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GBV is increasingly a characteristic of conflict and is often perpetrated against women and girls; and, in some instances, has been used as a tactic of war, UNFPA collaborates with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict and is a member of the Steering Committee as well as the Expert Advisory Group. UNFPA contributions are to ensure the particular needs of adolescent girls and women as a result of sexual violence are factored in efforts of the Special Representative to address reintegration. UNFPA contributed to the development of high-level papers and to the SG Reports.
UNFPA has demonstrated capacity to adapt to the new circumstances derived from the COVID- 19 pandemic. Almost all UNFPA offices, that is 99% of offices in 108 countries, have adapted their GBV interventions to this new context.
Prevention and response services had to be moved to the online space and an increase in GBV, as well as additional threats and forms of violence have been reported across the world. UNFPA has effectively responded to these new challenges and the lessons learned will be applied to future regional and global challenges. For example, in Latin America, UNFPA created a regional Community of Practice for Essential Services to respond to violence in the context of COVID-19. In 2021, reports on the impact of COVID-19 on gender equality and GBV were published in Asia Pacific (“COVID-19 and Violence against Women: The evidence behind the talk”) and East and Southern Africa (“Impact of COVID-19 on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in East and Southern Africa”). These publications gather data on GBV during the pandemic which show an increase in reporting of VAW, including technology-facilitated violence.
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).
As the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) mandated agency for GBV prevention and response, UNFPA leads and supports multi-sectoral responses to GBV, including CRSV, coordinating efforts across health, legal, protection, and psychosocial sectors. This includes establishing GBV Sub-Clusters in humanitarian settings to coordinate responses, share information, and prevent duplication of efforts.
As a member of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict and other global initiatives, UNFPA works to strengthen system-wide responses, supporting UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace, and Security (1325, 1820, 1888, 1960) and collaborating with UNICEF, UN Women, and UNHCR to ensure a comprehensive approach to sexual violence in conflict.
In 2024, UNFPA, with funding from the UN Action Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF), directly supported CRSV survivors in Sudan, South Sudan, Ukraine, and Mali. Data collected through the GBVIMS on CRSV is shared with the Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Arrangements (MARA), adhering to strict safety and ethical protocols in countries such as South Sudan, Mali, Central African Republic, Somalia, and Iraq. UNFPA also co-leads MARA Working Groups in Myanmar, Mali, and the Central African Republic, strengthening responses through a survivor-centered approach.
2024 highlights:
- ASRO provides tailored support to seven crisis-affected countries (Sudan, Palestine, Somalia, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Libya), offering essential medical supplies, GBV survivor assistance, MHPSS, and safe spaces for women and girls. It also supported 42 women-led organizations and enhanced GBV coordination in humanitarian contexts.
- In Palestine, ASRO partnered with OHCHR for training on CRSV and safe referral processes.
- WCARO worked with WHO to strengthen clinical management of rape (CMR) capacities, conducting ToT sessions in Côte d'Ivoire and Chad, and planning cascade training in Niger, Central African Republic, Chad, and Mali.
- UNFPA Nigeria piloted a national CMR ToT focused on testing the new CMR-IPV inter-agency toolkit.
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).
As the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) mandated agency for GBV prevention and response, UNFPA leads and supports multi-sectoral responses to GBV, including CRSV, coordinating efforts across health, legal, protection, and psychosocial sectors. This includes establishing GBV Sub-Clusters in humanitarian settings to coordinate responses, share information, and prevent duplication of efforts.
As a member of UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict and other global initiatives, UNFPA works to strengthen system-wide responses, supporting UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace, and Security (1325, 1820, 1888, 1960) and collaborating with UNICEF, UN Women, and UNHCR to ensure a comprehensive approach to sexual violence in conflict.
In 2024, UNFPA, with funding from the UN Action Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF), directly supported CRSV survivors in Sudan, South Sudan, Ukraine, and Mali. Data collected through the GBVIMS on CRSV is shared with the Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Arrangements (MARA), adhering to strict safety and ethical protocols in countries such as South Sudan, Mali, Central African Republic, Somalia, and Iraq. UNFPA also co-leads MARA Working Groups in Myanmar, Mali, and the Central African Republic, strengthening responses through a survivor-centered approach.
2024 highlights:
- ASRO provides tailored support to seven crisis-affected countries (Sudan, Palestine, Somalia, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Libya), offering essential medical supplies, GBV survivor assistance, MHPSS, and safe spaces for women and girls. It also supported 42 women-led organizations and enhanced GBV coordination in humanitarian contexts.
- In Palestine, ASRO partnered with OHCHR for training on CRSV and safe referral processes.
- WCARO worked with WHO to strengthen clinical management of rape (CMR) capacities, conducting ToT sessions in Côte d'Ivoire and Chad, and planning cascade training in Niger, Central African Republic, Chad, and Mali.
- UNFPA Nigeria piloted a national CMR ToT focused on testing the new CMR-IPV inter-agency toolkit.
UNFPA is uniquely positioned to promote an integrated approach to the provision of sexual and reproductive health services and GBV response in emergency settings, including through ensuring implementation of the Minimum Initial Services Package (MISP), the set of actions required to respond to reproductive health needs at the onset of every humanitarian crisis. UNFPA is working to ensure that the MISP is systematically implemented in all new emergencies and as a minimum standard in ongoing emergency settings. Access to health services for rape survivors has been identified as a major gap in humanitarian response; there is a critical need to ensure that established protocols for the clinical management of rape are implemented. As co-lead of the GBV Area of Responsiblity, UNFPA is mandated to build the capacity of national authorities and health providers in the clinical management of rape and facilitate distribution of reproductive health kits, including medical supplies for post-rape treatment such as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to reduce HIV transmission. UNFPA also supports data collection and analysis on sexual violence incidents in emergency settings.
UNFPA, in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), has developed a Regional Training Programme on Gender and Security and the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security for government officials, military and civilian peacekeeping personnel, professionals and academics, and NGOs and civil society organizations (CSOs). The purpose of the training programme is to promote greater knowledge of UNSCR 1325 in the Latin America and Caribbean region, so that the goal of mainstreaming gender in the area of peace and security becomes a critical function of peace-keeping forces sending nations. Originally developed for the Latin America and Caribbean Region, the curriculum has now been designed in a manner that can be adapted to suit local contexts in other regions and countries that have a peace-keeping and peace-building role. The programme has been piloted in a few countries in the region over 2014 and 2015 and will be globally rolled out in 2016.
In 2015, together with UNFPA, ESCWA produced a regional study on “Child Marriage in Humanitarian Settings in the Arab region: Dynamics, Challenges and Policy Options”. The study examined the root structural causes of child marriage in the Arab region, including the national, social, institutional, legal, and cultural frameworks that facilitate the perpetuation of child marriage. It analyzed the factors that drive child marriage in humanitarian and conflict settings, including physical vulnerabilities, shifts in family relations, gender roles, economic conditions, availability of community support, and demographic profiles. It also investigated the socio-economic and health implications of child marriage for young brides, their children, and their communities, particularly in post-conflict contexts.
UN Women, UN ECLAC and UNFPA held a sub-regional capacity development workshop in Paraguay – targeting mainly defense forces and civil society - on SCR 1325, with a focus on GVC and sexual and reproductive health. The workshop was based on the curriculum that was developed on the issues for the Latin American and Caribbean region in 2012.