The brief has been developed under the ‘Enhancing Access to Justice for Women in Asia and the Pacific’ Regional Programme, jointly implemented by UN Women, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the International Commission of Jurists, with generous support from the Government of Sweden.

The objective of the report is to examine the legal gaps that are hindering expenditure allocation and reporting on the landscape of expenditures on GE. Subsequently, a step-by-step roadmap has been presented to strengthen the development, implementation and tracking of gender-responsive budgets toward the achievement of national commitments to the SDGs.

This ‘Easy Read’ document highlights the key learnings and recommendations discussed during the joint event ‘Access to Justice for Women With Intellectual and Psychosocial Disabilities,’ led by UN Women in partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway and the International Disability Alliance, during the World Justice Forum 2022.

The report content focuses on reviewing the achievements from 2018 to 2021 through specific targets, primary tasks and solutions; identifying advantages and challenges in implementing the Scheme 1898

This Gender Equality Update highlights the impact of COVID-19 on women and excluded groups, preparedness measures implemented by different bodies of the Government of Nepal, challenges faced while responding to the pandemic and recommendations to be considered for future planning.

This document includes two stand-alone self-assessment tools that organizations or stakeholders can use to carry out a more targeted progress assessment, including 1) Stand-alone self-assessment tool to assess internal organizational progress in supporting women’s leadership in disaster and climate resilience; and 2) Stand-alone self-assessment tool to assess support for the leadership of women’s organizations in disaster and climate resilience.

This brief provides an overview of the Rights of Nature, how the global movement is being translated into regional action, and its connection with indigenous knowledge and systems of living in harmony with nature. 

Despite the scope and severity of the problem, GBV in humanitarian contexts is vastly underreported and current programming to prevent and respond to GBV cases is insufficient. Moreover, the role of all humanitarian practitioners, regardless of their expertise in gender and GBV, is increasingly critical in identifying GBV risks and referring the survivors to essential services.

This issue of the WA2J Quarterly Brief highlights the project initiatives from April - November 2021 under the joint UN Women, ICJ, and OHCHR project titled "Enhancing Women’s Access to Justice in the Asia Pacific: Bridging the gap between formal and informal systems through women’s empowerment." The aim of the joint project is to make justice accessible for women by strengthening the formal justice system and creating an enabling environment for justice seekers by working with civil society organizations, women human rights defenders, and community-based justice mechanisms as well as initiating regional, national and community dialogues. The project is generously supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency SIDA.

The Bangkok Rules commit states, including the Philippines, to reduce the incarceration of women, and if they are already in prison, protect their rights and uphold their dignity.

These statistics set the tone for a series of conversations jointly hosted by UN Women and the French Embassy in Sri Lanka, in the broader context of COVID-19 and the parallel worsening of gender equality. In the course of the six discussions – each based on the thematic focus areas of the Generation Equality Forum – experts and activists repeatedly highlighted three underlying problems in relation to gender equality and women’s rights in Sri Lanka.

In this edition: [*] Marginalised Communities are at the Forefront of Response and Recovery Efforts in Times of Crisis in Timor-Leste [*] Together for Equality photo glossary [*] The Unseen Strands: Looking at the State of Violence and Gender in Timor-Leste [*] The Generation Equality Forum (June 30 - July 2, 2021) and more...

The use of digital technologies in the justice sector has gained considerable momentum against a background of global trends in accelerating technology advancement, combined with an urgency to transform processes in the justice chain amid improve limited access to courts during the COVID-19 pandemic. What does this mean for access to justice for women and gender equality in the justice system? Read more in this op-ed titled What are the digital dividends for women seeking e-Justice?

The programme Enhancing Access to Justice for Women in Asia and the Pacific: Bridging the gap between formal and informal systems through women’s empowerment aims to make justice accessible for women by strengthen the formal justice system and to create an enabling environment for justice seekers by working with CSOs, women human rights defenders, and community-based justice mechanisms.

This Resource Pack for Orientation of Justice Sector Stakeholders has been developed by UN Women Pakistan to orient justice sector officials in Pakistan for understanding the process of legal aid/ assistance/ advice, client handling, and management of cases of Gender-Based Violence for better dispensation of justice. It details pro-women laws and legislative provisions and serves as a reference guide that can be adapted to respond to the needs of each particular audience.

Timor-Leste’s recent history is full of stories of women who have made a significant contribution to building the nation. Women played various roles during the struggle for independence and participated in politics and state-building soon after independence.

The alternative dispute resolution (ADR) landscape in Timor-Leste is a dynamic and important source of justice provision. In the context of a formal justice system, as yet unable to deal effectively with its caseload, the operation of ADR is largely positive, allowing community members to deal with conflicts quickly, restore balance to the community and avoid further pressure on the courts. This UN Women research examines...

As the formal justice system in Timor-Leste develops to meet the needs of the population, many disputes and conflicts continue to be resolved outside of the formal system, using alternative dispute resolution (ADR), such as customary justice, mediation or arbitration. The Ministry of Justice, recognizing the importance of ADR in accessing justice, is working on draft legislation related to informal justice processes and has received support from the Ministry of Justice in Japan. The Ministry...

This study provides new insights into how women perceive the justice system in Viet Nam and how the victims are treated. When the very actors tasked with facilitating access to criminal justice instead “counsel” and pressure victims to settle cases out of court, or treat them without regard for their dignity or privacy, it should come as no surprise that many women eventually give up on a system which is often unresponsive to their needs. When the criminal justice system...

This study, the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region, seeks to analyze how the varying criminal justice systems in Thailand and Viet Nam respond to reported cases of rape and sexual assault, and to identify the key institutional factors associated with the disposition of cases in these countries. In doing so, the study aims to understand where and how attrition of sexual violence cases occurs and identify strategic entry points for strengthening the administration of justice in this area. The research incorporated the mapping of the sexual violence legislation and legal processes in each country, a quantitative review of a minimum of 120 police and/or court case files ...