Measures

UNHCR published a Guidance Note on Refugee Claims relating to Female Genital Mutilation. The note affirms that Female Genital Mutilation is a form of gender-based persecution and can constitute grounds for asylum according to the 1951 Refugee Convention. The guidance will be used by states and UNHCR to facilitate asylum. Hide

In Serbia, a report on “Domestic Violence - Protection and Prevention” was presented by UNHCR in March 2009, providing an analysis of the legislative framework and a recommendation for the adoption of a Law on Domestic Violence, ensuring a coordinated and effective response to instances of domestic violence. Hide

In Liberia, UNHCR and its partners supported the establishment of a new community health department and organized community health committees and volunteers. The volunteers participated in awareness-raising sessions on primary health care, reproductive health, sexual and gender-based violence and HIV/AIDS. Strong coordination on sexual and gender-based violence is also on-going between UN agencies, the government and NGOs, and response mechanisms to sexual and gender-based violence are being put in place and strengthened. Hide

In Liberia, UNHCR, the government and other partners, was involved in drafting the Sexual Assault and Abuse Prosecution Handbook for the Criminal Court in Monrovia, which has concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute sexual and gender-based violence cases throughout the country. UNHCR also assisted with the establishment of a Sex Crimes Unit at the Ministry of Justice and sponsored a training for its staff and prosecutors in Liberia. Hide

In March 2009, the UN Trust Fund issued its fourteenth Call for Proposals to support the implementation of laws, policies and action plans on ending violence against women and girls.While the UN Trust Fund has been able to rely on the support of its leading donors in 2009, the global financial crisis has reduced the resources available for grant-making to less than half of the US$22 million granted last year. In an effort to secure adequate funds for grant-making in 2009, the UN Trust Fund and UNIFEM, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, have reached out to private foundations and philanthropic leaders. An Urgent Alert was launched in July, in the context of the Framework for Action of the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, which has set a target of an annual contribution to the UN Trust Fund of US$100 million by 2015.The UN Trust Fund partnered with the International Centre for Research on Women to develop a capacity development programme to enhance the skills and knowledge of grantees to conduct quality, evidence-based programming and M&E.An external and independent evaluation to assess the overall implementation and effectiveness of the UN Trust Fund 2005-08 Strategy took place the first half of 2009. Four field missions to eight countries and a desk review of 21 projects gathered data for in-depth assessment. A broad range of stakeholders were consulted through interviews, focus groups and online surveys. Hide

UNESCO developed a project on school-related gender-based violence in six post conflict countries in Africa. This project is a follow up to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children. Hide

In June 2009, UNESCO held a policy dialogue in Mombasa on strategies for combating violence against women, as part of the second Forum of Ministers of Women’s Affairs from the Great Lakes Region. This policy dialogue aimed at discussing research recommendations in order to establish/strengthen specific national plans of action, and to create appropriate national mechanisms for monitoring the implementation of national measures taken for combating violence against women, inter alia, in the field of legislation, prevention, victim assistance and rehabilitation. Hide

UNESCO’s Regional Office in Santiago was involved in the development of the baseline assessment conducted in Chile as part of the UN joint programming pilot initiative. Hide

UNESCO is involved in several research projects related to violence against women as a member of UNAIDS, including a research project to consolidate existing evidence from the peer-reviewed literature on the intersections between gender-based violence and AIDS epidemic (led by UNFPA in cooperation with the Harvard School of Public Health); and a research project, led by WHO, which focuses on the relation between HIV and intimate partner violence, as well as sexual violence against women. Hide

UNDP held its Global Conference on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Caracas, Venezuela, in order to better identify entry points for UNDP’s work on gender-based violence. Hide