STORIES FROM THE FIELD - UNDP in Turkey

counselling and grants to start businesses.A series of firsts was also achieved that couldadvance progress for women for years to come:among them the first national strategy to combatviolence against women, the first NationalCommittee on Women’s Employment and thefirst shelter for women survivors of violencein Gaza.A series of high-profile broadcasts by thePalestinian Broadcasting Corporation sparkedunprecedented public discussion on issuessuch as women and violence, the legal systemand the labour market.In close partnership with the Ministry ofWomen’s Affairs, six UN organizations – ILO,UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNRWA and UN-Women – helped to make these and otherinnovations happen. A final evaluation concludedthat the broad scope of the programmecontributed significantly to six of the eight MDGs.Through collaboration, the UN country teamwas able to bring together a range of nationaland local actors to propel progress towardsgender equality, even against a challengingbackdrop. Palestinian women face oppressionfrom continued occupation as well as a deeplyentrenched patriarchy. While they are increasinglywell educated, they have one of the world’slowest rates of participation in the labour market.In surveys, up to 65 per cent of married womenhave reported some kind of domestic abuse.These and other stark realities guided theprogramme’s top priorities: reducing violence,increasing women’s representation in politicaland other forms of decision-making, andadvancing economic opportunities.The strategy to combat violence against womenwas an early measure, prepared with inputs fromsurvivors, women’s organizations, police andrefugees. After the Palestinian Cabinet endorsedit in 2011, the UN country team helped to drawtogether six ministries, under the guidance ofthe Ministry of Women’s Affairs, to create actionplans for the implementation of the strategy.Under its plan, the Ministry of Justice agreed tocomprehensively review laws and legal practicesrelating to violence and improve police work,forensic medicine and prosecutions. A critical firststep was the criminalization of so-called honourkillings, by presidential decree. The Ministry ofHealth adopted a guide for health providers ondealing with gender-based violence, used for anational referral system for violence survivors.The Ministry of Education accredited a courseon ending violence in schools now beingrolled out in all schools after being pilotedin four by the joint programme. A series oftraining curricula includes one for fourthyearlaw students to learn how to respondto cases of violence against women. Trainingfor sharia court judges encouraged themto adopt trial practices protecting women’sfreedom of speech and making women moreaware of legal rights under sharia law.One major strategy of the joint programme wasto gather evidence on gender discrimination,the depth and details of which have beenobscured by the lack of information. Trainingfor statisticians and field workers at the CentralBureau of Statistics led them to incorporategender dimensions into the general nationalsurvey on violence, which is conducted everyfive years. It provided the first systematicallygenerated data about forms of violencepredominantly affecting women both in publicand private. Policymakers will now be able touse these data to formulate effective responses.Another measure was to help the Ministryof Women’s Affairs to set up a unit todevelop national gender indicators andmonitor advancements and gaps in closecooperation with the Central Bureauof Statistics, gender units in 13 majorministries and the Ministry of Planning.30 Synthesis of 2011/2012 Resident Coordinator Annual Reports