United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

Lebanon PP

In 2017,  3 induction/capacity building sessions on GBV tools for around 12 youth-led NGOs active in different areas in Lebanon was organized. The main focus of the induction is Gender Roles & Societal Expectations from both Women and Men in Public and Private Spheres.  Furthermore,  to support the role of youth-led and women-led organizations,  UN Women  organized in partnership with ABAAD a GBV/Masculinity  TOT training workshop in October  2017 which involved 9 CSOs.  The 3  days’ workshop aimed  at  building the capacities of  participating NGOs  on  the concepts of human security,  gender based violence and masculinities and  addressing negative coping mechanism.  The CSOs were able to  utilize their newly acquired knowledge and technical skills while conducting GBV awareness raising sessions within their community to address stigma against GBV survivors and reduce all forms of violence.  

The UN Women Gender Specialist secondee to OCHA has been working closely with national and sub-national cluster coordinators, gender focal points and humanitarian funding partners to improve gender outcomes, including conducting training on Gender and Age Marker for 90 participants.

In Algeria, UN Women has reached an important milestone, in strenghtening the Ministry of National Solidarity, Family and Women Condition's (MSNFCF) capacities to collect data on women and girls victims of violence. A modernized and common data collection framework integrating international guidelines and indicators on WSV, with a focus on SDG 5, was developed by UN Women in partnership with the MSNFCF. The new administrative databased named "AMANE" will allow the MSNFCF and its different structures to collect comprehensive data on Survivors seeking aid from its services. All 54 professionals from the Directorates for Social Action and Solidarity (DASS) and from Women Shelter's have benefited from a specific training on how to use AMANE with a component on gender-based violence and gender issues.

As part of UN Women efforts in supporting the Palestinian police to improve the Family Protection and Juvenile Unit (FPJU) performance in dealing with VAW cases, and supporting the implementation of the capacity building plan of the FJPU, a two-day workshop has been conducted in Jan 2018 on cybercrimes against women and girls.  24 police officers from FJPU and the cybercrime unit have been targeted and agreed on recommendations to improve coordination between both units whe dealing with VAW cases.  following that, UNW facilitated a meeting  between heads of the specialized units of the cyber-crime and VAW, to reflect on the workshops main points  and present the findings and recommendations. Both units agreed to discuss internally proposed arrangements,  including the assginment of the  FJPU as the first responder for the cyber-crime -violence against women and  the aspects of coordination mechanisms between the units when dealing with VAW casesto ensure privacy and confidentiality. 

UN Women internal policies:

UN Women has policies which are available to its personnel. They receive these through their welcome letter the moment they join the organization, available links on our intranet pages, and in house non/mandatory courses and information sessions.

Here are the policies:

• The UN-Women Legal Framework for Addressing Non-Compliance with UN Standards of Conduct defines misconduct and the mechanisms within UN-Women for reporting and investigating it. The investigations function for UN-Women is assumed by the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which has the mandate to investigate all reports of alleged misconduct involving staff members and allegations of fraud and corruption, whether committed by staff members or outside parties.
• TheUN-Women Policy on Protection Against Retaliationestablishes "whistleblower protection."
• The UN Women Policy on Workplace Harassment and Abuse of Authority is a helpful document in providing definitions, measures of prevention, and steps to resolving improper conduct.

All new personnel receive a welcome letter to alert them that they need to complete all mandatory courses within 90 days of starting and these include three online courses related to ethics:

In addition to mandatory courses, there are non-mandatory quarterly workshops internally on Ethics and the Workplace provided both to HQ and field-based staff, both in person and online.

Egypt CO

UN Women Egypt in partnership with UN HABITAT carried out a gender analysis of transport patterns in Greater Cairo with the aim of informing the planning, design and tendering of the Bus Rapid Transit national project. A survey was conducted at public transport terminals to gather quantitative and qualitative sex-disaggregated data on passengers’ characteristics, travel patterns, travel costs, security and safety feelings, etc. Sex-disaggregated data proved to be useful to understand public transport usage and access by both women and men, their preferred transport modes, their experiences of harassment, threats to safety, cost of transport, etc. Then, to obtain in-depth information on women’s specific issues in relation to accessibility, affordability and safety in public transport, women-only focus groups were held in three different districts, where women’s mobility patterns were discussed, as well as issues related to their safety and security. In addition, train operators were asked a series of questions on transport, choice of routes, issues related to female passengers’ safety, including some questions on their perception and attitudes towards sexual harassment. The aim of this exercise was also to identify potential economic opportunities for women in the transport sector.

