A/HRC/28/42
Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security, and 1820 (2008)
on sexual violence in conflicts. OHCHR provided financial and technical support for the
development, validation and publication of the action plans, and contributed to building the
capacity of stakeholders to ensure implementation. In the Gambia, OHCHR supported the
implementation of the national action plan by providing technical and financial assistance,
including training of trainers workshops on human rights and gender-based violence for law
enforcement officials.
35.
Progress has also been made regarding the harmonization of national laws with
international human rights standards. In Senegal, OHCHR provided advice on the
development of a law allowing women to pass on their nationality to their children or
spouse. The Office also worked with civil society to raise public awareness of the law after
its adoption in 2013. In 2013, OHCHR assisted the Government to prepare its report under
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. During
the elections held in 2012 and 2014, the Regional Office supported civil society in
monitoring the implementation of the 2010 parity law on the participation of women in
national politics. In 2014, OHCHR supported the process of preparing a manual on gender
and human rights for parliamentarians, and undertook capacity-building for women
parliamentarians.
Yemen: inclusive and participatory management of land disputes
36.
Since May 2013, OHCHR and the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) in Yemen have been engaged in a joint project on transitional justice in support of
the Commission to Consider and Address Land Issues (the Land Commission) and the
Commission on Forcibly Dismissed Employees for Southern Yemen (the Dismissals
Commission). Both commissions were established in 2013 as confidence-building measures
to address the root causes of grievances held by people in southern Yemen following the
1994 war. A special Compensation Fund has also been established for cases of land
confiscation and alleged summary dismissal of civil security and military personnel.
37.
So far, the Land Commission has received more than 100,000 individual claims
concerning illegal confiscations, of which 30,000 had been resolved at the time of writing.
The Dismissals Commission has received over 100,000 applications, of which 20,000 had
been processed by December 2014. The commissions and the compensation fund suffer
from chronic financial and staff shortages, and weak political support.
38.
The joint OHCHR-UNDP project has promoted transparency and accountability,
including through a strategy to allow civil society to monitor the work of the commissions
and the implementation of their recommendations. OHCHR and UNDP organized study
visits for the staff of the commissions to Germany and Peru in order to expose them to
experiences and good practices used to resolve similar cases and apply high standards of
transparency and accountability. The project supported the establishment of interactive web
portals for both commissions, enabling individuals to monitor progress in the processing of
their cases. Throughout the project, there has also been regular cooperation with local
media to encourage press coverage, interviews with decision-makers and investigative
journalism. The decisions of the two commissions have yet to be implemented. OHCHR
and UNDP will continue their advocacy with international and local partners to keep the
issue at the centre of the Government’s political and development agenda.
10
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents