Measures

ECA’s African Centre for Gender and Social Development supported the Sixth African Development Forum (ADF) on Gender Equality, Women’s Empowerment and Ending Violence Against Women in Africa, held in October 2008. Participants from Member States, research institutions, academia, civil society, donor communities and other stakeholders discussed, among other topics, ways for tackling violence against women. The ADF adopted a Consensus Statement with and Plan of Action with 3 pillars, one of which is on violence against women. (see: http://www.uneca.org/adfvi/ConsensusStatement.asp). In follow-up to the ADF Consensus Statement and Plan of Action, ECA is designing a methodology to collect data on violence against women. Hide

As a member of the “Gender is my agenda campaign” (GIMAC), ECA participated in the 13th Pre-Summit African Union Heads of State Consultative Meeting on gender mainstreaming where participants recognized the need to intensify measures in response to the Secretary-General’s campaign “UNiTE to end violence against women”. Hide

UNECE launched its website on violence against women (www.unece.org/stats/gender/vaw/). The site includes copies of national surveys and publications, an overview of terms and definitions, general resources and reports, statistical data and useful links. Hide

UNECE, together with the World Bank Institute, published a 15 minute video on gender-based violence and issues in its measurement (www.unece.org/stats/video/violence.htm). Hide

In order to define the basic set of indicators necessary for the functioning of the ECLAC Gender Observatory, two technical meetings were organized, with representatives from National Machineries for the Advancement of Women/Gender Affairs and National Statistical Offices of Latin America (Aguascalientes (Mexico), in October 2008) and the Caribbean (Port-of-Spain, in December 2008). Reports of both meetings were approved at the Forty-second meeting of the Presiding Officers of the Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean (Santiago, December 2008). Hide

Following the Fifteenth Meeting of Specialized Agencies and Other Bodies of the United Nations System on the Advancement of Women in Latin America and the Caribbean (Bogotá, 23 April 2008), a regional interagency working group has been established to define the strategy and ways to implement the Secretary-General’s campaign. ECLAC is acting as the link between the regional and global levels for the Secretary- General’s campaign to eliminate all forms of violence against women. Hide

In follow-up to an expert group meeting of April 2007 on regional strategies for implementing the recommendations from the Secretary-General’s in-depth study on all forms of violence against women, ESCAP posted on its website a sub-regional study documenting harmful traditional and cultural practices as forms of violence against women in South Asia. The study covers Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Hide

ESCAP held an expert group meeting on “Gender statistics and the use of violence against women indicators in support of the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA)”, in October 2008. It aimed at building partnerships between national statistical offices (NSOs) and national women’s machineries (NWMs) in the development and use of statistics in policymaking, implementation and monitoring. Hide

OCHA is the co-chair of the Executive Committees on Humanitarian Affairs and Peace and Security (ECHC/ECPS) UN and NGO Taskforce on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse. It led the development of field-guidance for the implementation of a victim’s assistance programme in accordance with GA resolution 62/214. Since 2008, 25 OCHA advisors have been deployed through GenCap to 18 humanitarian emergencies. Hide

OCHA’s Policy Development and Studies Branch organized an experts meeting to review current research on, and identify gaps in relation to: 1) Sexual violence in armed conflict: understanding the motivations; and 2) The nature, scope and motivation for sexual violence against men and boys in conflict. Key outputs of the meeting were: 1) Identification of research priorities in order to design more effective strategies for preventing sexual violence in armed conflict; and 2) Identification and agreement on next steps to build on the current knowledge-base and establish communities of practice. Hide