UN Women conducted two research pieces in partnership with Oxfam. A Gender and Conflict Analysis in ISIS Affected Communities of Iraq was published May 2017. A Gender Gap Analsyis is in the final review stages and is expected to be published in the second quarter of 2018.

In collaboration with the Centre for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), UN Women Regiona Office for the Arab States published the study "Estimating Costs of Marital Violence in the Arab Region" as a part of a regional project on estimating the cost of violence against women in the Arab region. This economic model measures the costs of intimate partner violence by estimating household costs associated with violence, community level costs of service provision, and costs related to women’s loss of productivity in the labour market. https://www2.unwomen.org/-/media/field%20office%20arab%20states/attachments/2017/estimating-costs-marital-violence-operational-model-english.pdf?la=en&vs=4616

In 2017, UN Women and REACH launched a report aimed to increase the understanding of the impact of the crisis on women’s access to basic services. The report identified specific issues related to harasshment and perception of safety among women living in communities hosting a larger number of refugees, including through their experience in accessing basic services and public spaces. UN Women is currently working with the Minister of Social Development and other actors in order to address key reccomendations presented in the report through targeted programming and pilot interventions in various Governorates of Jordan.

In 2017, UN Women supported the production of 3 unprecedented reports: (i) through the regional Programme “Men and Women for Gender equality”, UN Women supported the conduct of the International Men and women for Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), a study that provides a holistic look at the lives of men and women in the region of Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, including their experiences as children, (ii) through the same programme, UN Women supported the Center for Women's Studies in Islam (CERFI), a research center placed under the official religious institution to conduct a survey on perceptions regarding Qiwamah, i.e. the husband’s duty of providing financial support for his wife and children, (iii) in partnership with the Ministry of Justice, UN Women conducted the evaluation of the Family Mutual Aid Fund created in 2011 to support women who do not receive alimony payments.

Aiming at supporting the Palestinian police's Family Protection and Juvenile Unit (FPJU) in data collection and in effectively managing VAW cases, SAWASYA joint Program will support  the developemnt of RIAM (case information management system that will support the FPJU of the Palestinian Police and the Specialized prosecutors on VAW to applying the risk assessment template for GBV cases and preparing for the automation of the risk assessment process through this system). UNW has supported the FPJU and the Specialized Public Prosecutors in applying the risk assessment template in preparation for the automation of the risk assessment process through RIAM system. A workshop took place in August 2017 for police officers and specialized public prosecutors to introduce  the risk assessment template (RAT) that was piloted for 6 months in  2 districts.  

UNW Palestine office conducted different researches on VAW and women's access to justice to generate, documemt and disseminate knowledge and awareness.These included a study on women's access to justice in East Jerusalem, entitled " In the absence of justice", a study on  legal aid to women entitled " the impact of legal aid on womenn", women's access to formal and informal justice in Gaza, informal justice system and gender equality in the West Bank, the Situation of Access to informal and formal justice systems for women and girls with dissabilities.

Algeria PP

In Algeria, UN Women has reached an important milestone, in strenghtening the Ministry of National Solidarity, Family and Women Condition's (MSNFCF) capacities to collect data on women and girls victims of violence. A modernized and common data collection framework integrating international guidelines and indicators on WSV, with a focus on SDG 5, was developed by UN Women in partnership with the MSNFCF. The new administrative databased named "AMANE" will allow the MSNFCF and its different structures to collect comprehensive data on Survivors seeking aid from its services. All 54 professionals from the Directorates for Social Action and Solidarity (DASS) and from Women Shelter's have benefited from a specific training on how to use AMANE with a component on gender-based violence and gender issues.

