United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

UN Women prepared reports of the Secretary General to the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly on Violence against women migrant workers (A/66/212) and on the Girl-child (A/66/257); as well as a report of the Secretary General to the fifty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) on Ending female genital mutilation (E/CN.6/2012/8). UNICEF provided technical inputs to both reports. Hide

Under the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund-EVAW), UN Women was supporting activities to monitor cases of sexual and gender-based violence committed under the Khmer Rouge regime, as well as to build safe working conditions for women workers. Hide

UN Women continued to maintain and update the Secretary-General’s database on violence against women. As of 31 January 2012, a total of 119 responses to the questionnaire on violence against women were received and uploaded into the database. In March 2011, UN Women gave a presentation, as a side event during the 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, on how to use the Secretary-VCGeneral’s database on violence against women and the Virtual Knowledge Center to End Violence Against Women and Girls. Participants to the demonstration were delegates of Permanent Missions to the United Nations, officials of Member States’ ministries, and non-governmental organizations. Hide

UN Women developed, as requested by the Secretary-General and in collaboration with DPKO and UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, early warning indicators of conflict-related sexual violence, to be adapted to relevant country-based contexts, integrated into existing and emerging early warning systems, and used by a broad range of protection actors. These indicators were endorsed by the UN Action Steering Committee and will be rolled out in 2012. Hide

UN Women organised a workshop jointly with the Ministry of Women and Child Development in India (Goa) in September 2011 to strengthen capacity of National Women’s Machineries at State and Central levels on gender and planning, which deliberated on integration of trafficking, gender biased sex-selection and violence against women in development planning. Hide

In Algeria, UN Women contributed to the institutional operational Plan of the National Strategy for the elimination of Violence against Women, in partnership with UNFPA and UNDP. UN Women also provided assistance to the process of transitional Justice, specifically to the Tunisian Commission investigating human rights violations during the revolution to strengthen its capacities in terms of gender consideration in its mandate.As the lead agency for the joint Millenium Development Goals Achievement Fund (MDG-F) Gender Programme in Morocco, UN Women has greatly contributed to the implementation of the National Strategy to combat VAW (SNLCVF) at two levels: the establishment of legal reforms (Penal code, domestic labor), as well as the strategy’s implementation at the local level, particularly through the empowerment of women's survivors of violence through income generating activities in 6 Moroccan regions. UN Women also supported the national women's machinery (MDSFS) in the country to coordinate and finalize the adoption of the Gender Equality Agenda for 2011-2015 (March 2011).In Cambodia, UN Women offered technical assistance and support to policy formulation and implementation by national partners. In preparation for Cambodia’s new National Action Plan against Violence Against Women (NAPVAW), UN Women has been generating action-oriented research on gender norms and costing of violence. Hide

In Bolivia, with the sponsorship of UN Women, the Centre for Integral Development of Aymara Women (CDIMA) worked with local authorities from the municipalities of Mocomoco, Comanche and Simanco. Following this collaboration, the authorities signed agreements to ensure indigenous women´s access to justice in particular in cases of gender based violence. In the process of improving women´s access to justice, CDIMA has strengthened the coordination between ordinary jurisdiction and indigenous justice systems. Hide

The report of the High Level Panel on remedies and reparations for victims of sexual violence in the DRC was launched in March 2011. A joint follow-up project with UN Women was developed and is being implemented. It focuses on the development of small pilot initiatives in the areas of Bukavu and Shabunda, in close consultations with the victims and with the participation of the State. They include economic reinsertion initiatives; symbolic reparations and support for payment of court awarded damages. Hide

With the assistance of UN Women, the national machinery for women (MASEF) and the National Statistical Office (ONS) in Mauritania launched the first national survey on the prevalence of violence against women (VAW). This survey will establish a baseline of accurate data that will allow the development of a policy on gender-based violence and provide stakeholders with reliable and relevant information that will help define strategic guidelines in the field of VAW. UN Women also organized for the capacity building of non-governmental organizations in Mauritania, Algeria, and Tunisia on counseling techniques, data collection, and database management improved the ability of counselors to assist women survivors of violence and elaborate relevant periodic reports on gender-based violence based on the collected data. Hide

In Nepal, UN Women advocated with concerned ministries for allocating budget for responding to gender-based violence (GBV). As a result, specific programmes and budgets were allocated by the government for ending GBV in fiscal year 2011-2012. In addition, GBV has been enlisted as one of the sub-indicators for ascertaining gender responsive budgeting (GRB). Hide