Sexual Violence in Conflict

UNFPA in collaboration with UNIFEM and UNESCAP organised a capacity development workshop in Thailand in October 2010 aimed at helping 11 country offices in the Asia-Pacific region understand SCR 1325. This workshop also launched the Asia-Pacific technical platform on SCR 1325, the purpose of which is to provide technical assistance to countries in the region on the development of National Action Plans on SCR 1325.

Implementation continued of the multi-country programme of UNIFEM now part of UN Women on community-based peacebuilding and prevention of sexual and gender-based violence in Timor Leste, Liberia, Uganda, and Haiti. The joint programming initiative under the Inter-agency Task Force on Violence against Women works to develop the capacities of national stakeholders to achieve specific international commitments.

A guidance note “Gender-based violence and livelihood interventions:Focus on populations of humanitarian concern in the context of HIV and AIDS” has been developed and widely disseminated through the FAO/DIMITRA network(http://www.fao.org/dimitra/resources-by-theme/violence-against-women/en/).

UNFPA provided technical and funding support to the Nepal government to develop the National Action Plan on SCR 1325. UNRWA is participating in UNHCR’s (Jordan and Syria) Sexual Gender-Based Violence coordination meeting.

UNDP, in collaboration with N-Peace, organized training on Building Advocacy Skills for Effective Implementation of National Action Plan (NAP) on UN SCR 1325 and 1820. In Egypt, UNDP supported the Cairo Regional Center for Training on Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping Center (CCCPA) in mainstreaming gender across its various training modules. It also provided training for police officers in Ivory Coast; supported investigation on alleged mass rapes and sensitized population in DRC.

OHCHR continues to be an active player in efforts to promote accountability for sexual violence through support for legislative reform, training for judges and lawyers, and activities to raise survivors’ awareness of their rights.

In Lebanon, UNRWA participates in the inter-agency national Sexual Gender Based Violence Taskforce (SGBVTF) and Child Protection in Emergencies Working Group aimed at providing services to Palestine refugees fleeing Syria to Lebanon through coordinated camp-based mapping of GBV and child protection services, capacity building, and case management.

ESCWA’s Centre for Women (ECW) launched its first edition of Situation Analysis on “Female refugees from Syria, in Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon” highlighting the vulnerability of women and girls to all forms of VAW in conflict settings.

UNICEF is leading in the development of tools for violence against women and girls in emergencies, including the revision of the IASC GBV Guidelines and the GBV Coordination Handbook. In 2014-2015, UNICEF will roll out the Guidelines and promote adherence at headquarters, regional and country levels, within UNICEF programmes and by partners.

Social Norms and Community-based Care Programming in Humanitarian Settings: Building ‘Good Practice’ Approaches for Response to and Primary Prevention of Sexual Violence against Women and Girls Affected by Conflict is a three-year project by UNICEF, underway in Somalia and South Sudan. It focuses on building community-level prevention and response strategies to promote behaviour change towards greater respect for women and girls, and to prevent sexual violence as an inevitable and acceptable part of war.