United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees
The investment in SGBV and other protection learning as a whole builds UNHCR’s capacity to implement better protection for refugees and is a core element of improving sustainability of advances made in prevention work. UNHCR is in the final stages of developing an SGBV prevention and response web-based learning program mandatory for all staff, and a Training Package on SGBV Prevention and Response, designed as 18 stand-alone modules with extensive supplementary material to draw from.
UNHCR field operations collect data on sexual and gender-based violence incidents in collaboration with partners, according to UNHCR and interagency guidelines and principles. UNHCR analyzes data on SGBV in order to inform planning and program design and ensure services are accessible to all survivors. UNHCR operations documented an increase in the number of reported incidents of SGBV from 18,245 in 2014 to 26,632 in 2015. While the increase in reported cases does not necessarily represent an increase in SGBV incidents, it may be due to increased awareness and use of reporting mechanisms, as well as systematized data management of incidents reported to service providers.
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.
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.
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.