As part of the internal “Take a Stand to end violence initiative” UN Women has a range of internal mechanisms available to protect, support and provide service to victims/survivors focused on the UN Women internal workforce.

Support and Emergency Services

• Financial support in terms of flexible salary advances or staff association loan programmes are considered a source of fast extra funds on a case by case basis, by HR and Finance;
• Flexible leave and advance leave requests; reduce and re-assign workload to avoid additional stress and give them time to concentrate on their case;
• Information in an aide memoir which has available country resources and support services and it is provided to all UN Women personnel;
• Counselling, UN Women personnel can contact UN Staff Counsellor or the Critical Incident Stress Management Unit for psychosocial support and assistance. UN Women also assists personnel in gaining access to psychosocial support. Further information on support can be accessed here: https://hr.un.org/page/how-contact-your-staff-counsellor or https://hr.un.org/page/mental-wellbeing-psychosocial-support. 

• Dedicated service provider at UN Women HQ: In cases in which UN Women personnel or dependents at Headquarters are affected by violence outside the workplace, affected person/s can contact a confidential and appropriate external specialized service provider directly. The service provider will arrange for referrals, as appropriate, to NYC-based services, including local hospitals that conduct sexual assault forensic examinations. Colleagues may also send an email to takeastand@unwomen.org. 
• Awareness: UN Women has information briefs on gender based violence and support for personnel here. These briefs are shared with all UN Women personnel, spouses and dependents to raise awareness of internal support and response mechanisms available for personnel who may be affected by gender-based security incidents. 

For NY HQ Colleagues

• In 2017, UN Women and Safe Horizon piloted a Gender Based Violence Hotline for its personnel which was available 24/7. After one year this pilot was discontinued, but UN women continues to inform the workforce on Safe Horizon’s general hotline number
• Dedicated intranet pages for personnel on Employee information and Understanding Violence: reporting internal misconduct; Guidance for Managers; Types of Violence; Recognizing the signs of Violence; and Supporting friends family and colleagues
• Multiple resources ranging from posters, cards and guidance materials for personnel.

DRC
Strengthening of the capacities of several sectoral ministry officials (gender, health, justice, interior, defense) and NGOs in several areas, especially results-based management, protocols for dealing with sexual violence, forensic expertise, etc.

SENEGAL
In Senegal, sector ministry staff benefited from capacity building on GBV. Women leaders, young people through cultural and sports associations and local communities through committees to combat violence.

CABO VERDE
 The continuous support provided in training capacities resulted in an increased capacity of key players, namely the police, the justice sector and the civil society organizations in implementing specific activities and actions in alignment with the recommendations of the conducted evaluation of the law implementation, namely spread awareness activities, assessment of the Rehabilitation Program of Men Offenders of GBV and the integration of GBV data and information in the information system of the operational management of the Ministry of Internal Administration.

MALI
UN Women trained 17 young Slam artists, who in turn reinforced the knowledge of 180 young students, girls and boys, who wrote and proclaimed poetic texts on GBV prevention and prevention during a slam contest in Bamako. A pool of 48 police officers was trained on the prevention and management of GBV survivors. 30 men from the media, the written and spoken press benefited from capacity building to raise awareness for prevention and report GBV cases to raise awareness among the population.

The support of the national police in the fight against GBV has been strengthened through a validated action plan that clearly defines the intervention strategy and results by 2020.

CAMEROON
UNW Cameroon training police officers. The capacity and the level of ownership of police forces as a primary protection actor on violence against women issues has significantly increased in 2017. Ministry of gender  staff working in the call center/GBV mobile Units had also been trained while magistrate of the ministry of justice had also been trained on GBV principles. 

LIBERIA
Liberia: Capacity building for national institutions with training conducted for 83 Women and Children Protection Officers, 65 prosecutors, city solicitors and court officials and 81 health workers.

NIGER 
Representatives of sectoral ministries, state institutions, men and women in the media (even a declaration of commitment for the promotion of women's rights in Niger), local authorities have benefited from capacity building of the UN WOMEN office on GBV, gender and the promotion of women's rights.

DRC
 Database on sexual and gender-based violence based at the Ministry of Gender, Child and Family is regularly updated. To facilitate its updating, communication spaces have been set up and made operational by UNFPA to facilitate organizations involved in data collection on sexual violence to enter data into the database.

