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In various countries (e.g. DRC, Burundi, Colombia, Ecuador) WFP supported GBV survivors during their temporary stay in shelters and during their reintegration into their wider community. Food assistance contributes to women's full nutritional and psycho-social recovery and subsequently supports their livelihoods, thus increasing the resilience of survivors, their self reliance and, ultimately, their capacity of disengaging from an abusive situation and rebuilding a safer life. The WFP-sponsored Safe Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE) initiative decreases women’s vulnerability to risks associated with firewood collection through the dissemination of fuel-efficient stoves, and the promotion of alternative livelihoods.
In various countries (e.g. DRC, Burundi, Colombia, Ecuador, Malawi) WFP supports gender based violence survivors during their temporary stay in the shelters and afterwards, during their process of reintegration in the community. Food assistance contributes to women's full nutritional and psycho-social recovery and subsequently supports their livelihoods, thus increasing the resilience of survivors, their self reliance and, ultimately, their capacity of disengaging from an abusive situation and rebuilding a safer life.
In Egypt, the provision of support to SGBV survivors among Syrian refugees includes a shelter and the use of creative approaches to psychosocial support. Female survivors have access to women’s centers where awareness raising, counselling and psychosocial support is made available. Special projects and approaches were put in place, such as the individual and group art therapy focusing on issues such as child marriage, training of trainers (ToTs) on art therapy.
Compared to the previous year, in 2015 significantly greater levels of assistance were provided to survivors across a range of key core services: psychosocial counselling was provided to survivors in 27,616 reported SGBV incidents (38% increase compared to 2014); legal assistance in 7,342 reported incidents (31% increase); medical assistance in 4,518 reported incidents (7% increase); material assistance in 5,542 reported incidents (27% increase); and safe spaces in 3,948 reported incidents (50% increase). Additionally, over 6,000 survivors were enrolled in income generating and occupational activities doubled the number enrolled in the previous year.
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.
UNHCR is a member of the Call to Action on Protection from Gender Based Violence in Emergencies and contributed to the Call to Action’s five-year roadmap that reflects collective goals and focuses on the systemic changes that must be made in policy and practice to transform humanitarian response to SGBV. The Call to Action is a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to transform the way SGBV is addressed in emergencies, so that every humanitarian response provides safe and comprehensive services for those affected by SGBV and mitigates SGBV risk from the earliest phases of a crisis. UNHCR has made ten commitments aimed at changing UNHCR’s internal institutional policies, improving inter-agency systems, and implementing SGBV prevention and response programmes from the onset of emergencies.
In the wake of the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, UNICEF mobilized more than 20,670 women by establishing 3,445 Women’s Groups in 14 earthquake-affected districts, with police checkpoints established to intercept traffickers. Over half a million people reached with information about prevention and social services for GBV victims.
WHO is developing clinical guidelines to respond to children and adolescents who have been sexually abused for use by health care providers.
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.
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.