Measures

At the conclusion of the recent ESCWA’s 6th Session of the Committee on Women, Member States unanimously adopted the “Kuwait Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women”, collectively condemning all forms of VAW and declaring their commitment to enhance joint and individual efforts to monitor, address and combat GBV. Hide

ILO conducted several training sessions on: ILO Recommendation No. 200: The role of the judiciary in safeguarding HIV-related labour rights (Uganda); HIV, labour migration and violence against women (Togo); Gender Equality and VAW Workshop for Judges of the Caribbean (Barbados); gender equality, gender-based violence and “HIV and AIDS and the World of Work” for participants from government institutions, employers and workers organizations as well as the private sector (International Training Centre (ITC), Turin); international and national legal framework, including on VAW, for courts in East Africa (Tanzania). Addressing sexual harassment is part of the ILO Better Work programme's extensive supervisory skills training. Documents and information materials related to the impact of Better Work on women workers in garment factories in developing countries is continuously updated on a dedicated page on the programme's website, "Focus on Women": http://betterwork.org/global/?page_id=3550 Hide

Evidence from new studies in three countries on the impact of domestic violence in the workplace was presented by ILO during the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). More information is availbable at: http://www.ilo.org/gender/Events/WCMS_208336/lang--en/index.htm Hide

The ILO Better Work programme has continued developing tools to prevent and address sexual harassment in garment factories following surveys with workers which revealed this issue being of significant concern. A factory kit with different awareness raising material directed to management, supervisors and garment workers has been developed and disseminated and piloting of factory-level training in has been conducted in Jordan. More information is available at: http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/features/WCMS_216898/lang--en/index.htm Hide

In November 2013, the second Gender Academy, supported by ILO, UN Women and the European Commission, was held at the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITC-ILO). The Academy examined policies and methods to respond to gender-based violence and risks at work. More information is available at: http://gender.itcilo.org/cms/ https://www.unwomen.org/lo/news/stories/2013/11/development-professionals-to-attend-ilo-gender-academy#sthash.4mn4Iy9X.dpufIn July 2013, ILO held a technical experts meeting for ILO constituents in Member States in the Pacific Islands sub-region on Gender and Decent Work which also addressed the topic of Ending violence against women in the Pacific. Other UN entities participated, including UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA, UNAIDS participated. Hide

UNDP also organized numerous activities to raise awareness on the issue such as national campaigns on VAW in Albania, on trafficking in Argentina and Kosovo; the “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World” campaign in Uzbekistan, as a part of the UNCT; sensitization of population in Cambodia and Madagascar, of pupils in Sierra Leone, university students in Timor-Leste, religious leaders in Afghanistan, and journalists in Algeria; production of awareness-raising material(videos, leaflets etc) in Argentina, Europe and CIS, Uzbekistan, Peru, as well as advocacy material on CSW 57 in Ghana; information sharing about procedures and available services for survivors of VAW in India. Hide

UNDP also supported capacity building efforts through mainstreaming of gender and juvenile justice issues within the work of the Ministry of Justice and the establishment and training of the Juvenile Justice Unit in OPT; the establishment of specialised units in Libya and Iraq; an assessment of the capacity of the National Police as well as of the specialized EVAW units of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office in Afghanistan. In addition, it supports the development of several tools such as guidelines for Family Protection Units of the Police and curricula for lawyers, judges and prosecutors on how to deal with cases of VAW (OPT), protocols for police (Panama), including on femicide, trafficking and sexual violence (Guatemala), and training material for judges, lawyers and paralegals in India. It further supports the Gender Unit of the civilian police force in OPT including, through the development of an accredited diploma program, as well as the establishment of a Coordination Committee for the Gender Units in the different security services. Training was further provided by UNDP for female prosecutors in Central America and the Caribbean; for youth as paralegals in Tajikistan; for various governmental authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chile, Iraq and Panama; for judges, prosecutors and police officers in Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Somalia, and Timor Leste. Hide

The new UNDP Strategic Plan (2014-17) includes for the first time specific reference to sexual and gender based violence. The second corporate gender equality strategy (2014-17) also prioritizes actions to prevent and respond to SGBV. Hide

UNDP supported the establishment of national databases on VAW and domestic violence in Iraq to ensure unified and consistent reporting as well as effective monitoring of reporting and prosecution of VAW/Domestic Violence cases, as well as on femicide, in Guatemala. It further supported, in partnership with the Huairou Commission, research by grassroots women in seven African countries (Ghana, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe), entitled “Engendering Bottom-up Justice Reform–A Grassroots Women’s Approach to Accessing Justice” on effective strategies and tools used to engage in cases involving women’s land tenure, inheritance and domestic violence in informal systems. It also supported numerous initiatives to enhance data collection and research including a national survey for violence against women in Albania and PNG; a report on economic costs of family violence in Kyrgyzstan, in partnership with UN Women; a Multi-Country study on Policing and Prosecution of Sexual Violence in Asia: India, Thailand and Viet Nam, in cooperation with UN Women and ONODC; a study in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan on laws that protect women from violations of their rights (including forced/coerced abortions and sterilizations) and its gaps at healthcare settings in South Asia; a study on linkages between VAW and HIV in the Asia-Pacific region; research on domestic violence in Timor-Leste, access to justice and barriers; website in Kuwait which includes studies also on VAW as well as a women’s research and studies center and a women’s digital database. Hide

UNDP supported the provision and improvement of multi-sectoral services through the establishment of referral systems in Somalia; a UN Trust Fund to End VAW project as well as development of guidelines and training in Serbia; increased access to justice for survivors in Sierra-Leone as well as in Somalia with the expansion of mobile courts to remote areas; enhanced legal aid in LAC, Montenegro, Pakistan, Somalia, and Sri Lanka; capacity development of shelters in Albania; development of minimum standards for SOS hotline services provision and capacity development of service providers in Serbia, as well as support to perpetrators programmes; support to networks of women living with HIV in Cambodia to highlight issues such as forced abortions and sterilizations; a Rapid Assessment of Institutional Readiness to Deliver GBV/HIV Services; and counselling in Madagascar. In India, following the gang rape case in December 2012, UNDP provided technical assistance to the Government to set up a model One Stop Crisis Centre in Delhi and provided global best practices to the Justice Mehra Committee on the issue. Hide