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UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict
- UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict unites the work of 12 UN entities with the aim of amplifying and better coordinating the work of the UN System in response to sexual violence during and after conflict. It seeks to galvanize global concern about rape as a weapon of war and speed up the response of the peacekeeping, humanitarian and development communities to violations of women’s rights in conflict and post-conflict settings. UN Action is supporting a global advocacy effort to “stop rape now” – working alongside bodies such as the Security Council to tackle sexual violence as a threat to international peace and security; intensifying the UN System’s efforts to prevent and respond to sexual violence by providing strategic and technical support to UN Country Teams and peacekeeping operations in countries in conflict; and building a knowledge hub mapping good practice and effective responses to the needs of survivors and their communities.
- Contact: Gillian Holmes
Tel: +1 212 906 6371
www.stoprapenow.org
United Nations Children's Fund
- The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is committed to the protection, empowerment and promotion of women and girls and recognizes that women’s rights are fundamental for the fulfillment of children’s rights. UNICEF works on genderbased violence through prevention, protection, and recovery and reintegration. Recent activities include the campaign “Stop Raping Our Greatest Resource, Power to the Women and Girls of Democratic Republic of Congo”, which called for an end to impunity for sexual violence and full implementation of laws that protect and empower women. Working in areas of armed conflict where girls and women are specially vulnerable to sexual violence, activities include capacity building, with emphasis on the training of police, judiciary and teachers, as well as women and girls themselves. UNICEF works for the elimination of all harmful traditional practices, including female genital mutilation/ cutting and early marriages, supporting community-based interventions and working to institute change through legislative reform. It provides support for the implementation of all of the recommendations of the Secretary-General’s Study of Violence against Children, with special focus on gender-based violence, and has produced the publication From Invisible to Indivisible: Promoting and Protecting the Right of the Girl Child to Be Free from Violence.
- Contact: Geoff Keele
Tel +1 212 326 7583
www.unicef.org
THE STATE OF THE WORLD’S CHILDREN 2007
V-DAY, UNICEF call for end to rape, sexual torture against girls in eastern DRC
United Nations Development Programme
- The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supports governments in the development of national strategies and development plans which are in line with international commitments on eliminating violence against women. Through multi-sectoral, targeted interventions, UNDP supports the capacity-building of policy makers, law enforcement agencies and communities to end gender-based violence. UNDP works on development of databases and sex-disaggregated data, so that there is necessary empirical evidence on gender-based violence to formulate accurate and targeted policy interventions. UNDP invests in counseling and legal services, mediation and rehabilitation, as well as micro-enterprise activities for survivors of gender-based violence. It also focuses on engaging men and boys as partners in the prevention of gender-based violence. By working with UN agencies and groups such as faith-based organizations, traditional leaders, civil society and the media, UNDP contributes to galvanizing action for ending gender-based violence. Recent activities include the Human Development and Violence against Women study in Mexico, the joint Asia-Pacific regional programme of the UN System and its partners called “Partners for Prevention: Working with Boys and Men to Prevent Gender-Based Violence”, and the capacity-building project in Albania titled “Violence against women – no longer a family issue”.
- Contact: Bharati Silawal
Tel: +1 212 906 5104
www.undp.org
HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND HIV: Exploring vulnerabilities and responses in South Asia
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Development Fund for Women
- The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) provides financial and technical assistance to innovative programmes and strategies to foster women’s empowerment and gender equality. UNIFEM has implemented various campaigns to fight violence against women, including the “Say NO to Violence Against Women” campaign. This internet-based advocacy campaign invites people to add their names to a virtual book as an expression of public support and call to action. The UN Foundation is donating $1 for each of the first 100,000 signatures. The campaign runs through 25 November 2008, the International Day to End Violence against Women, when signatures will be handed over to the Secretary-General. Plans for 2008 include an International Women’s Day event in early March where Avon Global Ambassador Reese Witherspoon, UNIFEM and Avon will announce a partnership to advance women’s empowerment and rights, and launch the Avon Empowerment Fund. This new fund will contribute to the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, managed by UNIFEM, for initiatives working on the implementation of laws and policies.
