In Focus: UN Trust Fund activities during the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women
18 March
Ending violence against girls in schools in Wau, South Sudan
During the last session of the UN Trust Fund’s brownbag series in conjunction with the 63rd Commission on the Status of Women, the NGO Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) discussed the context of and strategy for its project working to end sexual violence against adolescent girls in South Sudan. Hala Alkarib, the Regional Director of SIHA shared that their work stems from the need to “look at the root causes and drivers of violence." She further explained that, “SIHA, a women’s human rights organization works in humanitarian settings to end the pervasive normalization of gender-based violence against women and girls.” SIHA works closely with grassroots women’s rights activists who reach out to students, teachers and administrators in efforts to unveil abuses and end sexual violence against girls in the school environment, while focusing specific attention to displaced populations who are at an increased risk of violence. Watch the recording of the brownbag on Facebook by clicking here.
Amplifying the voices of UN Trust Fund grantees: SIHA
Watch Hala Alkarib, the Regional Director of SIHA discuss their school-based project working to change mindsets and behaviours to end sexual violence against women and girls in camps for internally displaced people in South Sudan.
15 March
Learning to adapt work – Lessons from ACEV’s project in Turkey
In Turkey, the Mother Child Education Foundation (ACEV), works to change mindsets by engaging fathers in an innovative violence prevention project. During a brownbag event in conjunction with the 63rd Commission on the Status of Women, ACEV presented the results of the second generation of their UN Trust Fund-funded project which works to instill “gender equitable attitudes […through a] fatherhood and parenting based approach”, said Suna Hanoz, International Programs Director at ACEV. She further explained that ACEV aims to transform gender norms in communities using fatherhood as an entry point to prevent violence. Their methodology is now being replicated around the country, generating grassroots movements of engaged citizens. Click here to read about their first-generation project, and its final evaluation in our evaluation library.
Watch this interview with Suna Hanoz, International Programs Director of ACEV, discuss the societal change the project strives for through their work with fathers in the third interview of our “Amplifying the voices of UN Trust Fund grantees” interview series.
Amplifying the voices of UN Trust Fund grantees: Beyond Borders
Beyond Borders in Haiti has identified a gap in existing knowledge and focus on the intersection of violence against women and disability. Watch this interview with Sara Siebert to learn how Beyond Borders has adapted the SASA! methodology in efforts to prevent and end violence against women with disabilities in Haiti. Watch the interview below and read more about this project.
14 March 2019
Movement building in the 21st century: drivers and gendered challenges
UN Trust Fund grantees from Nicaragua, Peru, Myanmar and India joined together for a conversation on the role of building movements to prevent and end violence against women and girls. The NGO representatives shared how their projects encourage collective action to change mindsets in communities towards preventing and ending violence against women and girls. Pragya, a grantee from India, presented their approach in empowering tribal women and their work to create more gender-responsive support structures. The NGO Madre shared their successes in increased mobilization of indigenous women and girls using radio programmes.
Amplifying the voices of UN Trust Fund grantees: CREAW
Watch this interview with Wangechi Moegi, Executive Director of the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) in Kenya to learn about their cooperation and exchange across the UN Trust Fund’s portfolio. Through partnership with Physicians for Human Rights and using the SASA! Methodology, CREAW is building on UN Trust Fund grantees’ results to create change for women and girls. Learn more about CREAW’s three-pronged approach to prevent and end violence against women and girls in Kenya in this video.
13 March 2019
Highlighting promising practices in the prevention of and response to violence against women and girls with disabilities
The UN Trust Fund-hosted side event held on 13 March during the Commission on the Status of Women highlighted inclusive practices to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls with disabilities. Panelists included Emily Espen from the Department for International Development, UK; Mathilde Umuraza from the NGO UNABU, Rwanda; Sara Siebert from the NGO Beyond Borders, Haiti; Marcela Benavides from the NGO CIMUNIDAS, Chile; and Sophie Pecourt from the NGO Humanity & Inclusion, France, who discussed gaps in the inclusion of women and girls with disabilities in programming to prevent and end violence against women and girls. During the event, Marcela Benavides said “women and girls with disabilities have four times the risk of being abused […] we were what was missing in Chile, the perspective of women and girls with disabilities.” The rich discussion highlighted the ways in which organizations ensure the perspectives of women and girls with disabilities are included in efforts to prevent violence and support survivors who live with disabilities.
Early marriage: Drivers and gendered impact (for girls affected by the Syrian Crisis in Jordan) - Insights from the Arab Women’s Organization
On 13 March, the Arab Women’s Organization (AWO) presented the successes of their project working to prevent and respond to violence against Syrian refugee and Jordanian women and girls in the first of the UN Trust Fund’s brownbag events held in conjunction with the Commission on the Status of Women. During the session, AWO, a UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) grantee, discussed their efforts to prevent child, early and forced marriage of Syrian refugees and Jordanian girls through two women’s centres. The centres provide support services including case management, legal consultations, referral services and skills training. AWO has already provided 2,352 women with information about their rights, violence against women and the risks of early marriage; and run awareness-raising programmes for men and boys about gender equality, violence against women, and women’s rights. Read the web story here and watch the video below.
During the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women is hosting a brownbag event series to share successes of grantees working to prevent and end violence against women and girls around the world. The series will feature achievements, lessons learned and results of eight UN Trust Fund grantees. See below for details.
If you are not in New York during the CSW, please join us by watching all of the events live on Facebook.
*Disclaimer: Brownbag events featuring results and work of civil society organizations are hosted by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women in conjunction with the 63rd Commission on the Status of Women with the aim to create visibility and foster dialogue on effective approaches to end violence against women. The views expressed by participants do not reflect official positions and do not imply official endorsement by UN Women or any other entity within the United Nations.