Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

OHCHR supported fact-finding missions and Commissions of Inquiry which, inter alia, look into violence against women including sexual violence in Mali, and Central African Republic. In October 2013, OHCHR, in collaboration with UN WOMEN, organised a meeting to review efforts to strengthen expertise of Commissions of Inquiry and Fact-Finding Missions in the area of sexual and gender-based violence.

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In South Sudan, OHCHR provide support to the government to establish a high-level policy panel to improve women’s access to justice including the launching of mobile-courts to speed up legal proceedings, review of the criminal justice system.

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OHCHR initiated research on how human rights mechanisms have addressed harmful gender stereotypes and wrongful gender stereotyping aimed at informing further work to promote greater attention to states obligations and promising practices. The organization also continued its support to female human rights defenders through awareness-raising on the UN framework on the protection of human rights defenders; a regional workshop in Lebanon on women human rights defenders from Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco which brought together women human rights defenders and UN country representatives, including the SRVAW; an internship for two women human rights defenders from Papua New Guinea in Nepal in order to strengthen their monitoring and documentation capacity on sorcery-related killings of women and violations against women. Hide

OHCHR continues to be an active player in efforts to promote accountability for sexual violence through support for legislative reform, training for judges and lawyers, and activities to raise survivors’ awareness of their rights. For example, In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Joint Human rights Office of MONUSCO continued to provide support to mobile courts in addressing sexual violence cases as well as to survivors of sexual violence in the areas of Bukavu and Shabunda; through the “Joint Investigation Teams”, the UNJHRO has provided support to military prosecutors to investigate serious and credible allegations of sexual violence in remote areas. In 2013, 1625 victims of sexual violence received assistance in taking their cases to court. Of the 1625 victims, 406 received judgments on the merits. Magistrates of the Cour d'Appel, Parquet General, l'auditorat Militaire Superieur and Cour Militaire have improved their management of sexual violence cases and demonstrated an increased sensitivity to victims. Data collection of sexual violence cases has also improved through the training of clerks and secretaries of parquets. In addition, OHCHR facilitated the training of doctors in medico-legal issues relating to sexual violence. In Guinea, OHCHR assisted the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict in deploying an expert to the Ministry of Justice to assist the judges in their mandate, especially with regard to victim and witness-protection programmes. Hide

OHCHR in collaboration with WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA has developed a Technical Guidance on the application of a human rights-based approach to implementation of policies and programmes for the reduction of preventable maternal mortality and morbidity in a variety of contexts and intends to pilot it also in partnership with the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. Hide

In the context of the Swiss week to combat trafficking in persons, OHCHR, in cooperation with ILO, IOM and UNHCR organized an expert panel on all forms of human exploitation, including trafficking. Hide

OHCHR, as a member of the Team of Experts on rule of law, supported the Team and contributed to strengthening the capacity of national rule of law and justice actors to address impunity for conflict-related sexual violence, including in DRC, Cote d’Ivoire and Somalia. Hide

In 2013, the El Salvador Protocol for the Investigation of Feminicide which was developed with the support of OHCHR was adopted by the General Prosecutor Office and has been incorporated into the regular training curriculum of Salvadorian prosecutors. OHCHR organized an expert meeting on victims and witness protection in May 2013 to contribute to the development of a related tool, with a special focus on the protection of victims of sexual and gender-based violence. Hide

Numerous UN entities, as key member of the Secretary-General’s Campaign Unite to End Violence Against Women and Girls, launched various campaigns and events to mark the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in 2013. For example, OHCHR created a dedicated web page, organised an online panel discussion on the role of small arms on gender-based violence. UNDP organized a meeting in Namimbia aimed at mobilizing men in EVAW. Hide

In Kosovo, OHCHR published a study on sexual gender-based violence related to the conflict and actively advocated towards the adoption of a law for reparations of survivors of sexual violence, which is still with the Kosovo Assembly for further discussion. To assist the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325, OHCHR provided countries with financial and technical support to implement national actions plans such as Kosovo, or develop such plans, such as Guinea, which eventually adopted a national action plan (2013-2017). In December 2013, OHCHR organised a workshop in Cairo, on “Monitoring places of detention for women” and “The implementation of National Action Plans for 1325”with participants from NHRIs and civil society from Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Qatar and Yemen. Hide