Vittoria Moretti
Associate - Statutory Meetings
vmoretti@icrc.org
ICRC has worked towards implementing the following calls/recommendations from the Resolution:
• Encouragement of ICRC to “intensify its efforts to prevent sexual violence, alongside its efforts to protect and assist the victims/survivors thereof, in line with its mandate as laid down in the Statute of the Movement” (32IC/15/R3, OP29);
• The “support of the components of the Movement as appropriate and in accordance with their respective mandates” to States in the dissemination and integration of IHL (32IC/15/R3, OP9);
• Call on Movement components ”in accordance with their respective mandates and institutional focuses, to make every possible effort to make capacity building on preventing and responding to SGBV one of their priorities” (32IC/15/R3, OP31);
• Call on Movement components “in accordance with their respective mandates, to make every effort to support, where and when appropriate, the development and strengthening of the capacity of national institutions to prevent and respond to SGBV” (32IC/15/R3, OP33).
• ICRC continued to strive to improve its work to address sexual violence by strengthening its existing programs with strong clinical and MHPSS component and focus on outreach to communities (e.g. in DRC, CAR, South Sudan and Colombia), and by seeking to develop new ones (e.g. through in-depth assessments in Iraq, Burundi and Nigeria).
• In Somalia, the ICRC has been providing support to local primary healthcare centres and training midwives, with support of the Somali Red Crescent.
• In Papua New Guinea, the ICRC provided training to staff of national health centres to better equip them to respond to sexual violence.
• The ICRC has integrated the issue more systematically into its activities. In some instances, this has been done to change behaviour of armed and security forces, for instance in Jordan, where specific modules on sexual violence have been developed and delivered to weapon bearers.
In Bangladesh, Pakistan, Mauritania or India, among others, the ICRC also contributed to the sensitization on the prohibition of sexual violence within pre-deployment sessions for peacekeeping troops. This included a regional workshop carried out in partnership with UN DPKO in India, during which some 50 senior officers from 27 peacekeeping troop-contributing countries discussed the protection of civilians, including from sexual violence.
• The ICRC continued to strive to build capacity of its staff on the issue of sexual violence, through internal courses, support and trainings for field delegations, and guaranteeing seats for ICRC staff at the one-week seminar on “Sexual violence in conflict settings and emergencies”, developed by the Geneva Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action in partnership with ICRC, MSF, Handicap International and UNHCR.
• ICRC continued to include the issue of sexual violence in its IHL dissemination sessions, training or seminars and to support states to disseminate IHL in their countries through various international meetings and fora at which the issue of sexual violence was highlighted, training of trainers as well as through technical support provided by our advisory services.
• ICRC continued to work towards strengthening Movement coordination including through, wherever possible, partnering with National Societies, regularly meeting with IFRC and participating in the SGBV Coordination Group, co-hosting Regional Fora on SGBV in Nairobi in 2015 and 2016, co-organizing a conference in Colombia with Norwegian Red Cross and Colombian Red Cross, as well as participating in the “write-shop” organized by the IFRC in Beirut, Lebanon, to contribute to the development of a training module on SGBV in disasters.
ICRC continues to face challenges in implementing activities addressing sexual violence. Many of these challenges are linked to the complex nature of the issue and external factors such as:
• Security situation and taboo surrounding the issue, which have sometimes prevented delegations from developing responses it.
• Extensive preparatory work, time and resources needed to develop high-quality, effective responses to sexual violence. Time is needed to ensure that the approach is adapted to the context-specific needs of victims; develop trust and relationship necessary to work on such a sensitive issue; work with the community to mitigate stigma; and increase sensitivity and capacity of the ICRC staff to work on the issue.
• Complexity of the issue making it difficult to identify appropriate entry points for its programs in certain contexts. The sexual violence team is planning to commission research on the nature of sexual violence in particularly challenging contexts to help identify best entry points.
ICRC has also faced certain institutional challenges, including:
• Challenges, at times, in multidisciplinary work
• Difficulties in monitoring and evaluation of ICRC’s work on the issue.
These are currently being addressed through the field evaluations in 2017, as well as through the development of a new sexual violence strategy and accompanying guidance document clarifying ICRC methodological approach.