United Nations Population Fund
Background
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is the leading UN agency dedicated to advancing a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
UNFPA works tirelessly to further gender equality and women’s empowerment, while addressing the causes and consequences of violence against women and girls, with a particular focus on its impact on women’s sexual and reproductive health.
Policy framework
UNFPA is guided by and promotes the principles of the groundbreaking Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (1994), which includes the commitment that advancing gender equality and equity and the empowerment of women, and the elimination of all kinds of violence against women, and ensuring women’s ability to control their own fertility are cornerstones of population and development-related programmes.
Areas of Focus
It remains a strategic priority for UNFPA to prevent and respond to gender-based violence across humanitarian, peace and development settings, including eliminating harmful practices such as female genital mutilation, child marriage and gender-biased sex slection. UNFPA supports comprehensive, survivor-centred responses in humanitarian, development, and peace-responsive actions across more than 150 countries. In 2023, UNFPA invested $505 million in initiatives to eliminate GBV and harmful practices.
UNFPA’s Work on GBV:
Advocacy/Policy:
UNFPA collaborates with national and international stakeholders to address gaps in legislation and law enforcement related to GBV and harmful practices. It supports the development of culturally sensitive, rights-based policies and plans for GBV prevention and response, with a strong emphasis on integrating these efforts into the health sector. UNFPA also works to align national frameworks with international agreements such as the SDGs, CEDAW and the Beijing Platform for Action.
Capacity Development:
UNFPA partners with women’s and youth feminist organizations, civil society, governments, and other stakeholders to transform harmful gender and social norms to promote gender equality in families, communities and institutions. . It focuses on building the capacity of governments, civil society, and service providers to respond and prevent GBV, across the social services, health, legal and justice and education sectors.
Data and Evidence Generation:
UNFPA plays a critical role in collecting, analyzing, and utilizing data to understand the prevalence, incidence, and impact of GBV worldwide. It partners with national statistics offices and relevant ministries to strengthen national data systems and ensure the ethical collection of GBV-related data. Through initiatives like kNOwVAWdata UNFPA provides technical support and capacity building for evidence-based policymaking in several regions and languages.
In humanitarian settings, UNFPA co-leads the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS), which harmonizes data collection across 25 crisis contexts. An adapted version of GBVIMS is also used in development settings to safely collect, store, analyze, and share survivor-reported data. These efforts ensure that data informs decision-making, resource allocation, and the development of effective GBV prevention and response programmes.
Service Delivery:
UNFPA promotes a survivor-centred integrated approach to addressing GBV through dynamic systems of prevention, protection, and response, including through sexual and reproductive health services. It strengthens survivors’ access to quality health care, social services, and legal and justice support, guided by the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence and the Interagency Minimum Standards on Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies Programming. UNFPA also leads the Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility (GBV AoR) under the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, coordinating global and national efforts to address GBV interventions in humanitarian settings.
From 2023 to 2026, with the support of Takeda, UNFPA is implementing the Women at the Center programme, which strengthens case management and professional social-service workforce capacities in Azerbaijan, El Salvador, Indonesia, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe.
Preventing GBV:
UNFPA works to dismantle harmful social and gender norms that perpetuate inequality and violence. It implements prevention programming as outlined in the RESPECT framework, partnering with UN Women, WHO, and UNDP. UNFPA also promotes comprehensive sexuality education as a primary prevention tool, fostering gender-equitable attitudes among adolescents to reduce violence and promote healthier relationships.UNFPA also engages communities, including men and boys in advancing gender equality and ending harmful practices, while remaining accountable to feminist movements.
Responding to GBV Across Contexts:
UNFPA supports comprehensive, survivor-centred responses in both humanitarian and development settings, ensuring access to health care, social services, and legal support. Its initiatives are guided by the Flourish: UNFPA Gender-Based Violence Operational Plan and the UNFPA Strategy and Operational Plan to Scale Up and Strengthen Interventions on Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies 2023–2025. UNFPA also addresses the growing intersections between GBV, climate change, protracted crises, and population movements, working across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus to strengthen preparedness, resilience, and long-term development.
Addressing Technology-Facilitated GBV (TFGBV):
UNFPA has been leading work on addressing TFGBV since 2021 with publication of Making All Spaces Safe: Technology-facilitated GBV and have now launched the Making All Spaces Safe global programme (2024–2027), with the support of Global Affairs Canada, to tackle this issue. This initiative focuses on addressing TFGBV through comprehensive, survivor-centred programming. It integrates digital literacy into prevention and response mechanisms, advocates for rights-based law reform, and promotes safety-by-design standards to mitigate harm. The programme is being implemented globally, with a focus on Kenya and Benin, to address the evolving nature of GBV in digital spaces. UNFPA are also leading the Safety Showcase: Re-imagining Gender in Technology with the support the United Kingdom to highlight tech products, policies and features that represent gender at the centre of design and deployment.
Global Initiatives and Partnerships:
UNFPA is a key partner in the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women, supporting civil society initiatives worldwide. It also actively participates in the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, advocating for increased activism to ensure women and girls can live free from violence and coercion. Through its global programmes and partnerships, UNFPA continues to set standards for survivor-centred care and drive transformative change to end GBV in all its forms.