SENEGAL
 Studies conducted by the research laboratory of the University of Saint Louis on gender and ANSD (Agence Nationale de la Statistique et de la Démographie) have provided Senegal with some representative data on the situation of violence. However, thanks to the efforts and advocacy of UN Women, the violence module will be integrated into the ongoing DHS (Demographic and Health Survey).

CABO VERDE
• Support the elaboration of IX CEDAW report;
• 2 evaluations conducted: assessment of the 6-years of GBV Law implementation and evaluation of the Programme of Rehabilitation of Men Offenders of GBV
• Development and public presentation of the study on Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services for women with disabilities – “Leaving no one behind” (implementing CEDAW’s recommendations for Cabo Verde – 2013)
• Technical and financial support to the ongoing DHS Survey (to be finalize in 2018), in which VAW data will be collected. UNW supported the DHS planning process by providing technical and financial support specially in the VAW module. New data that includes new types of VAW such as Genital Female Mutilation will be available for the first time in Cabo Verde mainly due to UNW advocacy.
• Technical and financial support to the integration of GBV data and information in the information system of the operational management (SIGO) of the Ministry of Internal Administration. The integration of a specific module on GBV will allow a quicker answer to the risk situation that GBV victims with gender specialized support provided by police sector. The data system is well prepared to integrate, and report complains of GBV crimes and to provide timely and useful information for data analyses and operation at a national level.

MALI
  A study conducted in 2015 by UN Women in the health services revealed that the hospital environment is a place of prevalence of several forms of violence against women. Both medical personnel and patients testified to the existence of acts of violence, including physical violence, particularly against women in childbirth. Faced with this bitter situation, UN Women, in partnership with the Ministry in charge of gender, developed a draft strategy with CSOs and health actors to combat GBV in health facilities. The adoption and operationalization of this new strategy should enable health actors to be more accountable for the treatment inflicted on women, who, in addition to suffering such violence, have limited access to basic social services in general.

CAMEROON
UNW Cameroon had been implementing with UNFPA the GBV IMS in the north of Cameroon(training  of actors, tools...)

LIBERIA
 Through the Government of Liberia/United Nations Joint Programme, UN Women along with UNDP and UNFPA is supporting the establishment of the GBV Information Management System to replace the simple excel spread sheet that is presently used by the Ministry to collate data information received from the county. In 2018, UN Women Liberia Office will compile reports of investigation and prosecution of SGBV cases to determine baseline and target for indicators and conduct a regular assessment on the prevalence of SGBV, FGM, Child Marriage and other HTP to inform the results at the end of the project period.

NIGER
The Islamic argument and the study of the impact of radio programs helped communities understand Islam's position on GBV, women's rights, gender equality and women's rights.  UN WOMEN Niger also carried out two studies on the national gender profile and the profile of survivors, documents with considerable data used by all actors. Thanks to the support of the office for the implementation of the AGDI study, gender-disaggregated data are available for all actors.

NIGERIA : The Development Partners Group on Gender(DPGG) including the federal and state ministries of women affairs were mobilized and technically guided to carry out various activities for the 16 Days of activism 2017

Egypt CO

UN Women Egypt in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Solidarity developed the capacities of over 1500 women community workers across Egypt, capitalizing on their facility to reach women and men in rural and remote areas, to raise the public’s awareness, through conducting house calls, awareness raising meetings, and other means, on the various forms of violence against women and their social and legal ramifications. The community workers also serve as a vital tool for disseminating information on the support services provided by credible organizations for women victims/survivors of violence. In addition, UN Women Egypt in collaboration with Care International Egypt supported the formation of a network of over 400 young volunteers (both women and men) and developed their capacities to engage community members; over 2600 members reached, utilizing innovative context sensitive approaches, such as interactive community theater, shadow theater, graffiti art in addition to conventional methods, such as door-to-door campaigns, to raise societal awareness of various forms of violence against women, change negative attitudes and beliefs of men towards violence against women, and the gender norms that normalize and justify gender inequality and violence. 

