International Organization for Migration
Background
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. While not part of the United Nations system, IOM maintains close working relations with United Nations bodies and operational agencies, as well as with a wide range of international and non-governmental organizations. In addition, IOM is the designated cluster leader for camp management in humanitarian settings for natural disasters. Through its gender equality policy adopted in 2015, IOM is committed to ensuring that a gender perspective is mainstreamed throughout all IOM policies, activities and programming.
Areas of Focus
IOM’s main focus, with respect to violence against women, is on counter-trafficking, violence against women migrants, including women migrant workers and reduction of HIV vulnerabilities. It also addresses traditional practices such as female genital mutilation. The Organization is particularly attentive to violence against women in the context of complex emergencies and natural disasters, where women and children are disproportionately targets of abuse.
In this regard, it undertakes prevention activities; provides assistance to those affected by violence and/or trafficking; and provides assistance to trafficked victims for their voluntary return to countries of origin and their reintegration. IOM also facilitates access to voluntary counselling and testing of HIV and referral for treatment where needed for rape victims and for migrants to ensure universal access to HIV prevention, AIDS treatment, care and support.
Resources
Exploratory Assessment on Trafficking in Persons in the Caribbean: The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, the Netherlands Antilles, St. Lucia, Suriname (June 2005); Trinidad and Tobago (December 2006)
Who is the next victim? Vulnerability of young Romanian women to trafficking in human beings. IOM, 2004
IOM continued to apply a practical approach to GBV mainstreaming in line with the IASC GBV Guidelines, through several capacity building initiatives such as trainings, development and/or revision of training material, and a number of deployments of Rapid Response Advisors (RRA) and Emergency Response and Induction Training (ERIT) graduates, who mentor CCCM and Shelter actors. RRAs conducted capacity building initiatives, and strengthened the coordination with GBV specialized actors in-country during deployments. Moreover, CCCM Regional Training of Trainers (ToT), with representatives from both the cluster co-lead agencies and the capacity building focal agency, NRC, have taken place. The ToTs have been combined with concrete follow-up actions to prevent and mitigate GBV risks in camp and camp-like settings, which has led to the development of national-level action plans by ToT participants in all nine participating countries.
Together with UNHCR and NRC, IOM initiated and finalized the revision of the Global CCCM training modules. The 2017 revision emphasizes and now emphasizes actions on the prevention and mitigation of GBV in all core modules. Various tools developed facilitate the general mainstreaming of GBV into emergency responses, including a CCCM checklist to support the review of projects; global CCCM and DTM training modules mainstreaming GBV considerations; and a more technical guidance for shelter experts and site planners working in camps.
IOM also continued the rollout of the Women’s Participation Project, which aims at supporting opportunities for women’s equal and meaningful participation in camp governance structures to contribute to reducing risks of GBV. A qualitative assessment to map existing governance structures and barriers for women’s participation in these structures was first undertaken, followed by the development and implementation of a number of strategies in line with the findings of the baseline study, including the establishment of women’ committees and cumulative skills and leaderships training. An assessment of whether the activities undertaken had succeeded was undertaken at the end of the year. Lessons learned demonstrate the need for long-term targeted efforts to shift social norms to enable greater opportunities for women as participants and as leaders.
In the Central African Republic, IOM is working to prevent SGBV among internally-displaced and host populations. IOM is building capacity among National Police and Gendarmerie forces to respond adequately to SGBV case reports, in coordination with UN Civil Police / CIVPOL. In this effort, IOM is also advocating for the increased recruitment of female police officers. These efforts will provide police with the tools to use a survivor-centred approach, as well as educate them in relation to Central African legislation and international human rights law on rape as a war crime.
In Belarus, in partnership with UNFPA, UNICEF and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, IOM provided tools and technical assistance to NGOs to improve national capacity to counteract and prevent domestic violence, especially against women and children. This project launched a Pilot Seminar on the relationship between domestic violence and trafficking in women and children. Counter-trafficking NGOs, judges, prosecutors, law-enforcement officials and representatives of the border troops of Belarus participated in this event. The seminar has brought the attention to and initiated a dialogue among the relevant actors on this topic. It established a forum for relevant parties to work together and improve various legal and support provisions for victims of trafficking and domestic violence. Overall, ten NGOs, 75 NGOs’ staff members, 45 law-enforcement officials and over 40 other specialists received training as part of this project. The project also referred at least 700 victims of domestic violence for specialized assistance.