Outcome WCA_D_3.1

More women and girls are protected from violence in West and Central Africa through normative, legal and policy frameworks and strengthened regional and national institutions that promote positive social norms.

In 2024, advocacy efforts and legislative actions in The Gambia focused on preventing the repeal of the law criminalizing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). These efforts included: Mobilization of Diverse Coalitions : Advocacy efforts successfully brought together a diverse coalition of civil society organizations (CSOs), government representatives, and religious leaders. This coalition played a crucial role in resisting legislative rollbacks. Roundtable Event in May : A significant roundtable event held in May resulted in a strong government stance against repealing the law criminalizing FGM. This event was pivotal in protecting the physical and mental well-being of survivors and reaffirming the nation's commitment to gender equality. The event also emphasized community sensitization and the documentation of nationally representative data to address FGM effectively. Strengthened Capacity of Key Bodies : The African Commission on People and Human Rights (ACHPR) and the African Committee of Experts on the Welfare of the Child were instrumental in engaging national stakeholders to oppose harmful practices such as FGM. Their strengthened capacity was a key highlight of the advocacy efforts. UN Women's Role : UN Women facilitated dialogues that bolstered advocacy efforts by regional and national stakeholders. A virtual Expert Dialogue on April 22 fostered coordinated action among CSOs to prevent legislative regression in The Gambia. Strategic alliances with organizations like UNICEF and UNFPA supported evidence-based advocacy against harmful practices. No New Laws Adopted or Repealed : While no new laws were explicitly adopted or repealed during this reporting period, significant progress was made in resisting legislative rollbacks and reinforcing the legal framework supporting women’s rights. Continued efforts are underway to maintain momentum and achieve more tangible legislative outcomes in upcoming quarters Overall, the advocacy efforts in The Gambia in 2024 were marked by strong coalition-building, strategic dialogues, and the involvement of key stakeholders to protect and uphold the law criminalizing FGM, ensuring the protection and empowerment of women and girls in the country

More women and girls are protected from violence in West and Central Africa through normative, legal and policy frameworks and strengthened regional and national institutions that promote positive social norms.

In West and Central Africa, UNWOMEN has made significant progress on normative framework both at regional and country levels. At regional level, partnership with ECCAS resulted to the drafting of the first biding regional EVAW Convention if adopted in 2024 it will have a real impact on the lies and right of estimated hundred million women and girls in the region of Central Africa that are currently subject to SGBV. At country level CAR developp the law on sexual harassment in school to protect girls rights and access to education on post-conflict environnment.

More women and girls are protected from violence in West and Central Africa through normative, legal and policy frameworks and strengthened regional and national institutions that promote positive social norms.

In 2025, UN Women strengthened normative, institutional, and social frameworks to protect women and girls from violence across West and Central Africa. Through advocacy, multi-stakeholder convening, and capacity-building, UN Women supported the adoption of the AU Convention on Ending VAWG, advanced prevention programming, mobilised religious, traditional and youth leaders, and reinforced feminist networks and WROs. These efforts expanded legal protections, shifted social norms, and enhanced coordinated regional and national EVAWG action.

More women and girls are protected from violence in West and Central Africa through normative, legal and policy frameworks and strengthened regional and national institutions that promote positive social norms.

Normative frameworks and the institutional environments have been strengthened to provide a multi-action approach to EVAWG by: A State of Play of EVAWG has been conducted in 11 countries of Central Africa and is to be extended to the rest Central African Countries, for the elaboration of the ECCAS Regional Convention on VAWG for Central Africa. A Regional VAWG Prevention Strategy has been validated and tested in four countries, to be published in 2023 and is being tested in four countries, with the purpose of translating it into National Action Plans. Commitments to provide technical support to ECCAS and governments on EVAWG legislation have been made, in particular regarding the organization of a regional Ministers' conference on EVAWG Engaging with Ministers in charge of GEWE portfolios, who attended UN Women High Level Forum on strengthening women’s movements Two sets of recommendations and engagements arose from the organization of two High-level Forums that gathered over 180 participants, including CSO, Traditional Leaders, Ministers and regional organization.