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Leading Initiatives

Amnesty International Stop Violence against Women and Safe Schools Campaign

The campaign to Stop Violence Against Women is focused on: implementation of existing laws that guarantee access to justice and services for women subjected to violence; enacting new laws that will protect women's human rights; ending laws that discriminate against women; ending of violence against women perpetrated by a state and its agents; and empowering women.  The Safe Schools initiative provides tools to address violence against girls in school.

Visit the websites in Arabic, English, French and Spanish to learn more.

 

The Millennium Development Goal Achievement Fund: Programmes on Violence against Women (Government of Spain)

The MDG Achievement Fund, established in December 2006 with a generous contribution from the Spanish Government to the United Nations system, aims to accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) worldwide by supporting joint programmes with national governments, local authorities and citizen organizations in their efforts to tackle poverty and inequality. 

Under the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment window there are thirteen programmes, including three dedicated exclusively to addressing violence against women:

The Gender-based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS)

The Gender-based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS) is an inter-agency initiative developed in 2007 in response to the lack of an effective and safe system for collection, storage, analysis and sharing of GBV-related data in humanitarian settings. Governed by a Steering Committee made up of representatives from UNHCR, UNFPA, IRC, UNICEF, and WHO, the GBVIMS has created a standardized data collection and analysis mechanism which has been implemented in 13 countries and continues to be rolled out globally. The website features materials and guidance for implementing the system, including a GBVIMS Toolkit; a user guide and workbook  (in Arabic, English, French and Spanish) among other resources.

Register as a member of the GBVIMS to access the technical guidance and see the factsheet to learn more about the system.   

 

The International Center for Research on Women and Instituto Promundo Men and Gender Equality Policy Project

The project, launched in 2007 through 2010, aims to enhance the body of knowledge on how policies can encourage men and boys to participate in promoting gender equality and ending violence against women.  The project will engage policymakers to analyze public policies for gender equality markers, publish a policy analysis toolkit for countries seeking to engage men and boys more adequately in gender equality policies, and develop and apply the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), a standardized population-based questionnaire (one administered with women and another administered with men) to measure and monitor behaviours and attitudes regarding gender equality and violence against women.

For more information, see the website in English.

 

The International Center for Research on Women and Instituto Promundo’s Project Engaging Men to End Gender-based Violence

The project, funded by the United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, is implementing and evaluating a two-part intervention to address the social contexts of violence, encouraging men to question rigid norms of masculinity and launching public education campaigns portraying men in nonviolent ways. The project is being carried out in Brazil, Chile, India and Rwanda.

Contact ICRW to learn more about the initiative and evaluation.

 

The Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is an international campaign originating from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women's Global Leadership in 1991.  The Campaign runs from November 25, International Day Against Violence Against Women and December 10, International Human Rights Day.  Over 2,000 organizations in approximately 156 countries have participated in the 16 Days Campaign since its inception.

See the website for more information.

 

Stop Rape Now - UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict

UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict (UN Action) unites the work of 12 United Nations entities with the goal of ending sexual violence in conflict. It is a concerted effort by the UN system to improve coordination and accountability, amplify programming and advocacy, and support national efforts to prevent sexual violence and respond effectively to the needs of survivors.

Visit the website to learn more.

 

UN Inter-agency Task Force on Violence against Women

The Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality (IANWGE) established the United Nations Task Force on Violence against Women in 2007, co-chaired by UNFPA and UN Women, to follow-up on the General Assembly Resolution (A/RES/61/143) which called upon Member States and the United Nations system to intensify their efforts to eliminate violence against women. The Inter-Agency Task Force concluded its work in 2010 with violence against women remaining a standing agenda item at the IANWGE meetings.

See the Report: Delivering as One on Violence against Women: from Intent to Action

See Initiating the Multi-Stakeholder Joint Programme on Violence Against Women: A Review of the Processes and some Key Interim Lessons Learned

Visit the website to learn more.


UN Regional Joint Programme for Asia and the Pacific Partners for Prevention: Working with Boys and Men to Prevent Gender-based Violence

Partners for Prevention is a UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women and UNV regional programme launched in 2008 and continuing through 2011, focused on primary prevention among boys and men through partnerships with policy makers, UN staff and civil society partners dedicated to women’s empowerment and ending violence against women and girls. Since 2008, Partners for Prevention has supported prevention work in over 15 countries across the region with increasingly sophisticated technical knowledge and resources to help local partners implement evidence-based programming and to enhance policy frameworks for the prevention of gender-based violence (GBV). The programme aims to: enhance the knowledge and skills of local partners to engage in successful communication for behavioural and social change at the community level and through the use of modern technologies to reach youth; develop the capacities and networking opportunities of partner through a regional web-based resource portal and community of practice to share research, programming and training tools, successes, programmatic insights and experiences across countries; and consolidate and commission research to engage in evidence-based policy dialogue.

Visit the website to learn more.  See a webinar on the programme.

United Nations Secretary-General’s Database on Violence Against Women

The Secretary General’s Database on Violence Against Women was established through the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 61/143 and was launched on 5 March 2009. The database is the first “one-stop site” which captures measures undertaken by Member States on all forms of violence against women.  Such measures include legal framework, policies and programmes, institutional mechanisms, services for women victims/survivors of violence, preventive measures and training, research and statistical data, and other measures (such as engagement in international/regional initiatives, and the creation of specialized police, prosecutorial and courts services).  The information contained in the database comes directly from Member States and their official websites; and the database is updated regularly.

