UN Women Takes Action Worldwide

Africa

For more than a decade, UNIFEM (now UN Women) has supported women’s participation in Sudan’s drawn-out conflict resolution process. Women leaders from the North, South and Darfur have convened at the donor conferences on Sudan, held in Norway in 2005 and 2008, to develop a common agenda and action plan. UNIFEM (now UN Women) has joined forces with the UN Mission in Darfur, the local police and tribal leaders in raising awareness on the threat of sexual violence in and around camps for internally displaced persons.

Partnering with UNIFEM (now UN Women), the Rwanda Defense Forces embarked on a campaign to train several thousand military officers to understand, help prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNIFEM (now UN Women) backed women’s activists during two years of intensive lobbying that resulted in a Constitution guaranteeing women’s full participation in peacebuilding.

In Sierra Leone, UNIFEM (now UN Women) provided training for commissioners and senior staff of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to help them respond to the needs and concerns of women. The commissioners subsequently made special provisions to encourage the collection of testimonies on sexual violence, including a witness protection programme and trauma counselling services. UNIFEM (now UN Women) also assisted women’s groups in their efforts to help women come forward and to address the medical needs of rape victims.

In Liberia, the first post-conflict country to have a National Action Plan on UN Security Counicl resolution 1325, efforts are focused on making use of specific indicators that will measure its implementation and ensure that women are included in the reconstruction of the country. UNIFEM (now UN Women) has also supported consultations for the formulation of National Action Plans on SCR 1325 in other post-conflict countries in Africa, including Burundi, where significant progress was made when the traditional judicial institution for conflict, the Bashingantahe, amended its Charter to allow for the effective involvement of women.

Arab States

UNIFEM (now UN Women) has facilitated the efforts of women’s groups to develop a common agenda to influence the peace process in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The International Women’s Commission for a Just and Sustainable Israeli–Palestinian Peace (IWC) was established in 2005 following a meeting convened by UNIFEM (now UN Women) at the urging of Israeli and Palestinian women leaders, to ensure the meaningful participation of women in mainstream peace negotiations. The IWC — which comprises Israeli, Palestinian and international women leaders — has since its inception spoken out in one voice on the peace process.

Asia and the Pacific

UNIFEM (now UN Women) has been working in Afghanistan since 2002, promoting gender-responsive security sector reform and supporting women political leaders in an effort to increase women’s influence in peacebuilding and improve their access to justice. As the presence of female police officers makes it easier for violence survivors to report their traumatic experiences, UNIFEM (now UN Women) supported successful advocacy that resulted in a new mandate for Afghanistan’s police forces to increase the employment of women within their ranks to 30 percent.

In Timor-Leste, the mandate of peacekeeping forces was strengthened to prevent systematic sexual violence and support women’s participation in peace consolidation, following the passing of UN Security Council resolution 1820 with technical input from UNIFEM (now UN Women).

Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS

Varying levels of internal strife and cross-border conflict have afflicted Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, with more than one million people displaced from their homes. UNIFEM (now UN Women) has supported the efforts of women’s groups in each country to organize national women’s peace networks — in Azerbaijan, for example, one group assists displaced women, while another advocates for the national implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325. These networks have come together in a regional coalition called Women for Peace, supporting each other in fostering peace within their communities.

In response to the crisis in Georgia in 2008, UNIFEM (now UN Women) contributed to the Joint Needs Assessment for Georgia, ensuring that the specific needs of conflict-affected women were taken into account. In Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244), UNIFEM (now UN Women) has supported the formulation of a National Action Plan on UNSCR 1325 as well as efforts to reform the security sector, including the adoption of gender guidelines by the police and the institutionalization of gender training into the curricula of police officers.

Latin America and the Caribbean

In Peru, where rape was rampant during the internal armed conflict, women’s groups with UNIFEM’s (now UN Women) assistance persuaded the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to recognize rape as a systematic method of warfare and recommend that victims of sexual violence were entitled to reparations. Subsequently, UNIFEM (now UN Women) has supported efforts to ensure implementation of the Commission’s recommendations.

In Colombia, where internal conflict has caused an estimated two to three million people to flee their homes, UNIFEM (now UN Women) has collaborated with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on a gender evaluation of the national policy on displaced people, and provided recommendations to the UN and the Government on ways to protect refugee women.