Measures

UNICEF published a data-driven report ‘Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Statistical Overview and Exploration of the Dynamics of Change’, the most comprehensive and up-to-date publication on trends in FGM/C practice in the 29 countries where the practice is concentrated. The publication also includes, for the first time, estimates of data for daughters aged 0-15. Hide

VAWG has been recognized as an integral area of UNFPA’s work and its Strategic Plan (2014-2017). UNFPA has also elaborated a GBV strategy in Africa which was launched during the GBV Regional Forum held in Rabat, Morocco, in November 2013 and resulted in the Rabat Declaration on Violence. Hide

UNFPA collaborated with UNFPA, ILO, UNICEF, UN-Women and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children on a joint study on violence against indigenous girls, adolescents and young women, entitled “Breaking the Silence on Violence against Indigenous Girls, Adolescents and Young Women: A call to action based on an overview of existing evidence from Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America”. Hide

UNFPA convened an expert group on men and boys, masculinities and sexual and reproductive health issues in New York, in September, to better inform its work and 2014-2017 Strategic Plan. Hide

As of end 2013, 12 out of the 15 countries, where the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilations/Cutting (FGM/C) operates, have developed a legislative framework which criminalizes FGM/C. Legislation has been recently adopted in Ethiopia, Kenya, Guinea and Guinea Bissau banning all forms of FGM/C. Hide

In 2013, UNFPA held a multi-stakeholder workshop in St Lucia on sexual violence in the region as well as gaps and challenges in terms of implementation and hosted a capacity development workshop on pre-natal sex selection for various stakeholders from the regions of Asia-Pacific as well as Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, in New Delhi, India, in November 2013. The workshop examined the sex ratio imbalances, their context and factors at birth as well as their consequences and considered communication strategies and policy options. Hide

UNFPA responded to crises under the GBV cluster coordination mechanism focusing on GBV and health needs of women and girls, including essential medical supplies for post-rape care. The countries include Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, DR Congo, Georgia, Guinea, Haiti, Indonesia, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria and Uganda. UNFPA also took the lead in ensuring that women and girls have full access to GBV and reproductive health services in the aftermath of the Philippines typhoon and in the Syrian refugee camps in Turkey and Jordan. Hide

UNFPA continued to document evidence-based practices to EVAW, including through the development of advocacy briefs such as “Addressing Gender-Based Violence” and “The Role of Data in Addressing Violence against Women and Girls” during the 2013 Commission for the Status of Women. Moreover, UNFPA and the Men Engage Alliance published global advocacy briefs on the role of men and boys in addressing GBV in conflict and on social norms, respectively. In the area of pre-natal sex selection, UNFPA supported the International Center for Research on Women to produce the research study on “Masculinity, Son Preference and Intimate Partner Violence in India” as well as the Research Institute for Development to produce a study entitled “Sex Imbalances at Birth in Armenia: Demographic Evidence and Analysis “on sex-at-birth (SRB) imbalances in Armenia. Hide

OHCHR supported the formulation and implementation of laws on violence against women in accordance with international human rights standards, including in Iraq and in Panama, where the law also established the specific crime of femicide (2013). In Afghanistan, it released a report on 8 December entitled A Way to Go: An Update on Implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence against Women in Afghanistan, in which it reported limited results in its implementation. Hide

OHCHR submitted a report to the Human Rights Council on creating and/or strengthening synergies and linkages on violence against women and girls (A/HRC/23/25) at its 20th session (June 2012) which includes recommendations on the means to reinforce the links between the Council and its mechanisms as well as between the Council and other intergovernmental processes. OHCHR, in partnership with the Mission of Canada, other Member States and NGOs, also promoted a series of discussions on how to strengthen cooperation and synergies between Geneva-based actors to feed into the work of the Human Rights Council.OHCHR supports the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) which held two sessions in Geneva, in which women’s rights, including violence against women, in 15 countries (Andorra, Afghanistan, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Colombia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Seychelles and Tajikistan) was discussed and analysed. In a statement adopted during its fiftieth session on the role of women in the process of political transition, the CEDAW Committee urged Egypt, Libya and Tunisia to strongly condemn all forms of violence against women and girls and to ensure that custom, tradition, and cultural or religious considerations are not invoked to justify non-compliance with their legal obligations under the CEDAW Convention. OHCHR also supported national actors and civil society organisations activities on the implementation of UPR and CEDAW recommendations on violence against women, including in Togo and Chad. Hide