UNFPA plays a pivotal role in addressing sexual violence in conflict by adopting a comprehensive approach focused on prevention, response, and survivor support, ensuring that survivors’ needs are met and their rights upheld. UNFPA collaborates with governments, humanitarian organizations, and civil society to provide essential services to women and girls affected by conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).
FAO has been actively working to assess the gendered impacts of conflict, including GBV, to enhance the effectiveness of response strategies and ensure the needs of women and girls are met in crisis situations.
All of UN Action’s work focuses on preventing and responding to conflict-related sexual violence and addressing its root causes.
Under the framework of the Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) project in Ukraine, UNODC is working to improve conflict-related sexual violence responses at the national and local level. UNODC is working to ensure that the Ukrainian legislative and regulatory framework is survivor friendly. This includes, for example, the set-up of a Survivor Advisory Board that will advise Ukraine on integrating survivor perspectives and survivors’ lived experiences into the national response to prevent and respond to CRSV.
IOM continued to be committed and proactive partner of the UN Action Network on Sexual Violence in Conflict, demonstrating its engagement through work on survivor reparations, the intersection of trafficking and CRSV, and, more recently, its intellectual and practical contributions to the nexus between terrorism, CVE, and CRSV.
In emergency contexts—including Ukraine, Afghanistan, Palestine, Ethiopia, and other L2 and L3 countries FAO has increasingly integrated training on GBV risks and resilience into its gender analyses, vulnerability assessments, and the formulation of gender-responsive, inclusive policies and humanitarian projects. These sessions specifically aim to equip staff with the knowledge and practical tools needed to anticipate, prevent, and address GBV in crisis situations.
Sexual violence in conflict is a grave human rights violation with devastating consequences for survivors, their families, and entire communities. It is often used as a weapon of war, reinforcing gender inequalities and deepening cycles of violence and instability. Recognizing the urgent need for action, Spotlight Initiative worked across legal reform, service provision, prevention, and advocacy to strengthen national and community-level responses, ensuring that survivors received support while also addressing the structural drivers of violence.
Through a partnership with UN Women and Justice Rapid Response, OHCHR has deployed gender experts to United Nations investigation bodies and mechanisms such as Commissions of Inquiry (COI) and Fact-Finding Missions (FFM).
A number of initiatives were undertaken by UN Women country offices through the support of RO and other partner agencies in undertaking advocacy and awareness on addressing sexual violence in conflict situations.
DPO’s Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV) Team has been dedicated to supporting five UN peacekeeping operations in implementing and strengthening the delivery of conflict-related sexual violence mandates.