Outcome APA_D_3.1

An enabling legislative and policy environment in line with international standards on EVAW and other forms of discrimination is in place and translated into action

Institutionalization of survivor-centered and migratory-inclusive service provision for responding to cases of violence against women abroad The APA Outcome 3.1 made significant progress during the reporting period. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Viet Nam institutionalized the quality service provisions for Vietnamese women abroad. In December 2022, MOFA adopted the “Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Supporting Overseas Vietnamese Women Victims of Violence, Abuse, Sexual Harassment and Trafficking in Persons”, with technical support from UN Women ROAP and the Viet Nam Office. Technical support from UN Women was provided through consultations throughout the development process and review processes of the draft documents. The SOPs were designed based on the “ Practical Guide: Developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for a Coordinated Response to Violence against Women, including women migrant workers ”, developed by the UN Women regional office. With the SOPs, foreign service officials and diplomats of Viet Nam embassies and consulates overseas are able to provide strengthened protection and support for Vietnamese citizens abroad, especially those who have experienced violence against women or trafficking in persons. The SOPs will be implemented through Vietnamese embassies and consulates globally as a guiding document for survivor-centered referral procedures between Viet Nam and countries of destination. This SOP was reported as one of the leading workstreams by Viet Nam through the implementation and review of the ASEAN Regional Plan of Action on the Elimination of Violence against Women, through the mid-term review of the RPA , conducted in 2021 with support from the regional office (reported in 2021). Strengthening the capacities of foreign service officials in survivor-centered service provision for women migrant workers emerged following one basic workshop in Viet Nam in 2019, and evolved into an ongoing series of learning sessions that incorporated the experiences of foreign service officials globally for newly appointed foreign service officials. The SOPs formalize the training materials into practice as guiding documents for foreign service officials. Capacity development of institutions to implement laws and policies to deliver services for eliminating violence against women Gender-Responsive Police Services In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Police Women Network capacity was strengthened, with support from the regional office, HQ and the Bangladesh Office. The Handbook on Gender Responsive Police Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence was rolled out in Bangladesh, thus operationalizing the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls subject to Violence as it supports and assists the police by providing the ‘how to’ as well as an exchange of experiences in relation to responding to VAWG in a transformational way ensuring a victim centered approach and building trust and confidence in local communities. The Bangladesh Police Women Network took ownership of the Gender-Responsive Police Handbook roll out process by identifying the areas where the Handbook can be incorporated, including by developing violence against women training curricula for police officers following a gap-identifying analysis process. The Gender Responsive Policing Handbook was translated and adapted to the contexts in Bangladesh . Shelters In Viet Nam, the Viet Nam Women’s Union developed the Capacity Development Roadmap of the Peace House Shelter to strengthen the shelter management and the capacity of services with technical support from UN Women. In Bangladesh, the Tarango Shelter for survivors of violence utilized the gender-based violence-women’s economic empowerment integrated model to pilot the economic empowerment interventions alongside the provision of multisectoral services. UN Women supported the light review process of the shelter project, analyzing whether services have adequately responded to survivors’ needs.

An enabling legislative and policy environment in line with international standards on EVAW and other forms of discrimination is in place and translated into action

New National Action Plans (NAP) in Lao PDR and Malaysia The APA Outcome 3.1 made significant progress during the reporting period. Two new NAPs, one on violence against women and children and another one on trafficking in persons (TIP) were adopted in Lao PDR and Malaysia, respectively. In Malaysia, UN Women ROAP, through the Safe and Fair Programme (SAF), contributed to the new National Action Plan on Anti-Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) 2021-2025 in collaboration with UNODC. The NAPTIP was launched in March 2021, by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The new NAPTIP provides the policy and implementation directions for Malaysia’s anti-trafficking efforts in the next five years. The NAPTIP 3.0 was developed through a collaborative process among the Malaysian Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons, SAF UN agencies and CSOs. The inputs from UN Women mainly focused on enhancing the prevention of TIP by addressing risk factors, protection through legal remedies and provision of services to survivors, including increased prosecution of TIP. In Lao PDR, UN Women, through SAF, provided technical support to the Second National Plan of Action on Preventing and Elimination of Violence against Women and Violence against Children (2021-2025) (NPAVAWVAC). The technical support from UN Women, through SAF, focused on ensuring the integration of the gender-sensitive and survivor-centered approaches in the NPAVWAVAC. The technical supports of UNW were consolidated into the Guidance Note to Develop Migrant-Sensitive National Action Plans on Violence against Women which builds lessons learned from the NAPVAW Cambodia (adopted in 2020) and the NPAVWAVAC Lao PDR. Building capacities of service providers on coordinated responses to VAW including women migrant workers through a practical guide on how to develop Standard Operating Procedures. The APA Outcome 3.1 made significant progress during the reporting period. A practical guide, “Developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for a Coordinated Response to Violence against Women, including women migrant workers” was developed and introduced to service providers in the ASEAN region, through a webinar organized in December 2021. UN Women developed the SOPs guide through in-depth cooperation and consultation with partners across the countries in ASEAN where developing national and local SOPs, as part of the Safe and Fair programme. This guidance for SOPs is designed for service providers, based on service providers’ experiences and lessons learnt and is not meant to be static. It must be regularly updated to ensure the referral pathways are functioning and relevant to the current context and situation of women subject to violence, including women migrant workers. This includes during times of crisis or during pandemics such as COVID-19. In these times the SOPs must be reviewed to ensure services are operational and function regularly. Ending Violence against Women and Children (EVAWC) in East Asia and Pacific While the outcome has not yet been achieved, progress was made in 2021, which led to a joint programme with UNICEF and UNFPA in Viet Nam (VNM) (“Supporting Interventions to Eliminate Violence against Women and Children in VNM under COVID-19 Emergency Context”, jointly implemented June 2020 - May 2021). Building on four country studies, in 2021 the EVAW team, together with the other agencies, played a key role in shaping a regional report and a joint letter by the Regional Directors from the three agencies urging staff in country offices to collaborate more closely across agencies. In November 2021, the three agencies organized a session on VAW and Violence against Children (VAC) During UNICEF’s INSPIRE conference. The joint emergency programme was the first time that the three UN agencies worked together to design and implement a project on VAW-VAC in an emergency situation in VNM, and resulted in the development and approval of a new joint programme on EVAWC in the period of 2021-2025 in VNM. Based on the progress made, ROAP’s strategy and theory of change for this outcome is still applicable and has not been amended. In VNM, the Theory of Change of the programme in the strategic note 2022-2026 was informed by the TOC of the joint programme. The regional EVAW team, UNFPA and UNICEF have started discussing further joint work in 2022. The impact of this work is significant as it has historically been difficult to work on the intersections of VAWVAC.