UN Women succeeded in establishing the Iraq National Steering Committee for the Women Peace and Humanitarian Fund with high level leadership and representation from the government in addition to the UNRC as co-chair and membership of women civil society, the donor community and the UNCT. UN Women, as WPHF Technical Management and Secretariat at global and national levels, convened  the first Steering Committee meeting in March. The National Steering Committee, will be in charge of providing strategic direction, oversight and coordination of implementation of their portfolio, including: provide a platform for partnership, coordination, advocacy and resource mobilization at the national level; manage the WPHF allocation for Iraq; monitor progress and provide oversight on project performance. UN Women has succeeded in securing funding of $2 million for Iraq from the governments of Canada and the UK. A call for proposals is expected to be announced in the second quarter under the guidance of the NSC.

A total of 255 beneficiaries (Jordanians and Syrians) have been reached from different subjects related to GBV and women’s’ rights through 11 awareness-raising activities. Social cohesion have been evident as a result of Including Syrians and Jordanians both in the awareness sessions. Under LEAP, UN Women and IFH organized five awareness raising sessions on protection and all forms of violence targeting 72 Syrian and Jordanian women and men. In addition, awareness of 154 Jordanians and Syrians were raised on issues related to early marriage and gender-based violence through scheduled plays ( through the Hemayati project). A discussion following the play between the audience and the moderator helped to clarify issues related to early marriage.  This approach promotes women's and girl's self-expression and self-awareness, while providing them with skills to articulate changes they would like to see in their reality. A consultative writing process (“writeshop”) was developed with key stakeholders to ensure ownership of the messages that feed into the development of a toolkit to disseminate specialized legal knowledge relating to violence against women and girls among non-specialized audiences. the toolkit was launched in November aiming at familiarizing and sensitizing readers with current gaps, challenges and realities of VAWG in Jordan in order to start a social dialogue that can foster positive changes in attitudes toward women and girls, as well as promote and inform legislative and policy changes. 

In 2017, UN Women MCO continued to develop its own initiatives, strengthened and broadened its support to CSOs, national partners and the private sector’s initiatives to prevent VAW. As a result, a wide audience was reached (more than 3 million people, including through regular tv spots on the main national tv channel) and was mobilized during sensitization efforts and numerous events organized all year-long, and largely intensified during the 16 Days campaign, with a specific focus this year on engaging men and boys through innovative communication campaigns. The MCO succeeded in engaging partner agencies through UNCT and the Gender thematic group, national Ministries (Women’s machinery, Ministry of Justice and Liberties, Ministry of Interior), national institutions (City councils and Wilayas in Marrakech and Rabat, the Parliament), multilateral organizations (European Union Delegation), CSOs, Universities, with young boys and girls, the media and the private sector (telecommunications, public transports).

UN Women Palestine office supported MA’AN (an NGO based in the Negev which focus on legal awareness and protection of women from West Bank and Gaza and Bedouin women who live in the Negev and are subject to Israeli jurisdiction) to conduct raising awarness workshops for the West bankers and Gazan women living in the Negev. Those women face challenging issues related to their legal status with the Israeli authorities (they hold a palestinian ID, but they  live  in  Israel with their spouses without any legal document)  and many suffer from family and intimate partner  violence. During the reporting period UN Women Palestine office supported MA'AN to organize 14 raising awareness workshops and targeted women from the West Bank and Gaza. The workshop covered the following issues: family status laws, residency, legal and citizenship rights and access to social and health services and VAW. Similarly, 4 workshops were  organized in the Negev targeted social workers on different issues; such as:  VAW, legal rights  of women from the West Bank and Gaza who are married to men from the Negev.  Additonally UNW Palestine office supported MA'AN in the publication of two legal newsletter discussing concerns related to the legal status and legal rights of West Bank and Gaza women who live in the Negev. 450 copies of the newsletter were printed and distributed. UNW Palestine supported Al- Muntada ( a coalition of 17 women's organizations that work on combatting VAW) to lead a national advocacy campaign on VAW,  including legal discirmination against women and the need to adopt a responsive FPB. The campaign included radio episodes, TV programmes, and field  awareness sessions in differnet districts , which aimed at raising awareness of public and participants on women's rights, VAW and rights' gaps existing within the applicable legislative framework in Palestine, and building allies to advocate for the adoption of a gender responsive Family Protection Bill.                  

