results for nine of the countries which have implemented the International Violence Against Women Survey (IVAWS). Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, in collaboration with Avon Products, Inc. convened a global summit in March 2008 wherein Avon Products, Inc. committed $1 million to the UN Trust Fund – the Fund’s largest single, annual, private sector contribution ever. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, advocated for the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008) on sexual violence in conflict. As Chair of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, UNDP/Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) advocated with Security Council members for the adoption of Security Council resolution 1820 (2008). Hide