Resources
An Infographic Guide on Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/infographic-guide-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-tfgbv)
A Framework for TFGBV Programming (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/framework-tfgbv-programming)
Our Bodies, Our Rights! Addressing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Gender-based Violence for Women and Young People with Disabilities (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/our-bodies-our-rights-addressing-sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-rights-and-gender)
UNFPA Strategy and Operational Plan to Scale-up and Strengthen Interventions on Gender-based Violence in Emergencies, 2023-2025: Executive Summary (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/unfpa-strategy-and-operational-plan-scale-and-strengthen-interventions-gender-based)
Flourish. UNFPA Gender-Based Violence Operational Plan: Summary (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/flourish-unfpa-gender-based-violence-operational-plan-summary)
Guidance on the Safe and Ethical Use of Technology to Address Gender-based Violence and Harmful Practices: Implementation Summary (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/implementation-summary-safe-ethical-use-technology-gbv-harmful-practices)
A Guide to Better Understanding and Using Violence Against Women Prevalence Data (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/guide-better-understanding-and-using-violence-against-women-prevalence-data)
2022 Global Symposium on Technology-facilitated Gender-based Violence Results: Building a Common Pathway (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/2022-global-symposium-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-results-building)
Measuring technology-facilitated gender-based violence. A discussion paper (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/measuring-technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-discussion-paper)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Feminist Design (https://www.unfpa.org/resources/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-feminist-design)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Rights-Based Regulation (https://www.unfpa.org/resources/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-rights-based-regulation)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Data and Measurement (https://www.unfpa.org/resources/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-data-and-measurement)
Addressing Gender-Based Violence Across Contexts: Gender-Based Violence Interagency (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/addressing-gender-based-violence-across-contexts-gender-based-violence-interagency)
Addressing Gender-Based Violence Across Contexts: Gender-Based Violence Interagency Minimum Standards and the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/unfpa-implementation-essential-services-package-women-and-girls-subject-violence)
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence: Making All Spaces Safe (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/technology-facilitated-gender-based-violence-making-all-spaces-safe)
Getting to Zero: Mapping UNFPA Leadership on Ending Gender-based Violence (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/getting-to-zero)
Reporting on Gender-Based Violence in Humanitarian Settings: A Journalist’s Handbook (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/reporting-gender-based-violence-humanitarian-settings-journalists-handbook)
The RESPECT framework: https://respect-prevent-vaw.org/
The Inter-Agency Minimum Standards for Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies Programming (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/inter-agency-minimum-standards-gender-based-violence-emergencies-programming)
Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/essential-services-package-women-and-girls-subject-violence)
Minimum Standards for Prevention and Response to Gender-based Violence in Emergencies (https://www.unfpa.org/publications/minimum-standards-prevention-and-response-gender-based-violence-emergencies-0)
In the East and Southern Africa Region, UNFPA and WHO co-developed and co-facilitated a joint training to support integrated SRHR and GBV services. The 6-week training had around 90 participants from 14 countries in East and Southern Africa.
As of August 2021, 128 participants from 35 countries are enrolled in the kNOwVAWdata course, to develop and strengthen their skills on safe and ethical VAW data collection, analysis and reporting.
UNFPA is committed to strengthening the capacity of governments, implementing partners, and its own staff to prevent and respond to GBV effectively.
View MoreUNFPA is committed to strengthening the capacity of governments, implementing partners, and its own staff to prevent and respond to GBV effectively. Through comprehensive training and capacity-building initiatives, UNFPA equips all actors involved in GBV prevention and response with the necessary knowledge, skills, and systems.
- As of February 2025, 300 participants from 67 countries have completed the kNOwVAWdata course, focusing on safe, ethical VAW data collection, analysis, and reporting.
- ASRO supported Al-Azhar in conducting TOT workshops for students from Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan, and Yemen, training future religious leaders to address GBV, FGM, and child marriage. ASRO also helped develop a framework for a Religious Leaders Network to enhance collaboration in combating harmful practices.
- In EECA, UNFPA strengthened multi-sectoral responses to GBV through regional ToT workshops, training 35 stakeholders per country and developing tools for monitoring and implementing standard operating procedures.
- PSRO developed and rolled out a GBV Risk Mitigation Curriculum for the Pacific Sub-Region, focusing on climate disaster contexts, across 4 countries.
- WCARO conducted capacity-building workshops on the Essential Services Package and GBV case management in The Gambia and Equatorial Guinea for UN personnel, government officials, and partners.
- In LAC, UNFPA developed 3 self-administered virtual courses on the Essential Services Package, clinical management of sexual violence, and child marriage prevention, reaching over 10,000 public servants across 15 countries. From these courses, a community of practice was established, running from 2020 to 2022 and generating 20 webinars on GBV, with 1.6k subscribers and 198k views. Moreover, since 2021, UNFPA and PAHO have developed a course on the clinical management of sexual violence in Latin America. The course has been disseminated at the regional level and is currently being rolled out by the ministries of health in four countries: El Salvador, Brazil, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
As part of the Phase II of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on FGM/C, to strengthen the inter-linkages between VAWG and harmful practices such as FGM/C, and address the root causes of such violence, UN Women has developed is developing policy document on essential elements to end FGM/C as a form of VAWG, in addition to a training module on gender and FGM/C, to accompany the UNFPA-UNICEF Manual on Social Norms and Change.
In Belarus, in partnership with UNFPA, UNICEF and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, IOM provided tools and technical assistance to NGOs to improve national capacity to counteract and prevent domestic violence, especially against women and children. This project launched a Pilot Seminar on the relationship between domestic violence and trafficking in women and children. Counter-trafficking NGOs, judges, prosecutors, law-enforcement officials and representatives of the border troops of Belarus participated in this event. The seminar has brought the attention to and initiated a dialogue among the relevant actors on this topic. It established a forum for relevant parties to work together and improve various legal and support provisions for victims of trafficking and domestic violence. Overall, ten NGOs, 75 NGOs’ staff members, 45 law-enforcement officials and over 40 other specialists received training as part of this project. The project also referred at least 700 victims of domestic violence for specialized assistance.