An enabling legislative and policy environment in line with international standards on EVAW and other forms of discrimination is in place and translated into action

New National Action Plans in Lao PDR and Malaysia The APA Outcome 3.1 made significant progress during the reporting period. Two new National Action Plans, one on violence against women and children and another one on trafficking in persons were adopted in Lao PDR and Malaysia, respectively. In Malaysia, UN Women ROAP, through the Safe and Fair Programme, contributed to the new National Action Plan on Anti-Trafficking in Persons (2021-2025) in collaboration with UNODC. The NAPTIP was launched in March 2021, by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The new NAPTIP provides the policy and implementation directions for Malaysia’s anti-trafficking efforts in the next five years. The NAPTIP 3.0 was developed through a collaborative process among the Malaysian Council for Anti-Trafficking in Persons, SAF UN agencies and civil society organizations. The inputs from UN Women mainly focused on enhancing the prevention of trafficking in persons by addressing risk factors, protection through legal remedies and provision of services to survivors, including increased prosecution of TIP. In Lao PDR, UN Women, through SAF, provided technical support to the Second National Plan of Action on Preventing and Elimination of Violence against Women and Violence against Children (2021-2025) (NPAVAWVAC). The technical support from UN Women, through SAF, focused on ensuring the integration of the gender-sensitive and survivor-centered approaches in the NPAVWAVAC. The technical supports of UNW were consolidated into the Guidance Note to Develop Migrant-Sensitive National Action Plans on Violence against Women which builds lessons learned from the NAPVAW Cambodia (adopted in 2020) and the NPAVWAVAC Lao PDR. Building capacities of service providers on coordinated responses to violence against women including women migrant workers through a practical guide on how to develop Standard Operating Procedures. The APA Outcome 3.1 made significant progress during the reporting period. A practical guide, “Developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for a Coordinated Response to Violence against Women, including women migrant workers” was developed and introduced to service providers in the ASEAN region, through a webinar organized in December 2021. UN Women developed the SOPs guide through in-depth cooperation and consultation with partners across the countries in ASEAN where developing national and local SOPs, as part of the Safe and Fair programme. This guidance for SOPs is designed for service providers, based on service providers’ experiences and lessons learnt and is not meant to be static. It must be regularly updated to ensure the referral pathways are functioning and relevant to the current context and situation of women subject to violence, including women migrant workers. This includes during times of crisis or during pandemics such as COVID-19. In these times the SOPs must be reviewed to ensure services are operational and function regularly. Ending Violence against Women and Children in East Asia and Pacific While the outcome has not yet been achieved, progress was made in 2021, which led to a joint programme with UNICEF and UNFPA in Viet Nam (“Supporting Interventions to Eliminate Violence against Women and Children in Viet Nam under COVID-19 Emergency Context”, jointly implemented June 2020 - May 2021). Building on four country studies, in 2021 the EVAW team, together with the other agencies, played a key role in shaping a regional report and a joint letter by the Regional Directors from the three agencies urging staff in country offices to collaborate more closely across agencies. In November 2021, the three agencies organized a session on VAW and VAW during UNICEF’s INSPIRE conference. The joint emergency programme was the first time that the three UN agencies worked together to design and implement a project on VAW and VAC in an emergency situation in Viet Nam, and resulted in the development and approval of a new joint programme on EVAWC in the period of 2021-2025 in Viet Nam. Based on the progress made, ROAP’s strategy and theory of change for this outcome is still applicable and has not been amended. In Viet Nam, the TOC of the EVAW programme in the strategic note 2022-2026 was informed by the TOC of the joint programme. The regional EVAW team, UNFPA and UNICEF have started discussing further joint work in 2022. The impact of this work is significant as it has historically been difficult to work on the intersections of VAW and VAC.