United Nations Development Programme

UNDP Argentina, with a view towards guaranteeing access to justice for women, including victims of violence, implemented a joint programme (with UNIFEM, UNICEF, PAHO/WHO, UNFPA, and UNIC) to develop a training protocol on gender and gender-based violence in the judiciary. 120 civil servants were trained and will continue by training others in the 24 provinces, including all judicial staff, during 2011. Hide

UNDP-Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) has recruited an expert to contribute to the Team of Experts who will be in post as of February 2011. The Expert will undertake the technical work and deployments of the Team of Experts, whilst BCPR Rule of Law, Justice and Security team and senior management will continue to be closely engaged with the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict and the Team of Experts Team Leader regarding the overall strategy and direction of the Team. Hide

UNDP Argentina, with UNICEF and UNIFEM, continues to support the work of a Domestic Violence Office at the National Supreme Court of Justice, which has provided assistance to 13,000 victims of domestic violence the last two years (80% women and 20% men, mainly boys). The office has collected and disseminated statistics on the issue of violence against women for the first time in the history of Argentina’s justice system. Three more similar offices opened in the provinces of Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, and Salta. Hide

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, UNDP supported NGOs to establish eight paralegal centers at the community level; two in North Kivu and six in South Kivu. The paralegal centers have assisted with more than 183 cases by providing information and orientation to victims and ultimately positively influencing national peace processes and contributing to post-crisis recovery and peace-building. In partnership with Avocats Sans Frontieres, UNDP supported the South Kivu Bar Association to launch a pro bono office providing legal aid, now serving Bukavu. As a result of the collective efforts of the international community to support the strengthening of the rule of law in Eastern DRC to counter sexual gender-based violence and through the leading role of UNDP leading role in these efforts (training, mentoring, logistics and equipment to police, victims, paralegals and lawyers), two important investigations were conducted in Walikale territory following the large number of rapes which occurred in May and August 2010. Hide

In Nepal, UNDP and UN Women public awareness materials on gender-based violence and the Anti-Domestic Violence Act were distributed. UNDP also partnered with the Office of Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers to organize a public awareness event in support of the “16-days of Activism Campaign” against gender-based violence. Hide

As part of the Strengthening Community Safety through Local Government Capacity-Building project being implemented in Kingston, Jamaica in partnership with UN HABITAT-UNDP, a two-day women’s safety audit training for local government community workers and other key stakeholders was organised in October 2010. The trained community workers are conducting safety audits with women in the communities in partnership with Huairou Commission and the University of Technology, Jamaica. With the aim to support and strengthen the capacity of the Nigerian National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) in countering organized crime groups involved in trafficking of minors and young women for sexual exploitation from Nigeria, UNICRI submitted a project proposal based on current assessment of NAPTIP’s requests and operational needs. Hide

In Asia Pacific, the Partners for Prevention (P4P) - an inter-agency initiative of UNDP, UNFPA, UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, and UNVs- which works with men and boys to prevent gender-based violence– has developed a comprehensive set of research tools on gender-based violence, including questionnaires, research protocols, and training manuals for the “Gender-based Violence Prevention and Masculinities” Collaborative Research Project for Asia and the Pacific. These tools have been shared with partners in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. In Cambodia, the research findings on GBV and masculinities are informing a public awareness campaign. P4P is also developing the capacity of national partners in China, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Papua New Guinea to conduct research in this area, in order to develop evidence-based programs and policy initiatives to address GBV across the region. Networks of practitioners have been established in South Asia and Southeast & East Asia to support the civil society and UN advocates to implement initiatives on GBV prevention through work with men and boys. Hide

In May 2010, seven UN agencies (UNIFEM, now part of UN Women, UNDP, UNHCR, OHCHR, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO) have launched a three-year UN Joint Program "Ending violence against women - a national priority for Kyrgyzstan". Four strategic compenents of the program include: 1) strengthening policy framework, including through the implementation of the recommendations of the UN human bodies and procedures; 2) improving official data collection system and analysis of collected data; 3) awareness-raising, sensititation and capacity-building with the view to change gender stereotypes; 4) protecting and helping survivors of gender-based violence. Hide

In Somaliland, Somalia, the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) operates in Hargeisa, as a ‘one-stop’ location, where victims of SGBV can receive medical care, counselling, free legal advice and representation. The victims are also given the opportunity to report the assault to the police. In Puntland, in Somalia, the Puntland Elders Network has been established in line with the State Conference for Traditional Leaders of Puntland Declaration, according to which the elders are committed, inter alia, to refer cases of rape to the formal justice system. Hide

With the support of UNDP Kosovo, five Legal Aid offices, became fully operational in Gjakove, Dragash, Ferizai, North Mitrovica, and Gracanica, providing legal aid services to residents. Hide