1. AEHRD’S WORKING GROUP’S WORK ON COMBATTING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN THROUGH MEMBER NHRIS Slide 1 of 16

2. AEHRD’S WORKING GROUP’S WORK ON COMBATTING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN THROUGH MEMBER NHRIS AMMAN, 06TH NOV. 2012 The 11th Global ICC Conference Presentation by: Mu’ayyad Mehyar Programme Manager, Arab-European Human Rights Dialogue Participation and Civil Society Dept. Member NHRIs involved: Denmark, Greece, Sweden, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and UN ESCWA’s Women’s Centre Slide 2 of 16

3. STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND PRIORITISED ISSUES I. Conformity of National Laws and Practices with International Law  Implementation of principles and laws from international agreements that relate to women’s rights and gender equality and review of reservations and lift what can be lifted, so that equality is attained.  Guarantee the legal protection in national legislation for women’s rights, whether in the law or the application/implementation of the law and harmonizing it with international agreements and conventions and national constitutions. Slide 3 of 16

4. STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND PRIORITISED ISSUES I. Conformity of National Laws and Practices with International Law  Implementation of CEDAW, including lifting the reservation, ratification of the optional protocol and harmonization of national legislation  Information gathering, analysis and studies on discriminatory laws and regulations and addressing gaps, whether in the law or in the application of the law in relation to the implementation of international conventions and agreements and in relation to the implementation of national legislation Slide 4 of 16

5. STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND PRIORITISED ISSUES I. Conformity of National Laws and Practices with International Law  Implementation of CEDAW, including lifting the reservation, ratification of the optional protocol and harmonization of national legislation  Information gathering, analysis and studies on discriminatory laws and regulations and addressing gaps, whether in the law or in the application of the law in relation to the implementation of international conventions and agreements and in relation to the implementation of national legislation Slide 5 of 16

6. STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND PRIORITISED ISSUES II. Affirmative Action and Gender Mainstreaming  Gender mainstream national human rights institutions in its structure, strategies programmes, budgets and reports and building partnerships and alliances with civil society organizations  NHRIS nationally propose affirmative actions on gender equality, a act as examples by mainstreaming gender  Representation of women in NHRI boards of 50% within 3-5 years Slide 6 of 16

7. STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND PRIORITISED ISSUES II. Affirmative Action and Gender Mainstreaming  Awareness and training programmes to those who are working in NHRIs to incorporate the concept of equality between men and women and propose practical actions for these institutions to attain the aspired level of equality Slide 7 of 16

8. STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND PRIORITISED ISSUES III. Education for Gender Equality  NHRIs work on establishing and enforcing a culture of gender equality of different levels of society, including training of judges, prosecutes, lawyers, NHRI staff, training of HR students and staff  Development of curricular, ensuring adequate representation and imaging of men and women Slide 8 of 16

9. STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK AND PRIORITISED ISSUES IV. Combating Violence against Women  Fostering the role of national human rights institutions in fighting violence against women, with focus on domestic violence, trafficking and women with special needs.  Organise activities addressing public opinion to fight violence against women and enter into national and regional alliances and campaigns to limit violence against women V. DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECTS AND ACTION PLAN Slide 9 of 16

10. PROJECT AND PLAN All member NHRIs have committed to facilitate the implementation of a project to combat violence against women first in all NHRIs’ respective countries based on each country’s context and in reference to CEDAW.  Objective: Fostering NHRIs in combating violence against women by strengthening the administrative justice system and procedures on combating violence against women. Slide 10 of 16

11. PROJECT AND PLAN  A draft logframe with identification of outcomes, objectives, outputs, activities and indicators was developed in consensus and was approved by participating members. Slide 11 of 15

12. MAJOR DELIVERABLES AND OUTPUTS  Mapping study on violence against women in legislation and in practice: June 30 th 2011  Needs assessment: July 30 th 2011  Identification of target groups: August 5 th 2011  Identification of trainers: August 5 th 2011  Design/adapt training content, materials and programmes: October 30 th 2011  Conclude Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs) with targeted agencies, October 30 th 2011  Organise a multidisciplinary training workshop: December 30 th 2011 Slide 12 of 16

13. MAJOR DELIVERABLES AND OUTPUTS  Pre evaluation of the training content: November 30 th 2011  Post evaluation of the training content and effect: December 30 th 2011  National Dialogue and Conference to discuss findings Nov. 2012  Regional Conference to share best practices, challenges and lessons Learned: March 2013 Slide 13 of 16

14. LESSONS LEARNED... SO FAR  Planning is important including agreeing with all stakeholders on the strategic framework of the project  Forming cooperation, alliances and partnerships with concerned human rights and civil society organisations, including women’s organisations, as well as media, is a cornerstone for the implementation and success of the of the project If a NHRI has close ties and regular interaction with civil society, the NHRI can obtain a wealth of information about the situation in the country Slide 14 of 16

15. LESSONS LEARNED... SO FAR  Context.. Context.. Context.. Successful implementation of the project activities depends, very much, on rigorous analysis of the particular factors affecting violence against women and girls, including setting and forms of violence and populations affected by violence  Holistic, coordinated and multi-sectoral approaches at all levels are more likely to have impact  Involving academia, media and religious scholars is important to drive change in social norms that may sometimes tolerate violence against women and girls Slide 15 of 16

16. LESSONS LEARNED... SO FAR  Applying a HRBA in the project planning and implementation is of paramount importance – PANEL (Participation, Accountability, Non- Discrimination, Empowerment and Reference to Legal Frameworks including International Human Rights Law)  NHRIs should allocate resources to address and deal with women’s human rights and gender equality including appointing gender focal points  NHRIs should be the main catalysts to facilitate and foster a dialogue on human rights in the country including a dialogue on women’s rights and gender equality  NHRIs should always address the issue of legal norms vs. implementation 16 of 16