United Nations Population Fund

This briefing paper was prepared for the Symposium on Sexual Violence in Conflict and Beyond that took place in Brussels, Belgium in June 2006. Part I discusses the nature and scope of sexual violence against women and children in situations of armed conflict. Part II describes international actions that have been taken to combat gender-based violence against women. Here, the authors advocate a multi-sectoral approach, which "calls for holistic inter-organizational and inter-agency efforts, across the health, social services, legal and security sectors".

Chapter 7 of this report discusses gender-based violence, noting that "gender-based violence is perhaps the most widespread and socially tolerated of human rights violations". It begins with an overview of violence against women and girls, highlighting that domestic violence is the most common form of gender-based violence. The report then examines the scope and the various forms of gender-based violence.

In this report, the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) describes its commitment to the Beijing Platform for Action (PFA) with reference to its ongoing work in implementing the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). The report describes UNPFA's work for each of the twelve critical areas enumerated in the Beijing PFA and provides some specific examples of UNPFA programs in different countries. It concludes with UNPFA's commitment to the continued implementation of the Beijing PFA, especially through the ICPD Programme of Action.