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The OCHA Emergency Relief Coordinator went on mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in September 2007 and placed considerable attention on gender-based violence. He followed this up with reports to the Security Council and external media coverage. He hosted the meeting of the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and gender-based violence in December 2007. The meeting further directed the United Nations system to support the field operations (MONUC and the UNCT) to accelerate and strengthen their actions to prevent gender-based violence and respond to survivors. Collective efforts also resulted in an improved mandate for MONUC to address gender-based violence. Hide

OCHA is a founding member of the IASC Steering Committee for the Gender Standby Roster (GenCap) which deploys senior gender advisors to work in humanitarian situations. OCHA supported the GenCap Standby capacity to deploy nine senior gender advisers to the offices of Humanitarian Coordinators to ensure strengthened coordination on programmes to address gender-based violence in conflict and displacement. OCHA participated in inter-agency efforts to develop a standard gender-based violence incident reporting system. OCHA spearheaded efforts along with other members of UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict to pay special attention to gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as to the follow-up to the UN Action mission to Darfur, Sudan. Hide

The Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council on the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (S/2007/643) of 28 October 2007, prepared by OCHA, placed considerable focus on gender-based violence in conflict and highlighted ways for all actors to strengthen their actions. The report called on states to investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators, including the commanders under whom they serve, if the commanders failed to take measures to prevent the violations, in the case of the armed forces and the police. The report also called on humanitarian actors to strengthen and better coordinate their work. Hide