Interagency Gender Working Group - The Launch of the UNIFEM Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence Against Women and Girls

The Launch of the UNIFEM Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence Against Women and Girls

At an IGWG brown bag on Oct. 7, 2010, Dina Deligiorgis, Knowledge Management Specialist at UNIFEM, spoke about the launch of a new website resource, the United Nations UNIFEM Virtual Knowledge Centre to End Violence against Women and Girls, www.endvawnow.org. She also discussed how the website is currently being used by global health leaders and practitioners as well as how future efforts to prevent gender-based violence can be strengthened by using this online resource. The brown bag was hosted by the Gender-based Violence Task Force of the Interagency Gender Working Group (IGWG) at PATH in Washington, D.C.

Explaining the need for the new website, Deligiorgis explained that in the past, there has been a lack of evidence on proven methods and successful approaches on ending gender-based violence. However, in order to increase awareness, create effective programs, and incite global action to end violence against women and girls, she said, knowledge must be accessible and information must be disseminated among practitioners and policymakers. UNIFEM's Virtual Knowledge Centre website addresses this information gap in gender-based violence and serves as an evidence-based resource for country-level programming. It brings together recommendations, experiences, and insight from all over the world and from wide-ranging experts at different United Nations agencies, organizations, and governments.

The website is a "one- stop" comprehensive guide and toolkit for project designers, program implementers, and researchers. It allows users to search for specific topics (for example, program budgeting, male involvement, and effective legislation writing) in specific types of resources (such as brochures, reports, and case studies). In addition, the website offers:

A roster of related data sources, online resources, organizations, and leading initiatives in GBV.
A calendar of events and trainings.
A help section with hotline numbers.
Summaries of evaluations and key findings from thousands of reports, publications, and studies.
Step-by-step assistance in how to work with different stakeholders and specific areas of interventions.

UNIFEM began working on this project in 2008 and in March 2010 the Virtual Knowledge Centre website was launched. Since October 2010, there have been more than 30,000 visitors to the site from 198 countries.

Note from the UNIFEM website: "UNIFEM has been dissolved and incorporated into the newly established UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)."