UNDP supports almost 100 countries to end gender-based violence (GBV), including as part of the Spotlight Initiative. The main areas of work are justice and police services, legal and policy frameworks and integrating a ‘GBV lens’ into broader sectorial efforts, including climate action and economic empowerment.
In the face of COVID-19, UNDP also supported countries in their responses to the immediate effects of the pandemic, such as through using digital and artificial intelligence tools to address accessibility challenges during lockdowns. Here are some examples:
Digitization and use of ICTs :
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UNDP South Africa supported the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) Civil Society Forum (CSF) to address social cohesion, stigma and GBV during COVID-19. This included a virtual training with more than 500 sector leaders representing 14 national-level sector leadership and CSF Provincial Chairs from all nine of the country’s provinces.
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In Brazil, in order to improve the justice system's response to femicide, UNDP prototyped an artificial intelligence tool to support judicial decision-making.
Support to police and justice services:
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In Malawi, UNDP supported the quick deployment of mobile courts to provide justice services to GBV survivors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in remote communities.
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In the Central African Republic, through the UN Team of Experts, UNDP supported the Joint Rapid Response and Prevention Unit for Sexual Violence against Women and Children to address delays in the accountability for such crimes.
Integration of a GBV lens:
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As part of Ukraine’s pledge to the Paris Climate Agreement, the country’s updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) was enhanced with a gender component that includes dedicated training on addressing GBV. Employees of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) attended the first such training.
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In Albania, UNDP supported the Ministry of Finance and Economy to include programme subsidy for survivors of domestic violence as part of the immediate measures to revamp employment and skilling opportunities.
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In Iraq, UNDP reduced the dropout of women beneficiaries by 40 percent after the integration of a GBV component into a large economic empowerment intervention.
Spotlight Initiative:
In 2017, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) launched the Spotlight Initiative, a global, multi-year programme focused on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls (VAWG).
This joint programme, with a seed funding commitment of €500 million from the EU, is an unprecedented global effort focused on gender equality and women’s empowerment as a precondition and driver for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Under the Spotlight Initiative, UNDP has been leading on efforts that strengthen legal frameworks, policies, and institutions to end GBV. The Spotlight Impact Report 2020-2021 highlighted UNDP’s direct contribution to key results such as a 32 percent increase in national resources allocated to end GBV in 10 Spotlight countries and mobilizing 6,347 parliamentarians in nine Spotlight countries to draft or strengthen 84 laws that improved GBV prevention and response.
Other examples of UNDP’s direct contributions at the regional and country level include:
- In the Caribbean, UNDP supported the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) to integrate for the first time a GBV lens into all prevention, planning, and recovery activities.
- In Mexico, UNDP supported reforms to the federal penal code to include digital and media violence against women.
- In Papua New Guinea (PNG), UNDP supported the Parliament in drafting the first ever dedicated allocation in the national budget to the PNG strategy to respond to gender-based violence.
- In Kyrgyzstan, UNDP supported the Parliament in approving crucial amendments to the Law on Alimony that strengthen women’s legal and economic redress and execution mechanisms for unpaid alimony. The law was signed in August 2020 by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic.