United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

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

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

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, facilitated the Wilton Park conference of May 2008 on the role of military peacekeepers in addressing sexual violence during armed conflict, and contributed to the dissemination of the results. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, completed the first issue of Words to Action, a quarterly newsletter designed to disseminate information about measures undertaken to address violence against women by: intergovernmental bodies of the United Nations; expert bodies, including the human rights treaty bodies; entities of the United Nations system; and States at the regional or sub-regional level.DAW, now part of UN Women, produced a brochure on the database on violence against women and the related questionnaire, which was distributed to Member States during the sixty-third session of the General Assembly and is available online. DAW participated in the closing conference of the Council of Europe Campaign to Combat Violence against Women, including Domestic Violence, in Strasbourg, France, in June, and in the 13th International Conference on Violence, Abuse and Trauma in California, United States of America, in September 2008. Hide

In May 2008, UN-INSTRAW, now part of UN Women, undertook an assessment of gender-based violence in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Noel in the Dominican Republic. The study revealed that there was very little attention to, or provision in post-disaster reconstruction efforts to address gender-based violence, particularly among residents of temporary shelters. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, provided legislative reform support to the Alliance on the elimination of violence against women in Pakistan; and support to the Regional Rights Training Team and UNDP in advocating for the passage of sexual and gender-based violence bills in Fiji and Vanuatu. 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, contributed to the development of national strategies and plans on gender-based violence in Afghanistan, Liberia and Ecuador. 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 collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), DAW, now part of UN Women, organized an expert group meeting on good practices in legislation on violence against women at the United Nations Office at Vienna, in May 2008. The report of the expert group meeting includes a model framework for legislation on violence against women with detailed recommendations and explanatory commentaries containing examples of good practice. Hide