Available in Arabic, English, French, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish.

 

United Nations Secretary-General's UNiTE to End Violence against Women Campaign

This campaign launched in 2008 through 2015 aims to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls in all parts of the world.  UNiTE brings together a host of UN agencies and offices to galvanize action across the UN system to prevent and punish violence against women at national and local levels.  Part of the campaign is the Secretary-General’s Network of Male Leaders, who are working in their spheres of influence to undertake specific actions to end violence against women, from raising public awareness, to advocating for adequate laws, to meeting with young men and boys, to holding governments accountable.

Visit the site to learn more.

 

UN Statistical Division, Friends of the Chair Global Indicators

The United Nations General Assembly requested the Statistical Commission to develop and propose, in consultation with the Commission on the Status of Women, a set of possible indicators on violence against women in order to assist States in assessing the scope, prevalence and incidence of violence against women.

In response to the General Assembly, the Statistical Commission, formed the Friends of the Chair group to build on the previous work undertaken by the United Nations Statistical Division, Regional Statistical Commissions and the Division for the Advancement of Women (2007), and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, to establish a proposed set of indicators.

At the Statistical Commission’s 40th session (2009), the first set of seven indicators were adopted. The following final set of nine core indicators were presented to the 42nd session of the Commission in 2011:

  • Total and age specific rate of women subject to physical violence in the last 12 months by severity of violence, relationship to perpetrator(s) and frequency.
  • Total and age specific rate of women subject to physical violence during lifetime by severity of violence, relationship to perpetrator(s) and frequency.
  • Total and age specific rate of women subject to sexual violence in the last 12 months by severity of violence, relationship to perpetrator(s) and frequency.
  • Total and age specific rate of women subject to sexual violence during lifetime by severity of violence, relationship to perpetrator(s) and frequency.
  • Total and age specific rate of women subject to physical or sexual violence by current or former intimate partner in the last 12 months by severity of violence and frequency.
  • Total and age specific rate of women subject to physical or sexual violence by current or former intimate partner during lifetime by severity of violence and frequency.
  • Total and age specific rate of women subjected to psychological violence in the past 12 months by the intimate partner. (added December 2009)
  • Total and age specific rate of women subjected to economic violence in the past 12 months by the intimate partner. (added December 2009)
  • Total and age specific rate of  women subjected to female genital mutilation. (added December 2009)

An Expert Group Meeting was convened by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Conference of European Statisticians in September 2009 to discuss the development and testing of a survey module and methodology to measure the interim set of violence against women indicators. The report is available in English and the updates, along with the survey  module and complimentary tools are available from the UNECE website.

 

UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women

The United Nations Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) was established by General Assembly resolution 50/166 in 1996 and is managed by United Nations Women (UN Women) on behalf of the UN system. The UN Trust Fund is the only multilateral grant-making mechanism that supports local, national and regional efforts to end violence against women and girls.

Download the Regional Fact Sheets:Africa, Arab States, Asia Pacific,Europe and Central Asia and Latin America.

See the Mapping of Grantees' Outcomes (2006-2011). Available in English.

Visit the website to learn more.

 

UN Women Global Programme on Safe Cities Free of Violence against Women and Girls

This programme is being implemented from 2010 through 2016 as a collaboration UN Women, UN Habitat, local government, women’s networks, civil society partners, and other UN Agencies and is focused on the prevention of sexual harassment and sexual violence against women and girls in cities, particularly in urban spaces. This initiative prioritizes the advancement of women’s rights to create and live in safe cities and communities. Within this approach, special emphasis is given to violence prevention, government accountability, community mobilization and participation, women’s empowerment, and the improvement of neighbourhoods and the urban environment in general. The objective of the Safe Cities global programme is to deliver, through rigorous impact evaluation, the first proven approach on how to prevent and reduce violence against women and girls in public spaces, which would provide models that can be adapted and scaled up in many city contexts. The  Global initiative was officially launched in New Delhi at the Third International Conference on Women’s Safety in November 2010 with an announcement of the following 5 cities comprising the evaluation: Cairo, Kigali, New Delhi, Quito and Port Moresby.

See the Impact Evaluation Strategy and accompanying Glossary of Terms and Definitions. Note that the Impact Evaluation Strategy and the Glossary of Terms will be updated regularly as living documents that evolve with the programme.

See the Scoping Study Guidance Note

See the Guidance Note for Developing a Programme Design

See the Briefing on Baseline Studies

See the guidance for Project Design Documentation and download the Project Design Templates one and two.

Contact us to learn more.

 

UN Women Say NO – UNiTE to End Violence against Women

This initiative is a global call for action, launched in November 2009, on ending violence against women and girls. The Say NO initiative aims to trigger and highlight actions by individuals, governments and civil society partners. Actions can range from reaching out to students at schools, to volunteering at local shelters, advocating for legislation or donating funds towards programmes that protect women and girls from violence. Every action will be counted to showcase the global groundswell of engagement that exists on the issue.

Visit the website to learn more and to have your action counted!

 

The White Ribbon Campaign

This campaign is the largest effort in the world of men working to end violence against women. In 1991, a group of men in Canada started the campaign to urge men to speak out about violence against women. Wearing a white ribbon is a symbol of men's opposition to violence against women.  Still growing, campaigns in over fifty-five countries are led by both men and women, though the focus remains on educating men and boys.

Visit the website to learn more.