Within SAWASYA - UNDP / UN Women Joint Programme on Strengthening the Rule of Law: Justice and Security for Palestinian People, the PCHR (The Palestinian Center for Human Rights) conducted 30 awareness raising sessions targeted  both males and females with  awareness sessions on femicide,  the so- called honour killing and women’s legal rights in remote and marginalized areas all over the Gaza Strip. Most of the interventions carried out within the project’s duration focused on providing legal awareness,  awareness sessions  about  the so-called " honor  killing" and femicide as a mechanism to prevent violence against women and engage men and youth mainly to advocate for women's rights- as a result of these interventions,  511 women and 247 men were targeted.

DRC
Multisectoral assistance to over 30,000 victims of survivors of sexual violence by organizations supported by United Nations agencies (UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO, UN AIDS, UNJHRO, UNHCR). 

SENEGAL 
UN Women supported the women's collective for peace in Casamance (Senegal) to set up a centre for the care of victims of violence, by providing them with health, justice and security services. This same "one stop center" model is replicated in 2 health centers through the Muskoka project for the medical care of women and girls’ victims of violence.

CABO VERDE
Continued technical support in strengthening capacities of CAV and Rede Sol, as the main existing structures for the assistance of victims, in the context of the GBV Law implementation. 

MALI 
To facilitate access to services for women and girls’ survivors of GBV, two "one-stop" holistic care centres where all care services will be available were initiated. 
The first Centre is initiated by UN Women through the Police Social Service on the left bank of Bamako and the second by UNFPA through the Commune V reference health centre on the right bank. These two centres will provide sufficient quality services to meet the specific needs of women and girls’ survivors of violence in and around Bamako District. In the light of the lessons learned from the previous programmes on care units, UN Women has begun to reflect on the functioning of victim care units in order to define a more practical content, which will increase the flow of functioning of these units and respond to recurrent difficulties encountered, such as conflicts of interest. To make the process of dealing with GBV victims effective and uniform, UN Women started the process of updating the Standard Operating Procedures with the involvement of all stakeholders
CAMEROON
UWN Cameroon, women and girls among refugees, IDPs, and host communities, including Boko Haram survivors know and use the protection mechanisms available to them through Un Women intervention in collaboration of others humanitarian actors. GBV survivors benefited from integrated services through different mechanisms: a) Women Cohesion Spaces, b) four GBV units in the Women Empowerment Centers c) Gender desks at police stations, and d) mobile clinics.

LIBERIA
 In 2017, 1,685 GBV survivors accessed the referral pathway and obtained services based on need.  A total of 1,225 survivors accessed health services, 1,028 reported case to the Women and Children Protection Section; 1,199 obtained psychosocial support with 88 provided legal aid. 120 were lodged in safe homes and 7 persons out of 1,225 were provided economic support.

NIGER 
Through the gender and humanitarian action projects, the UN Office for Women in Niger provided important support to displaced women, refugees and returnees in 2015-16. This is how he developed a holistic approach with the Gender and Humanitarian Action programme in Diffa where violence reached its paroxysm with the intervention of Boko Harm through a holistic approach, prevention and care of women, girls. 
The aim of the anti-violence component of this programme is to prevent violence through awareness-raising and the establishment of a system for dealing with victims of violence:
 Activities implemented: 
- The creation of cohesion spaces in Cablewa, Boudouri and Sayam Forage;
- The creation of gender units in the services of the National Guard, the Gendarmerie and the Police to care for survivors of GBV in Diffa;
- Training SDFs on gender, taking gender into account in their security actions;
- Awareness campaign on GBV with parliamentarians in Diffa;
 The following results were achieved:
- More than 100,000 people were sensitized on women's rights and gender-based violence with parliamentarians in the Garin Wazam, Kablewa, Buduri, Tam, Mainie Soroa and Sayam Forage camps in the Diffa region;
- More than 400 police forces (police, gendarme, national guard) were trained on gender, GBV, GBV survivor care, etc;
- Three spaces of cohesion have been created in the camps (these spaces allow women to get together in a safe environment and discussed issues related to women's rights, GBV with the support of a psychologist) for discussions on GBV and GBV management.
- An alert system is created between the camps equipped health centres gender law enforcement units for a coordinated intervention between these different services for faster care;
- Five units were created to take charge within the FDS structure: 2 units in the gendarmerie; 2 units in the police and one unit in the National Guard;
- Five documentary films were made as part of this awareness campaign on women's rights, the fight against GBV and harmful practices.
All these achievements have contributed to raising awareness of women's rights, significantly reducing GBV, and taking care of survivors with great innovations through cohesion spaces and gender units.

