Measures to Address Sexual Violence in Conflict Situations

OSAGI, now part of UN Women, participates in the work of the task force responsible for preparation of the Secretary-General’s report on Security Council resolution 1820 (2008). Hide

OSAGI, now part of UN Women, in collaboration with UNIFEM, UNFPA, UNIDO, UNICEF and UNDP, participates in the organization and support of the “International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace and Security”, scheduled to take place in Monrovia, in Liberia, from 7 to 8 March 2009. OSAGI provided substantive contributions to the consultations organized by Member States and United Nations entities on the situation in Democratic Republic of Congo regarding the increase of sexual violence. Hide

UNFPA, in collaboration with World Education, held an expert workshop to develop a curriculum to address gender-based violence and violence against women in humanitarian/conflict/post-conflict settings. Hide

As a contribution to the Secretary-General’s Campaign “UNiTE to End Violence against Women”, OHCHR financially supported and participated in a conference organized by the NGO Medica Mondial, entitled “Women Seeking Justice - Getting Law”, in September 2008. Women from twenty-six mostly conflict or post conflict countries attended. The meeting took stock of challenges and achievements in terms of access to justice for women, victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence, and proposals in order to overcome women’s inequality. Hide

OHCHR’s home page featured a story focusing on Security Council resolution 1820. In December 2008, a story focused on the search for justice in post conflict situations. The story is based on two major OHCHR-commissioned studies on the effectiveness of international post-conflict accountability mechanisms in prosecuting sexual violence and on women’s economic, social and cultural rights. Hide

In December 2008, a week-long consultation was convened that brought together staff from UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Legal Counsel to the Great Lakes Conference, MONUC and relevant units within the OHCHR, to develop a coherent strategy for 2009 to address sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hide

WHO organized and hosted a meeting on data and data collection methodologies on sexual violence in conflict on behalf of UN Action in December 2008. In January 2009, WHO co-organized a workshop for humanitarian actions in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, to introduce existing guidelines and initiate the integration of gender-based violence prevention and response actions. Hide

UNHCR continued to work on the development of an Information Management System to improve data collection and information sharing on sexual and gender-based violence (GBVIMS). UNHCR and UNFPA jointly conducted technical support missions to Uganda and Kenya. Hide

In 2008, UNDP/Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery began the roll-out in 19 countries of the global programme Strengthening the Rule of Law in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations. In eight conflict/post-conflict countries (including Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Guinea Bissau, Kosovo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Timor Leste), the programme has strong components on gender-based violence. Hide

OCHA’s Policy Development and Studies Branch organized an experts meeting to review current research on, and identify gaps in relation to: 1) Sexual violence in armed conflict: understanding the motivations; and 2) The nature, scope and motivation for sexual violence against men and boys in conflict. Key outputs of the meeting were: 1) Identification of research priorities in order to design more effective strategies for preventing sexual violence in armed conflict; and 2) Identification and agreement on next steps to build on the current knowledge-base and establish communities of practice. Hide