Outcome ECU_D_3.1

National and local institutions deliver multi sector responses to address violence against women and girls in development and humanitarian settings

UNW made considerable progress on this Outcome in 2022, national and local institutions have generated instruments and developed capacities to respond to violence against women and girls in humanitarian and development contexts. Regarding women's right to political participation and the elimination of political violence, UNW worked jointly with the National Electoral Council to strengthen the Political Training School for Women that promotes the participation of women in the political arena, strengthening the leadership of 330 women politicians who are part of the candidates to sectional elections in 2023. In Galapagos, UNW coordinated with the Government Council to conduct workshops on Masculinities with 35 officials of the entities of the System for the Protection of Victims of Violence (National Police, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, Ministry of Human Rights, Prosecutor's Office, Council of the Judiciary and the Government Council of Galapagos), which generated individual and institutional commitment to replicate the information in their communities and entities. UN Women, with the support of UNW Regional Office, developed appropriate conceptual and methodological tools for the incorporation of gender approach in the foreign policy agenda in foreign relations and human mobility, through training modules adopted within the Diplomatic Training School. Finally, UNW and the Ministry started the design of the National Action Plan for the implementation of UNSCR 1325, training Ministry's staff in this normative framework. Within the framework of Safe Cities program, UNW developed a prevention and attention to victims of sexual harassment procedure for Quito Subway. In Cuenca, worked with three parish governments: Victoria del Portete, Quingeo and Sinincay in the geo-referencing and digital labeling of spaces identified as unsafe for women on community roads. In 2022, men in intervention territories, public officials, technicians of social organizations, cooperation agencies have the knowledge and tools to implement practices in non-violent and co-responsible masculinities, becoming allies for the prevention of gender-based violence. Under the methodology of Masculinities in Movement developed in “Caminando” Project, 58 men from Ibarra, Esmeraldas, Lago Agrio and Tulcan strengthened their knowledge in gender and human mobility, human rights, and became trainers of other men using a cascade methodology, thus achieving a community-based replication. Also, 92 community communicators have knowledge and skills on gender approach, violence prevention and non-violent and co-responsible masculinities. Masculinity in Movement was also part of UNW Executive Board Agenda where Board Members played the tools developed and recommended to present the Initiative to UN member countries, given that they consider it an example of transformation and learning. In this context, the theory of change is applicable for this outcome. By 2023, within the framework of UN Women Ecuador's new strategic note 2023 - 2026, drivers for change include strengthening the development of norms and standards on gender equality and women's empowerment in line with intergovernmental processes, the production, analysis and use of gender statistics and knowledge, as well as women's voice, leadership and action, and positive social norms including engagement with men and boys, through technical support for the implementation of national policies on gender-based violence including prevention, care, protection and reparations to victims. According to Aldea Foundation in 2022 the civil society registered 332 cases of violent deaths of women for gender-based reasons, of these. It´s necessary to make visible and name these other feminicides in contexts of criminal economies, territorial disputes between narco-criminal gangs and high prevalence of criminal contexts. Of the total registered in 2022, at least 48 women reported a history of violence and 9 had an emergency call; 57 femicides could have been prevented if a protection system had been activated by the State. The youngest victim was 3 months old, and the oldest victim was 84 years old, demonstrating that gender-based violence against women crosses the entire life cycle. 14 women were pregnant, 4 out of 10 victims were mothers, at least for which information is available, meaning that at least 245 children were orphaned in 2022. Source http://www.fundacionaldea.org/noticias-aldea/mapa2022 . In 2022 there was an emblematic case that shocked the entire Ecuadorian society, Maria Belen Bernal was murdered by her spouse inside the Police National Former School, her body was found 10 days later buried in the Casitagua hill. This event activated several women's organizations and feminist activists who raised their voices to demand a response from the State to the dangerous situation of women and girls in Ecuador. Despite this difficult scenario, UN Women has obtained several results that support the task of eliminating violence against women, including technical assistance and political advocacy for the creation of the Ministry of Women and Human Rights, an entity that received support for the definition of a functional structure, a consolidated institutional vision and the prioritization of issues relevant to girls and women in Ecuador the strengthening of systems for the prevention, protection and care of victims of gender-based violence; inter-institutional coordination for the construction of the national care system, in conjunction with other institutions of the executive branch; strengthening, together with the Gender Equality Council, the incorporation of the gender perspective in public policies in relation to the executive function; the effective incorporation of the human rights approach in national and local public policies, in addition to the important results obtained through the Safe Cities program, the Spotlight Initiative and the actions framed within the framework of humanitarian aid have made it possible to support the State and women in recognizing their diversity, the different types and areas of violence, as well as recognizing territorial differences, focusing on the situation in areas of violence that are not made visible, such as violence in public spaces and migrant women. The year 2023 is a year in which local government candidates will be selected and electoral campaigns will take place so these tools will be essential to support women's right to participate on equal terms. In 2022, this Outcome has several lessons learned, such as the need to strengthen the joint work between the State and Civil Society and to identify the role of the United Nations System Agencies as facilitators of these spaces. In addition, it is vital to have evidence to show the extent of the problem of violence in all areas to take measures and decisions in the medium term. On the other hand, it is important to work at different levels within the branches of government, in addition to the work being done with the National Assembly, because although it is the body responsible for enacting and overseeing laws, it is the Executive and Local Governments who implement them and there must be adequate coordination, especially in the provision of quality care services to victims, which is still deficient despite the existence of tools and learning channels, and more specialized capacities must be strengthened. Finally, to highlight the importance and necessity of the context for collaborating with men to reflect on the urgency of changing socio-cultural patterns focused on the construction of new masculinities.

