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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.
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.
Within the framework of UN Secretary-General’s campaign “UNiTE to End Violence against Women”, UNIC (United Nations Information Centres) Beirut, Lebanon in partnership with the Theatre Club at the Balamand University in Lebanon produced a theatre play on the issue of violence against women targeting school students - a work that was fully supported and sponsored by the Lebanese Minister of Education and Higher Education. The play, entitled “We Are All Humans”, presented real cases of violence against women within families in Lebanon through a vibrant script and a combination of gestures, songs, music and dance performed by university students. It tackles the hereditary violence against women and sheds light on physical and moral violence practiced directly or indirectly against girls in society. UNIC took part in the script drafting and the directing process to reflect the real objectives of the UNiTE campaign aiming to prevent all forms of violence against women and girls and eliminate this scourge.
WHO, with support from UNA, developed a methodology for measuring the experience and perpetration of violence among women and men in conflict/humanitarian settings, which has been further developed by partners and is currently being tested.
WHO is one of the 13 UN entities of UN Action, leading knowledge pillar by contributing to improved evidence for understanding the scale of sexual violence in conflict and how to respond effectively. In 2015, WHO together with UNODC published a toolkit on 'strengthening the medico-legal response to sexual violence', which aims to support service provision and coordination in low-resource settings, available in English and French. It is being field tested in several countries with the aim of improving coordination across the multiple stakeholders involved.
UNFPA, in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), has developed a Regional Training Programme on Gender and Security and the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security for government officials, military and civilian peacekeeping personnel, professionals and academics, and NGOs and civil society organizations (CSOs). The purpose of the training programme is to promote greater knowledge of UNSCR 1325 in the Latin America and Caribbean region, so that the goal of mainstreaming gender in the area of peace and security becomes a critical function of peace-keeping forces sending nations. Originally developed for the Latin America and Caribbean Region, the curriculum has now been designed in a manner that can be adapted to suit local contexts in other regions and countries that have a peace-keeping and peace-building role. The programme has been piloted in a few countries in the region over 2014 and 2015 and will be globally rolled out in 2016.
UNHCR was actively engaged in the revision of the IASC Guidelines for integrating Gender Based Violence interventions in humanitarian settings published in 2015 and supports the roll-out of the guidelines in the field. In 2016, 11 pilot countries receive training and technical support.
UNFPA is a member of IASC and in contexts where the IASC Cluster Approach has been activated, UNFPA and UNICEF are mandated to co-lead the GBV Area of Responsibility. As co-lead, UNFPA is accountable for working closely with national authorities, partners and communities, to ensure that minimum standards are in place to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in emergencies.
FAO's Ethics Officer and Senior Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Focal Point is actively engaged in the development of inter-agency PSEA SOPs, as part of the Inter Agency Standing Committee Principals renewed commitment to end SEA in humanitarian work.
UNFPA is uniquely positioned to promote an integrated approach to the provision of sexual and reproductive health services and GBV response in emergency settings, including through ensuring implementation of the Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP), the set of actions required to respond to reproductive health needs at the onset of every humanitarian crisis. UNFPA is working to ensure that the MISP is systematically implemented in all new emergencies and as a minimum standard in ongoing emergency settings. Access to health services for rape survivors has been identified as a major gap in humanitarian response; there is a critical need to ensure that established protocols for the clinical management of rape are implemented. As co-lead of the GBV Area of Responsiblity, UNFPA is mandated to build the capacity of national authorities and health providers in the clinical management of rape and facilitate distribution of reproductive health kits, including medical supplies for post-rape treatment such as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to reduce HIV transmission. UNFPA also supports data collection and analysis on sexual violence incidents in emergency settings.