Sexual Violence in Conflict

The World Bank continues to support various initiatives in post-conflict and emergency settings, including: the Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls in Haiti’s Reconstruction project, through institutional strengthening, enhancement of women’s civi participation,and project coordination, monitoring and evaluation; the Knowledge Exchange Program on Women’s Access in Fragile Contexts, by developing tools to strengthen the operational competence and capacity of client country partners and Bank Staff to design interventions that address the needs of women in fragile and conflict-affected settin

UNDP supported services provision in various countries, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo, through support to investigations and hearings of the military courts, leading to the imprisonment of the accused for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed from 7 to 16 October 2012 in Mupoke (Walungu territory) by the FARDC elements against the civilian population; in DRC it also supported the establishment of specialized police units and provided training on the judicial treatment of cases relating to sexual violence; in Afghanistan, Legal Help centres were established in order t

In Timor-Leste, UNDP, in collaboration with UN Women and the Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), continued to support the Open Day Dialogue events as recommendations to the Government oand the UN system regarding women, peace and security and GBV. UNDP and UNFPA, supported the Secretary of State for Promotion of Equality to complete the National Action Plan on GBV in East-Timor.

UNAIDS and DPKO collaborate in implementing the SRC 1983, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo. AIDS programmes are helping address sexual and gender-based violence, sensitise perpetrators, and promote integration of human rights standards in national legal and policy frameworks. http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2012/september/20120926hivandsecurity/

UNAIDS, together with UN Peacekeepers, distributed inflatable solar-powered lights to women and families, in Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia and South Sudan, and raised the issue of sexual and gender-based violence against women and HIV. http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2012/november/20121127prshinealight/

In the area of sexual violence in emergencies, WHO published several documents including:1. Sexual violence in emergencies: Setting a research agenda (2012)2. Do’s and don’ts in community-based psychosocial programming in regard to sexual violence in conflict-affected settings (August 2012)3. Mental health and psychosocial support for conflict-related sexual violence: 10 myths (August 2012)4. Mental health and psychosocial support for conflict-related sexual violence: principles and interventions (August 2012)

During the reporting period, the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace, Disarmament and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNLIREC) has conducted three cources of Inter-institutional Training Course on Combating Illicit Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition and Explosives (IITC), which contributes to enhancing the capacity of law enforcement and legal practitioners to prevent armed violence, including against women. Participants came from across the Caribbean, as well as Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

In March 2012, the Asia-Pacific Regional Coordination Mechanism Thematic Working Group on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (TWG-GEEW), co-chaired by ESCAP and UN WOMEN, established a Working Group on Women, Peace and Security (WPS). The Working Group strengthens interagency cooperation and collaboration in support of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in the region and provides a forum to address issues related to this agenda, including sexual violence in conflict situations.

ECLAC, with the support of the UNFPA, has finalized a proposal for a regional training curriculum on gender and security and the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security. The proposal incorporates regional ECLAC research findings on the progress achieved in relation to the topic, as well as on the training needs of different governmental institutions. The proposal was presented in a workshop at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago (27-28 November 2012).

UNHCR headquarters staff conducted missions to emergency operations in order to strengthen SGBV response in conflict zones in Niger, Burkina Faso and Jordan. Remote support was also provided to operations in Mali, Lebanon, Turkey and Syria. UNHCR also conducted reporting and monitoring on sexual violence in conflict as part of its activities under the United Nations Security Council resolutions 1960,1820 and 1888. UNHCR also liaises with UN Country Team members and Gender Working Groups, where applicable, to consolidate data on SGBV.