United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

DAW, now part of UN Women, in cooperation with ESCWA’s Centre for Women, convened a regional capacity building workshop on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women for judges and parliamentarians from 13 countries in Western Asia, in Amman, Jordan, in October 2007. The meeting focused on follow-up to the Secretary-General’s study on violence against women and General Assembly resolution 61/143, and on family law. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, compiled information about recent activities of the entities of the United Nations system in follow-up to General Assembly resolutions 61/143 and 62/133, to complement the Inventory of United Nations system activities on violence against women, which was uploaded on the DAW website in July 2007. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, participated in a regional conference on legal reform on domestic violence in Sofia, Bulgaria, in February 2008. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, in partnership with national counterparts, ministries, civil society and UN sister agencies, provided support for the development of national strategies and plans in Albania, Algeria, Ecuador, Guyana, Kazakhstan and Slovakia.Under the UNIFEM-supported Safe Cities Programme in the Southern Cone of Latin America, a protocol is under development to guide the Urban Municipal Guard in Rosario, Argentina, in responding to gender-based violence, which is stimulating policy reforms in Santa Clara, Chile, and lessons are being shared with local authorities in Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. Hide

DAW, now part of UN Women, prepared reports of the Secretary-General to the sixty-second session of the General Assembly on intensification of efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women (A/62/201) and violence against women migrant workers (A/62/177); as well as reports of the Secretary-General to the fifty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women on ending female genital mutilation (E/CN.6/2008/3) and forced marriage of the girl child (E/CN.6/2008/4).In follow–up to General Assembly resolution 61/143, DAW, in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) and the United Nations Statistics Division, organized an expert group meeting on “Indicators to measure violence against women”, Geneva, Switzerland, October 2007. DAW and UNSD are supporting a joint dialogue of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Statistical Commission, on 28 February 2008, to discuss the outcomes and proposed indicators of the expert group meeting. DAW has initiated work for the development of a coordinated database on violence against women, as requested by the General Assembly (A/RES/61/143, para. 19). Hide

The UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, Goodwill Ambassador launched a global internet-based campaign (www.sayNOtoviolence.org) in consultation with UN sister agencies, NGOs and private sector. UNIFEM is a founding member of and hosts the Secretariat for the UN Action to End Sexual Violence in Conflict Situations. Hide

UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, supported the Kosovo Police Service (KPS) and Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) to establish a gender working group in the Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Investigation section. WFP supported the establishment of two Gender Desks in the National Police and in the Ministry of Defence, in Rwanda. The primary task of these units is to assist Concerned National Institutions and other stakeholders to address issues related to gender-based violence. Hide

In China, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, support to the Xuzhou Domestic Violence Shelter is being considered for nation-wide scale-up by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Hide

In Grenada, St. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, is supporting implementation of a court-based batterer intervention programme. Hide

The Special Adviser on Gender Issues raises the question of violence against women in various forums, meetings and during missions, and brings serious and massive violations of women’s human rights to the attention of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. OSAGI , now part of UN Women, developed a Leaders’ Advocacy Kit to combat gender-based violence, in collaboration with several entities of the United Nations system. Hide