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In South Sudan, UNDP supported in 2014 special policy units that included women police and which were able to handle 1,137 Sexual and Gender Based Violence cases. In 2015, UNDP helped to increase safety and security for all. The Special Protection Units processed 113 cases, 39 related to GBV and 74 related to children in conflict with the law.
OHCHR advocated the adoption of laws for reparations of survivors of sexual violence and worked to strengthen capacities of national rule of law and justice actors in order to address impunity for conflict-related sexual violence. OHCHR’s Guidance Note on reparations for victims of conflict-related sexual violence was published in June 2014 during the UK Summit on Sexual Violence in Conflict. This guidance note provided policy and operational guidance for Member States, UN agencies, development actors, and civil society organizations regarding reparations for victims of conflict-related sexual violence. In 2015, OHCHR provided support to strengthen the capacity of human rights component in Mali to monitor and investigate conflict-related sexual violence. Inputs and comments were provided on legislation on sexual gender based violence in a variety of countries to ensure compliance with international norms (including in Zambia, Belarus Bolivia, Paraguay, Chile, Somali, and Papua New Guinea). As part of the Team of Experts on the Rule of Law on Sexual Violence in Conflict, OHCHR continued to provide technical advice and capacity-building assistance to national authorities in addressing accountability for conflict-related sexual violence (in Central African Republic, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Somalia and South Sudan).
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, IOM is working with various UN, government and NGO partners to identify and address gaps in existing care, support and justice systems, and create an effective, comprehensive and standardized approach to assisting survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. The project aims to shed light on the drivers of high rates of sexual violence in conflict situations, but also how sexual violence impedes the full restoration of peace in post-conflict societies. It demonstrates the resolve of the entire UN Country Team in BiH to tackle this issue in a coordinated and systematic manner. IOM’s work in this effort is focused on the development and establishment of a comprehensive legal framework and mechanisms to enable victim-status recognition and on providing reparations for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence regardless of their gender.
As the Global Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster lead agency for natural disasters, and in line with the objectives of the global Call to Action on Protection Against Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies, IOM is working to ensure that proper prevention and mitigation measures are in place to reduce the likelihood of GBV taking place in camps and camp-like settings. Furthermore, IOM is working on the inclusion of GBV prevention and mitigation at all stages of camp response. At the global level, IOM has developed practical approaches to mainstream GBV prevention and mitigation in line with the IASC Guidelines for Integrating Gender-Based Violence in Humanitarian Action (2015) and is engaging in a number of activities, including: - Deployment of CCCM-GBV Rapid Response Advisors (RRAs), who are mentoring CCCM actors, developing inter-cluster SOPs on the exchange of information between CCCM and Protection actors, supporting the implementation of CCCM operations relating to GBV and addressing technical skill gaps; - Engagement in small-scale, camp-based initiatives to strengthen women’s participation in camp governance structures and develop guidance on how to support women’s engagement to contribute to reducing GBV risks. Small pilot projects have thus far been initiated in Iraq, South Sudan, Ecuador, Nigeria and the Philippines.
FAO promotes Safe Access to Fuel and Energy initiatives as part of the emergency response during the ongoing conflict in South Sudan. The responsibilities for collecting fuel and cooking are usually shouldered by women and girls, tasks that in crisis settings are particularly dangerous and time-consuming: during the time spent walking long distances to collect the required fuelwood, women and girls are exposed to the risk of assault, harassment and rape. In order to address the cooking energy needs of vulnerable families, and protect women and girls from GBV, FAO and partners have distributed over 2 000 fuel-efficient stoves and trained 820 women on how to use them. A further 15 000 stoves are expected to be distributed in 2016 as part of the Emergency Livelihood Response Programme. Furthermore, during 2015, FAO conducted two assessments on the fuel and energy-related challenges faced by communities in Kenya (Kakuma, Turkana County, Samburu, Kitui, Meru and Marsabit Counties) and two districts of Somalia (Hargheisa and Doolow). The studies assessed the fuel types used by households, types of cooking technologies used as well as the specific risks and challenges faced by women who are responsible for cooking, firewood collection, charcoal production and selling of woodfuels. The key findings and analysis have informed the development and design of programmes and initiatives which, amongst other things, seek to prevent or reduce the risk of intra-communal and inter-communal tension and conflict over the use of natural resources, and the prevalence of gender based violence.
ESCWA has implemented a project to build the capacities of parliamentarians from selected Arab countries and other stakeholders in implementing UNSCR 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security. This project has resulted in the delivery of training workshops to foster the formulation of national action plans aiming at amending specific discriminative legislation to better protect women during armed conflicts, enacting new laws to facilitate women’s access to decision-making positions in peace process and endorsing financial implications by Governments to carry out action plans accordingly.
In 2015, ESCWA produced a study entitled “Endurance, Resistance and Survival – Women and Girls in Conflict and Humanitarian Settings in the Arab region”, focusing on the gendered typology of conflicts in the region and their implications on the status of women.
In 2015, ESCWA produced a background paper on the socioeconomic impact of wars on women and girls in the Arab region. The paper shows that Gender-Based Violence is one of the most relevant repercussions of wars on women and girls and proposes recommendations at the institutional and legal levels.
In November 2015, ESCWA co-organized with the Lebanese American University session of the Gender Discussion Series focusing on Gender-Based Violence in emergency settings. This session gathered experts from civil society organizations, national institutions and UN agencies to shed light on the topic.
The Global Study on resolution 1325 is a review of 15 years of effort on the part of Member States, Civil Society, UN agencies and the international community to implement this groundbreaking resolution and move the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda forward. The Study was led by independent expert Radhika Coomaraswamy, and was developed based on a series of regional consultations with Civil Society Organizations as well as in-depth research commissioned by leading experts in the WPS field. The Study represents the most comprehensive and updated compilation of the growing evidence that women’s empowerment contributes to the success of peace talks and the achievement of sustainable peace, accelerates economic recovery, strengthens our peace operations, improves our humanitarian assistance, and can help counter violent extremism. According to the Global Study, the main reason for the gap between the robustness of our normative frameworks and the weakness of our implementation on the ground is lack of political will, accountability and resources, and institutional and attittudinal barriers. In the last 15 years, there have been long lists of recommendations but few sticks and carrots to induce compliance, and the Global Study provides key findings and concrete recommendations for implementing 1325, and subsequent WPS resolutions, across a number of areas.