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In 2015, UNICEF provided support to address GBV in many countries in humanitarian context. This included Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia, Malawi, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, State of Palestine and the Syrian Arab Republic, as well as the European and Balkan countries that were impacted by the mass population movements to Europe.

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In 2015, an agreement between UNICEF and the Child Soldiers Initiative was reached to second a child protection adviser to the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom). As part of a new cooperation arrangement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), UNICEF participated in the training in Zaragoza, Spain (October 2015), which resulted in a pre-deployment training of 32,000 NATO troops and civilians on practical field-oriented measures in preventing, monitoring and responding to violence and violations against women and children. This led into the integration of child protection in NATO-led operations, and establishing a violations alert mechanism when deployed in peace-keeping operations.

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In 2015, the Central African Republic saw an increase in the number of reported cases of sexual exploitation and abuse involving children by United Nations personnel or by foreign military personnel associated with a United Nations mandate, rising to 28 cases from 9 reported cases in 2014. 1)In response, UNICEF implemented a Notification Alert to senior management to strengthen the reporting of child rights allegations and incidents, this contributed to improving timely reporting and monitoring of cases. 2)UNICEF increased the scale up assistance and support to victims, through medical care, psychosocial support, and legal assistance, complemented with provision of food, clothing and hygiene kits. UNICEF also provided training to partners from the Ministry of Social Affairs and the NGOs providing care to victims, an important step in expanding response capacity within the country. 3)In order to avoid stigma and media attention and in the best interest of the child, UNICEF worked with NGOs to relocate the victims to different neighborhoods. This work has been critical not only for providing support to child victims of sexual exploitation and abuse, but also as an entry point for strengthening a broader programmatic approach to prevention and response to gender-based violence in emergencies.

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In 2014, UNICEF collective provided timely emergency response such as food, water, shelter, latrines, health care and psychosocial support for millions of women and girls affected by conflict. In Iraq, Yemen, Nigeria, Syria and Nigeria, UNICEF helped in protecting the dignity of women and girls in camps for the internally displaced people. In 2015, almost 10,000 children were released from armed forces or armed groups, with at least 70 per cent receiving reintegration assistance.

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UNICEF is leading in the development of tools for violence against women and girls in emergencies, including the revision of the IASC GBV Guidelines and the GBV Coordination Handbook. In 2014-2015, UNICEF will roll out the Guidelines and promote adherence at headquarters, regional and country levels, within UNICEF programmes and by partners. Hide

Social Norms and Community-based Care Programming in Humanitarian Settings: Building ‘Good Practice’ Approaches for Response to and Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence against Women and Girls Affected by Conflict is a three-year project by UNICEF, underway in Somalia and South Sudan. It focuses on building community-level prevention and response strategies to promote behaviour change towards greater respect for women and girls, and to prevent sexual violence as an inevitable and acceptable part of war. A key component of the project is rigorous research, conducted in partnership with Johns Hopkins University, which will document the impact of the programme. Hide

UNICEF developed in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) a 5-day curriculum “Protecting Women and Child Survivors of Gender Based Violence in Emergencies through Improved Coordination.” This course is unique in its attention to the gender-based violence (GBV) coordinators’ role in effectively prioritizing specialized response for children, and its consideration of how GBV coordinators can effectively work with other clusters, especially Child Protection Working Groups, to mitigate risk to women and girls in diverse emergency response settings. Hide

UNICEF and WHO, supported by UN Action funds, organized a technical meeting on Responding to the Psychosocial and Mental Health Needs of Sexual Violence Survivors in Conflict-Affected Settings from 28 to 30 November 2011. Hide

UNICEF and OCHA completed phase 1 of a joint project to prevent use of sexual violence by armed groups. In October 2011, UNODA New York provided expertise to a meeting of the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) on ‘Why Women? Effective Engagement for Small Arms Control’ that launched a report on why it is important to include women in small arms control and disarmament initiatives. Hide

At the global level, data analysis, drawing largely on Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) and Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), is also being undertaken by UNICEF, in collaboration with the Population Council, to determine the markers of vulnerability that make children more susceptible to various forms of violence. Hide