- Nanette Braun
Tel: +1 212 906 6829
www.unifem.org
Say NO to Violence against Women/
www.saynotoviolence.org
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated by the UN to lead and coordinate international action for the worldwide protection of refugee and the resolution of refugee problems. Protection of forcibly displaced and returnee women and girls is both a core activity and a priority for the Office. UNHCR’s extensive field presence and work with the displaced in areas of conflict and countries of asylum and return is the first step to ensuring protection. Since 2001, UNHCR’s “Five Commitments to Refugee Women” have provided a framework for activities and programmes aimed at empowering refugee and returnee women. These relate to: women’s and girl’s participation in decision-making and food distribution; registration and documentation; tackling sexual and gender-based violence; and providing sanitary materials to women and girls. In 2004, the Office adopted and began implementing an age, gender, and diversity mainstreaming strategy throughout the organization. UNHCR has also developed a number of protection guidelines and programmes to specifically address sexual violence and the protection of women and girls.
- Contact: Brian Gorlick
Tel: +1 212 963 6904
www.unhcr.org
United Nations Population Fund
- The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is committed to ending gender-based violence and has consistently advocated against violence against women and girls as a human rights violation. It aims to keep the issue in the spotlight as a major health and human rights concern, including in conflict situations, and to advocate for legislative reform. UNFPA promotes zero tolerance of all forms of violence against women and works for the eradication of traditional practices that are harmful to women’s reproductive and sexual health, such as female genital mutilation/ cutting. UNFPA supports training of medical professionals to address the health and psycho-social needs of women. Other strategies include strengthening advocacy in conjunction with UN partners and non-governmental organizations, advocating with parliamentarians and women’s networks and mobilizing communities to end gender-based violence. Recent media and advocacy initiatives include supporting a series of documentaries on gender-based violence to be aired first on BBC, and producing a special exhibit for global display entitled “CONGO/Women”.
- Contact: Aminata Toure
Tel: +1 212 297 4936
www.unfpa.org
Violence Against Women Fact Sheet
www.unfpa.org/endingviolence/index.html
World Health Organization
- The World Health Organization (WHO) considers gender-based violence to be a major public health and human rights problem, which has profound implications for health. For the Secretary-General’s Campaign, WHO’s niche will be to concentrate on violence against women as a public health issue. WHO is in a strong position to provide the evidence base for the campaign, in particular using the extensive database assembled for the multicountry 2005 study, Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women. WHO is currently working on a campaign against the medicalization of female genital mutilation within the context of violence against women. In late 2008, WHO plans to release its new global prevalence estimates for intimate partner violence against women.
- Contact: Christopher Powell
Tel: +41 22 7912888
www.who.int
Gender-based violence
Division for the Advancement of Women
- The Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) of the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) supports the work of inter-governmental bodies, such as the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), in developing policy recommendations for gender equality. DAW was responsible for the preparation of the 2006 Secretary-General’s In-depth Study on All Forms of Violence against Women, and now supports the follow-up to the study, including work mandated by General Assembly resolution 61/143. Activities include supporting an expert group meeting on “Indicators to measure violence against women”, compiling an inventory of UN System activities on violence against women; developing a coordinated database on violence against women; and regular reporting to the General Assembly and the CSW. DAW and UNFPA are co-conveners of the Task Force on violence against women of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality. The Task Force is spearheading a pilot effort on joint programming on violence against women in 10 countries.
- Contact: Christine Brautigam
Tel: +1 212 963 0535
www.un.org/womenwatch/daw
Violence against women
Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women
- The Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI) of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) provides leadership, interagency coordination and support to the UN System in gender mainstreaming of policies and programmes. The Office advises the Secretary-General, including for the Campaign on Violence against Women. and supports the Deputy Secretary-General in her capacity as chair of the Steering Group for the Campaign. OSAGI is the convener of the Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality, responsible for conceptualizing the Campaign, implementing policy and monitoring the work of its Task Force on Violence against Women. The Task Force manages joint programming initiatives in 10 pilot countries. OSAGI works with UN entities to ensure the national implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000), focusing on the use of rape and other sexual violence against women and girls in armed conflict and post-conflict societies. OSAGI collaborates with nongovernmental organizations on various issues, including the role of men and boys in ending violence against women.
- Contact: Andrei Abramov
Tel: +1 212 963 4974
e-mail: abramov@un.org
www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi
For more information on the Secretary-General’s Campaign on Violence against Women and to request interviews, please contact:
