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UNHCR carried several awareness-raising activities which culminated in the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, which focused on the theme Safety in School: Teachers and Students Unite to Make Schools SGBV-Free. Hide

Between August and December 2013, UNHCR carried out a comprehensive review of the 2012 Participatory Assessments (PAs) in 42 different countries. This review looked at the process used in different locations to carry out PAs, the content of the assessments, and their outcomes in terms of strategic planning. With PAs being one of the elements of UNHCR’s participatory approach and AGD being a strategy to promote gender equality and respect for human rights which informs all stages of strategic planning, the review makes recommendations for addressing the identified weaknesses, mainly through a revision of the UNHCR Tool for Participatory Assessments in Operations. Hide

Four UNHCR Senior Regional Protection Officers who are dedicated to SGBV prevention and response took up their posts in Dakar, Nairobi, Beirut and Panama with the responsibility to provide technical support to the development and implementation of country-level multi-sectorial strategies on SGBV prevention and response. As a result, an additional seventeen countries have begun developing and implementing SGBV strategies. Hide

UNHCR, as part of the Global Team responsible for the Gender-Based Violence Information Management System (GBVIMS) provided technical support in data collection and analysis to 10 countries including missions to Jordan and Lebanon. Hide

UNHCR conducted missions to emergency operations in order to strengthen SGBV response in several countries including Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo-as part of an interagency mission with UNICEF, UNFPA and UN Action- and Jordan in order to improve collection and analysis of SGBV data. UNHCR also conducted an assessment on SGBV in the Syria crisis-affected countries in 2013 such as Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq with a view to producing an action plan to respond to the needs identified. Hide

UNHCR continued its work, in partnership with with civil society, to ensure a holistic response for survivors of SGBV, including through establishment of safe spaces in centres in Lebanon, which are not specifically created for services provision to SGBV survivors, in order to avoid stigmatization of SGBV survivors seeking support; establishment of “centres d’écoute” for counselling services to SGBV survivors in Mali; establishment of family counselling mechanisms and community protection committees in Yemen to address domestic violence among Somali refugees; training in Burkina Faso for its staff and partners working with camp-based and urban refugees resulting in revisions to the SOP on SGBV in light of the changing situation in the Malian crisis. Hide

In June 2013, UNHCR issued the policy paper “Understanding Community-Based Protection” on key lessons from the delivery of community-based protection. It continued to roll-out its global strategy “Action against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: An Updated Strategy” and assisted individual country operations to develop country-level strategies in 2013. In this regard, three regional workshops were held in Tunis, Amman and Dakar on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in 2013, aimed at strengthening the capacity of UNHCR and partner staff in the field. Hide

In 2013, UNHCR has also developed a Facilitator’s Guide to enable UNHCR and partner staff to conduct trainings on SGBV for various audiences in all types of contexts. Hide

Two Global Strategic Priorities of UNHCR for the coming two years will focus on SGBV by addressing provision of support to SGBV survivors as well as prevention and protection of SGBV survivors through community involvement. In order to strengthen its accountability, UNHCR also began focusing on joint monitoring and evaluation for the implementation of its three strategies on Education, Child Protection, and SGBV, as these three areas are complementary and often overlapping, and organized a seminar for protection and programme officers to this end. Hide

As part of the efforts to roll-out UNHCR’s updated strategy on SGBV, a total of 103 UNHCR staff, partners and government actors participated in regional workshops on SGBV prevention and response held in Tunis, Amman and Dakar in 2013, which focused on the development and implementation of country specific SGBV strategies, including monitoring and reporting on SGBV. Hide