A/HRC/23/17 E/CN.6/2013/8 laws, policies and action plans to address this violence. 3 The reinforcement of these laws at the international level through successive resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council 4 calling for intensified action in this field is a further testament to the progress made so far towards a global legal framework in the area of violence against women. 5. Through the mandate conferred by the General Assembly, the Trust Fund invests in collaborative, coordinated and innovative programmes that aim to end violence against women and enable women and girls to be safe and able to live dignified lives, free from fear and with access to justice as the norm, not the exception. 6. Consistent with this mandate, the Trust Fund focuses on translating the global promise to end violence against women into practice by supporting initiatives that address the gender-based discrimination and exclusion that allows violence to flourish. The programmes implement strategies to transform unjust laws, inequitable social norms and harmful practices; to provide a high quality of services and access to justice to survivors of violence; to keep women and girls safe in conflict, postconflict and transitional settings; and to break the link between violence and HIV/AIDS. 7. Knowledge, lessons learned and good practices generated through funded programmes are fast becoming the foundations and drivers of policy change in the dynamic process of addressing violence against women. Evidence gathered through baseline studies, evaluations and research conducted by grantees is being transformed into instruments for public education, policy advocacy with institutions and programming. The funded initiatives play a key role in increasing knowledge, transforming behaviour and modifying practices based on prejudice. The Trust Fund considers these valuable efforts to be the building blocks for preventing violence and promoting women’s empowerment. III. Translating promise into practice 8. Programmes supported by the Trust Fund combine multiple areas of interventions that seek to protect and fulfil women’s interrelated rights. Efforts for the prevention of violence are implemented in conjunction with service delivery programmes, legal and judicial reform and institutional strengthening, thus forging a coherent and holistic approach to ending violence against women and girls, and addressing the manifold causes of violence and its complex consequences on multiple levels. These efforts are helping shape a model to prevent, respond to, and address violence, and to prioritize the sustainability and institutionalization of good practices. Together with its partners, the Trust Fund has learned through its work that ending violence against women requires sustained engagement with communities, that the use of multimedia and social marketing lead to increased awareness and visibility of violence, and that research based on solid evidence can improve advocacy, policymaking and programme implementation. __________________ 3 4 12-64357 Globally, 139 countries have included gender equality guarantees in their constitutions, with 125 countries specifically enacting laws criminalizing domestic violence. See UN-Women, “Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice” (2011-2012), p. 24. General Assembly resolutions 61/143, 62/133, 63/155, 64/137, 65/187 and 67/144 and Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000), 1820 (2008), 1888 (2009) and 1960 (2010). 3