Measures

In December 2008, UN Action created a Multi-Donor Trust Fund to pool resources, tightening accountability for joint UN system action against sexual violence in conflict.UN Action supported the recruitment of a Programme Manager to coordinate the Joint Government-UN Programme on Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Liberia. UN Action also provided financial support to UNFPA for two UN system-wide gender-based violence coordinators in Darfur, Sudan. UN Action also provided financial support to UNFPA for the training of GENCAP (Gender Stand-by Capacity) Advisers in November 2008.UN Action hired a recruitment specialist to conduct a global search for gender-based violence programme coordinators/advisers.UN Action implemented DPKO-led research missions to UNMIL, Liberia (September 2008) and MONUC, Democratic Republic of Congo (January 2009), with the aim of finalizing and field-testing an Analytical Inventory of Responses by Peacekeeping Personnel to War-Related Violence Against Women. The Inventory catalogues examples of good practice in protecting women from sexual violence.UN Action convened an OHCHR-led high-level panel on sexual violence in December 2008, as a follow-up to the conference “Women Seeking Justice – Getting Law”, co-financed by UN Action.A range of advocacy resources on the Security Council resolution 1820 (2008) were added to the UN Action ‘Stop Rape Now’ website.In response to the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war in the context of the renewed conflict in Eastern DRC, UN Action issued and distributed a joint advocacy statement. In November 2008, UN Action organized a panel discussion on “Sexual violence against women and children in conflict” as part of the Inter-Parliamentary Union – UN Hearing, and prepared a concept note.UN Action’s Senior Adviser on Sexual Violence in MONUC, DRC, undertook a mapping exercise, in August 2008, of existing and planned activities by international actors on sexual violence; and collaborated with EUPOL to convene a “day of reflection” in November 2008 on strengthening the capacity of the Congolese National Police to prevent and respond to sexual violence.UN Action gave briefings to NGOs and to Missions on sexual violence data-collection, including proposals for more timely and reliable data, as well as benchmarks for measuring progress.UN Action convened a WHO-led experts meeting in Geneva, in December 2008, on “Sexual Violence in Conflict: Data and data-collection methodologies”. The meeting resulted in an agreed research agenda and guidance on information-collection, while providing a meaningful evidence-basis of prevalence data and trend analysis to inform effective interventions. Hide

OHCHR finalized a study on the current jurisprudence relating to the prosecution of rape, both under international humanitarian law and human rights law, entitled “Prosecution of Rape under the Formal Justice Mechanisms”. This and another expert paper on “Women’s Economic, Social and Cultural Rights” were launched in December 2008, in Geneva, with the participation of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. A case study, “The Bosnian Experience”, which analyzes the experience of women victims of violence accessing justice in a post-conflict society was prepared. Hide

A number of stories related to violence against women were posted on the How We Make a Difference section of OHCHR’s home page throughout 2008 and 2009. On International Women’s Day 2008, OHCHR’s home page featured a story on the launch of the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign. The Office also proposed and contributed a story on violence against women to DPI’s 2008 “Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About” web page. Hide

OHCHR organised training activities on women’s rights and violence against women for Arab-speaking NGOs; Iraqi NGOs; judges from the United Arab Emirates; NGOs and parliamentarians from Bahrain. Gender-based violence in Sudan was also covered. Hide

In December 2008, a week-long consultation was convened that brought together staff from UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Legal Counsel to the Great Lakes Conference, MONUC and relevant units within the OHCHR, to develop a coherent strategy for 2009 to address sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hide

OHCHR’s home page featured a story focusing on Security Council resolution 1820. In December 2008, a story focused on the search for justice in post conflict situations. The story is based on two major OHCHR-commissioned studies on the effectiveness of international post-conflict accountability mechanisms in prosecuting sexual violence and on women’s economic, social and cultural rights. Hide

As a contribution to the Secretary-General’s Campaign “UNiTE to End Violence against Women”, OHCHR financially supported and participated in a conference organized by the NGO Medica Mondial, entitled “Women Seeking Justice - Getting Law”, in September 2008. Women from twenty-six mostly conflict or post conflict countries attended. The meeting took stock of challenges and achievements in terms of access to justice for women, victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence, and proposals in order to overcome women’s inequality. Hide

OHCHR examined the feasibility of deploying gender advisors, including on violence against women, to regional offices, and completed a needs assessment mission to the Regional Office in Beirut in October 2008. OHCHR continued to develop a gender strategy for Colombia, including sub-strategies related to violence and a consultant was recruited for its implementation phase.In the Middle East and North Africa region, OHCHR worked to develop a strategy to combat crimes committed in the name of “honour”. Hide

The Violence Prevention Alliance and the Global Campaign for Violence Prevention supported by WHO aimed to strengthen the role of public health in the prevention and response to violence, including against women. As part of the Global Campaign for Violence Prevention, WHO is giving increased attention to the primary prevention of intimate partner violence and sexual violence. WHO also worked with the International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to advocate against the medicalization of FGM. Hide

WHO organized and hosted a meeting on data and data collection methodologies on sexual violence in conflict on behalf of UN Action in December 2008. In January 2009, WHO co-organized a workshop for humanitarian actions in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, to introduce existing guidelines and initiate the integration of gender-based violence prevention and response actions. Hide