Measures

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

In Southern Sudan, women’s security and their access to justice is a top priority for UNDP. Four Special Protection Units (SPUs) were established to provide a secure environment for women to report cases of gender-based violence. UNDP’s law enforcement project supports the SPUs. Through the SPUs, UNDP in close colalboaration with the Southern Sudan Police Service, and other UN actors, including UNIFEM, UNFPA, UNMIS and UNHCR, helps women secure services in protected and confidential environments. The SPUs, along with the training of 120 police officers is expected to increase the number of reported cases of GBV in addition to a number of cases being concluded; to increase cases of gender-based violence that are investigated and prosecuted; to reduce incidents of gender-based violence; to enhance the police responsiveness to community concerns. Hide

A UNDP global programme to support country level work is being developed to implement priority action areas including: work with local government and with traditional entities; multi-sectoral projects, especially comprehensive poverty reduction and governance projects; research on impacts, methods and baseline data; dissemination of research; support to the Secretary General’s Campaign to End Violence Against women; and work with NGOs and local campaigns to develop capacity, end recidivism and provide counseling for survivors. Hide

In every region, UNDP – with its national partners and in collaboration with UN Country Teams- continues to support the development and implementation of strategies and actions plans on domestic violence. As convener of the gender thematic window of the MDG Achievement Fund (MDG-F), UNDP supports and partners in the implementation of a number of joint programs which address gender-based violence in an integrated manner, including in many cases through the development of national strategies. Joint programmes with an explicit focus on gender based-violence are supported by the MDG-F Trust Fund in Bangladesh, Colombia, Guatemala, Morocco, OPT, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.UNDP Kosovo supported the development and implementation of the National Strategy and Action Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings (2008-2011). UNDP works with partners to ensure that background and contextual information on gender discrimination and gender-based violence is included in national plans and through them reflected in Common Country Assessments/United Nations Development Assistance Frameworks (CCA/UNDAFs). Hide

In Egypt, UNDP’s support has resulted in the enactment of a law under the Egyptian Penal Code which criminalizes female genital mutilation. In Lebanon, UNDP promoted a law on violence against women. In the ECIS region, UNDP Kosovo supported the drafting of a law on domestic violence, which is currently under discussion. Studies are currently underway on “The Prosecution of Violence Against Women in the Arab Region” which will describe the status of relevant laws in pilot countries from a reform perspective, identify the challenges associated with combating this type of crimes, in particular with regards to the issue of honor crimes, and propose solutions on how to deal with them concretely. The study will provide guidelines and recommendations for policy changes and legislative reform to enhance/modernize the Arab women’s rights protection systems. Hide

UN-HABITAT and Women in Cities International developed a background document on girls and urbanization for the publication “Because I am a Girl”, of the NGO, Plan. Hide

UN-HABITAT is implementing, in partnership with the NGO “Jagori”, a project on Youth and Girls Safety, in one of the settlement communities in New Delhi. Project activities include: the sensitisation of young girls and boys to prevent and end violence against women and girls; and the re-examination of masculinities and gender identities by young men. The Core Strategies deployed are:- mapping and training of a team on Safety Audit methodology;- critical sensitization of a broad range of key stakeholders, to ensure their collaboration with the youth in the development and creation of a gender-equitable safe environment;- developing competencies of the youth to demonstrate leadership and ownership in the community.UN- HABITAT and UNESCAP have been jointly implementing the project “promoting urban safety for the poor in the Asia Pacific” and the final workshop ' Putting Safety First for the Urban Poor on the Local Agenda" was held in the Philippines, in June 2010. One of the concerns raised was women’s safety in the region and in the on-line Safer Cities toolkit for Asia and the Pacific women’s safety features prominently.UN-HABITAT is conducting safety assessments of 13 municipalities in Southern Serbia. Hide

The Department of Public Information continued to provide communications support to the Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign, including through managing the campaign website (endviolence.un.org) and related online platforms. Several social media platforms managed by the Department, including the UN Twitter account – which had approached 100,000 followers – regularly featured content on violence against women. News and developments in the global campaign to end violence against women were also covered by the UN News Centres in all the official languages. In English and French alone, 55 stories on the subject were produced, covering issues including violence against women in times of conflict and activities of United Nations experts and intergovernmental bodies. The Department produced a total of 17 official press releases related to the issue in English and French as part of coverage of six intergovernmental meetings, and another six press conferences at United Nations Headquarters. Hide

DPI promoted the 45th session of the Commission on the Status of Women/15-year review of the Beijing Platform and International Women’s Day 2010, including the issue of violence against women. The Department conducted media outreach and produced information materials, including a poster and information kits for media, delegates and civil society. The Department facilitated a four-week online discussion on “Women and the Media”, one week of which focused on violence against women journalists. In all regions the Department’s network of UN Information Centres organized numerous activities and events to mark International Women’s Day, several of which focused on violence against women. The United Nations Information Office in Baku held a series of town hall meetings in remote villages and districts in Azerbaijan, which also included a session on early marriage and gender-based violence. In Sri Lanka, a one-day interactive forum on the theme "Discrimination against women: Our side of the story", organized by the United Nations Information Centre in Colombo, with the support of Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, generated recommendations for institutional measures to tackle gender discrimination and gender-based violence. The United Nations Information Centre in Yaounde organized a group discussion on violence against women journalists with media professionals in Cameroon.Two articles on gender-based violence were published in DPI’s quarterly Africa Renewal magazine: “Security reform key to protecting women” (January 2010), and “Even with peace Liberian women struggle” (April 2010). The Department’s UN Television produced programmes on the subject, including short features under the UN in Action series on women in prison in Afghanistan; women on the frontline in Liberia; and a programme entitled “Haiti: Violence Against Women.” In addition, UN Television produced two long-form reports for its half-hour magazine programme “21st Century”, aired by broadcasters in different regions of the world. These covered women in Liberia and the violence faced by female journalists in Iraq. Seven footage packages were prepared for broadcasting partners, through UN Television’s UNifeed team, which addressed violence against women, and presented United Nations activities to prevent it.In partnership with UNFPA and UNIFEM, DPI produced and broadcasted a series of radio programmes called “Beijing + 15” which explored the impact of the commitments made at the Beijing Women’s Conference on the lives of girls today. UN Radio staff travelled to Africa, Europe and Latin America to tell the stories of 15-year-old girls, and hear about their problems, including on the subject of violence. The series were adapted from English into Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish, Kiswahili and Portuguese, and were broadcasted by many UN Radio partners including, for example, Moldova National Radio. Hide

The United Nations Integrated Peace Building Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL), with the larger UN community, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs engaged women’s groups, through an interactive session during the Global Open Day consultations on issues of women’s peace and security. The women spoke about concerns related to violence against women and girls. The UN Family continues to work jointly in strengthening capacity of respective gender focal points in responding to issues relating to violence against women through training workshops. Hide