NIGERIA
 UN Women Nigeria during the reporting period continued its advocacy to end GBV at national and its programmes states levels. During the 16 Days of Activism, it organised a symposium titled; Mobilizing to Eradicate Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Institutions to discuss GBV in education, with particular reference to sexual harassment in tertiary institutions and to explore how leadership, advocacy and alliance-building can create an enabling environment for the eradication of sexual harassment in educational institutions. There were also several media advocacy by UN Women and her partners 
 Also UN Women supported the federal ministry of women affairs and partners to collate the Nigeria Periodic Report on CEDAW 
106 Chiboks Girls rescued from Boko Haram returned to school following UN Women collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and other partners  

Egypt CO

UN Women Egypt in close collaboration with the National Council for Women (NCW) supported the comprehensive review of the Personal Status Laws (family laws) and Penal Code to analyze the impact of such laws on women's ability to access justice for all forms of violence. The process brought together multiple actors in the justice chain, including members of the judiciary, prosecution, police, social affairs, in addition to specialized councils to develop draft laws and/or amend existing ones to prevent violence against women, punish perpetrators, and ensure the rights of survivors. As a result of several rounds of consultations by national stakeholders, a draft comprehensive law on violence against women, that aims to support a comprehensive response to survivors of violence, including the provision of support and protection services, was developed and will be submitted to parliament by the NCW.

UN Women has been advocating for the passage of The Anti-Domestic Violence Law, introduced to parliament in 2015 and still under review. In January 2017, the law was presented to discussion in front of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, however it failed to pass the committees. The strengths of the draft bill include provisions for services for domestic violence survivors, protection orders (restraining orders) and penalties for their breach, and the establishment of a cross-ministerial committee to combat domestic violence. However, the law does not set penalties for committing the crime of domestic violence, does not repeal provisions in the Iraqi Penal Code that condone domestic violence (such as weaker penalties for ‘honor crimes’), and prioritizes reconciliation over justice. 

Morocco MCO

UN Women first acted through supporting the civil society in its advocacy efforts to align draft law no 103.13 with international norms and standards, and more especially through supporting the memorandums of the coalition Printemps de la Dignité composed of 25 NGOs throughout the national territory. The coalition is specialized in advocating to the government and to the Parliament on laws and public policies related to EVAW, and has developed a Memorandum on each of the expected reforms and defended their arguments before the Ministry of Justice. UN Women has supported the coalition providing it with tools and guidance on international norms, laws and strategies to EVAW.

UN WomenPalestine supported national counterparts to develop a Family Protection Bill (FPB) in line with international human rights standards. UNW's  support included technical advice to the technical committee that was formed by the Council of Ministries to work on the FPB. UNW also facilitated the engagement of the CSOs in this process through sensitizing partners on the rights of CSOs to take part in this process and supporting CSOs simultaneously by providing them with technical and financial support to advocate for the adoption of a responsive bill. UNW has also supported the justice sector strategy to identify legislative priorities for the years 2017- 2022 , which included the penal code, the personal status law, the family protection bill, cybercrime law and others. 

Lebanon PP

UN Women  Lebanon, in cooperation with several activist civil society organizations, supported a campiagn in 2016 to repeal article 522 of the Penal Code related to rape-marriage,  which releases the perpetrator in case he marries the victim. In  June 2017,  the campaing efforts  were  materialized  with the approval of the Parliament to repeal the article.