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In 2019, UNRWA identified and provided protection services to 9858 persons among the Palestine refugees communities in Jordan, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank. Among the 9.857, 5.240 were GBV survivors that included 25% girls, 6% boys and 2% persons with disabilities.
View MoreIn 2019, UNRWA identified and provided protection services to 9858 persons among the Palestine refugees communities in Jordan, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank. Among the 9.857, 5.240 were GBV survivors that included 25% girls, 6% boys and 2% persons with disabilities.
In 2019 UNRWA dedicated crucial efforts to standardizing and institutionalizing GBV related interventions in interplay with evidence from recently developed monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. Combining different tools and methodologies developed between 2017 and 2019, UNRWA developed a capacity building approach, finalized in 2019, that worked on changing knowledge, practice, and attitudes of staff in a large organisation (with over 30,000 staff) that provide direct services to over 5 million Palestine refugees. The 2018 field-specific capacity-building plans continued to be implemented in 2019 and integrated the latest tools: the on-the-job-coaching and the UNRWA GBV competency framework.
During the reporting period UNRWA staff in all 5 fields of operations identified 4,987 GBV survivors and provided 98% of them with assistance. The services provided were in majority psychological support and legal counselling.
During the reporting period UNRWA developed capacity building plans to extend and improve its capacity to respond, mitigate and prevent GBV in emergencies. The capacity building plans include tools to improve staff knowledge, attitude, and practice when addressing GBV. Further a monitoring and evaluation framework is in place to measure the change generated by the capacity building efforts.
UNRWA continues to operate referral systems to ensure identification, referral and the access to critical services for GBV survivours. Consolidating partnerships with external service providers to ensure that GBV survivours receive holistic care and also to address high-risk cases which require more specialized services was one of the main activities undertaken during this period.
View MoreUNRWA continues to operate referral systems to ensure identification, referral and the access to critical services for GBV survivours. Consolidating partnerships with external service providers to ensure that GBV survivours receive holistic care and also to address high-risk cases which require more specialized services was one of the main activities undertaken during this period.
UNRWA has continued the implementation of its multi-year programme titled 'Building Safety' aimed at enhancing the Agency's capacity to address GBV in emergencies. Work has progressed during this period focusing on the following areas: i) prevention of GBV among Palestine refugees; ii) mitigation of GBV risks in emergencies; iii) enhancing the capacity of Agency staff to respond to GBV.
UNRWA GBV indicators are a part of the Agency-wide monitoring framework and are reported on periodically.
UNRWA developed and finalized the new Gender Equality Strategy (2016-2021), 'Integrating Gender, Improving Services, Impacting Lives.' The new strategy consolidates gender mainstreaming in the Agency’s organizational processes and programmes and aims at improving service delivery and reducing vulnerabilities among Palestine refugee women, men, boys, and girls. In this light, it serves to guide and frame all gender-related work by the Agency, including work on GBV.
In 2016, UNRWA worked on the development of a common monitoring framework which aims at systemizing data collection among field offices, and ensuring that data informs programming. UNRWA thus follows up on key indicators related to the number of survivours identified, services accessed, trainings to staff, changes in staff capacity to address GBV, as well as other prevention related indicators.
UNRWA provides protection, support, and services (education, health, relief and social services) through established referral systems in all five fields of operations, in more than 150 locations (which include camps, health centres, and schools). Referral systems created pathways between the different UNRWA programmes internally, as well as externally involving other service providers to ensure holistic support to survivors. Through these internal and external pathways, UNRWA is able to provide psychosocial counselling, legal services, and medical services among other. The Agency looks into survivors’ satisfaction with GBV services based on a survey tool with close-ended questions on satisfaction with services received through UNRWA as well as through external service providers. Over the course of the two-year period, 2014-2015, UNRWA was able to identify 5950 survivors, who have in turn accessed 8362 services, primarily on psychosocial counselling and legal services through the referral systems set up.