National and local institutions deliver multi sector responses to address violence against women and girls in development and humanitarian settings

This Outcome was achieved during the course of 2021 and several national instances have used and still use tools to respond to violence against women, despite the limitations encountered by the COVID 19 health emergency that continues to affect the normal development of activities. Regarding the field of development, we can mention that the Municipality of Cuenca has the III Cantonal Plan to eradicate violence against women (1) with a validity of 10 years, which incorporates different forms of violence such as sexual harassment in the public space. The Galapagos Provincial Government has a 2021-2025 strategic plan to prevent and address violence against women (2). The Municipality of Guayaquil has a project built in a participatory manner to implement actions to prevent and assist sexual harassment in public spaces. A route of access to justice for women in the political sphere (3) has been developed, which has been shared with national and local advocacy bodies for its dissemination; in addition, this tool has also been adapted to the media and communicators (4) so that they know their role in preventing this type of action. In addition, tools have been generated to train women for the enforceability of rights, particularly in the field of security with a gender perspective. In the humanitarian field, training modules have been developed for different state actors from the judiciary, (5) as well as from the executive power to provide care services sensitive to the needs of migrant women. Shelter services for victims of violence have been strengthened with training (6) and also with material aid such as supplies, equipment, emergency kits, among others. An SOP (7) has been created to prevent and deal with sexual harassment and exploitation in humanitarian contexts, which has enabled the training of a significant number of implementing partners and state agencies that provide services to people in human mobility; it has also been shared with community leaders (8) so that the beneficiary populations are aware of these existing protection mechanisms. In addition, men have been trained in non-violent masculinities with materials developed in the humanitarian field, and trainers have been instructed to disseminate this content. In addition, Venezuelan, Colombian and Ecuadorian women leaders have strengthened their capacities to advocate for their rights. UN Women has contributed to the development of all of the aforementioned, emphasizing actions or products that have a potential for sustainability both in local governments and in national instances. For example, the local plans have been approved by the corresponding instances (cantonal councils or others) in such a way that they are mandatory in terms of their implementation and it is also established which instances are responsible for their implementation. The routes of access to justice in cases of political violence include what is established by national legislation, for which a pedagogical adaptation of these contents has been carried out so that political women, political organizations and the structures involved in this area know the rules that protect women. The training tools have been coordinated with the institutions so that they are incorporated into their training spaces in such a way that they are mandatory at the time of being part of it. In addition, the instruments developed to strengthen the capacities of civil society have been worked on with organizations that remain in the territories, in such a way that they can be used in the longer term. It should be noted that, in the humanitarian field, all these developed tools allow UN Women in the country to have a base of instruments, which have mainstreaming of gender approach, and that can be used in the framework of other emergencies. This has given the UN Women country office a territorial presence, coordinating with actors that previously had not been possible to do so, and being a reference in the localities in terms of support for gender equality. On the other hand, at the local level it has been possible to carry out intervention actions with grassroots women who have had the possibility of making their needs visible, and their capabilities have been developed to generate proposals, for the enforceability of their rights, to rethink their Life projects.