Violence against women remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations, affecting millions globally and undermining gender equality. Recognizing the need for comprehensive legal reforms, UN Women, with support from the Government of the Netherlands and the delegation of the European Union in the United Republic of Tanzania, launched a study titled "Analysis of Laws of Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar from a Gender Perspective." The study identified 76 legal reform recommendations to ensure gender equality, including repealing two discriminatory laws, amending 18 existing laws, and enacting five new laws to align Tanzania's legislative framework with international standards.

Despite ongoing efforts to advance gender equality, Kenya still faces significant legal barriers that disproportionately impact women and girls. Outdated laws related to inheritance, marriage, and family relations continue to obstruct progress toward achieving full gender parity.

he two-day national workshop on creating space for the civil society organizations to participate in the implementation process of transitional justice policy in Ethiopia was held from 20 to 21 June 2024 in Bishoftu town, Ethiopia. The workshop targeting women leaders from non-governmental and civil society organizations and representatives of grassroots community groups from various regions of the country aimed to assess gender sensitivity of the Transitional Justice(TJ) Policy recently adopted by Ethiopia’s Council of Ministers, to identify opportunities, gaps , and to collectively strategize and plan actions to ensure gender sensitivity and women’s participation during the upcoming implementation phases of the Transitional Justice Policy realized.

In the DRC, this October and November, elected officials from different provinces are attending two-day trainings by UN Women on legislative writing, gender mainstreaming and transformational leadership in their respective provinces. These culminate in the signing of a memorandum of understanding in which they undertake to integrate gender into parliamentary practices and engage UN Women to support them. The provincial deputies of Kongo Centrale and Haut-Katanga were the first to participate in said interactive workshops.

UN Women Uganda through the support of the EU-UN Global Spotlight Initiative and the Embassy of Sweden work with the Uganda Police Force to ensure trauma-informed and victim-centered investigation of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) crimes. UN Women has supported trainings on evidence collection and donated evidence collection vans as well as state-of-the-art technology to facilitate DNA collection for better investigations of SGBV crimess

EU, UN advocate for the implementation of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, (2015) by states in Nigeria. 

UN Women under the Young Women and Leadership Project (YWLP) implemented in partnership with FOWODE. From the training, she got to understand issues of gender equality and the equal roles men and women have to play towards achieving peace and development.

Julienne Lusenge is Director of the Fund for Congolese Women (FFC) and President of SOFEPADI in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she says “violence is a part of daily life”. In October 2015, she spoke about gender-based violence in conflict at the UN Security Council's Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security: