Background

For the second year in a row, the U.S. Department of State will host a high level event on the Call to Action on Protection from Gender Based Violence in Emergencies during the 2015 UN General Assembly. The Call to Action was launched by the United Kingdom in November 2013 to complement the former-Secretary Hague’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI). The Call to Action is now led by the United States, and over 40 governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations have signed on to the ground-breaking communique and/or made commitments to advance change across their organization’s policies and programs.

IOM has been directly engaged in the Call to Action initiative since its inception, and submits annual progress updates on IOM’s actions to address GBV in emergencies.  This year (2015), IOM has been actively involved in the US-led “Road Map” exercise, to develop an operational framework for ensuring that pledges are translated into prioritized concrete and targeted actions on the ground over the next five years. It is primarily focused on identifying systemic changes that must be made in policy and practice in order to transform humanitarian response to GBV.

Call to Action Goal:

To drive change and foster accountability within the humanitarian sphere so that every humanitarian response includes the policies, systems, and mechanisms necessary to mitigate GBV risks, especially violence against women and girls, from the earliest phases of a crisis, and to provide safe and comprehensive services for those affected by GBV.

Call to Action Objectives:

1. Establish specialized GBV prevention and response services and programs that are accessible to anyone affected by GBV and available from the onset of an emergency;
2. Integrate and implement actions to reduce and mitigate GBV risk across all levels and sectors of humanitarian response from the earliest stages of emergencies and throughout the program cycle; and to
3. Mainstream gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls throughout humanitarian action. 

Road Map 2016-2020:

Five-year plan to meet the need for accountability, collective action, and locally driven programming through the following outcomes:

1. Key humanitarian actors adopt and implement institutional policies and standards to strengthen gender equality, prevent and respond to GBV, and enhance accountability for taking action.
2. All levels within the humanitarian architecture promote effective and accountable inter-agency/inter-sectoral GBV leadership and coordination.
3. Needs assessments and planning processes support effective and accountable integration of GBV prevention and response and gender equality into humanitarian response efforts.
4. Funding is available for GBV prevention and response for each phase of an emergency, from preparedness and crisis onset through transition to development.
5. A package of core standards for GBV prevention and response for each phase of an emergency, from preparedness and crisis onset through transition to development, are established and implemented.
6. Key actors across all sectors of the response have and apply knowledge and skills needed to mainstream gender equality and reduce and mitigate GBV risk.

Note for speakers: No official guidance has been received from the US Dept. of State on the suggested format for agencies’ statements/presentations. Last year, however, organizations were requested to address broad topics that were not already covered in the Call to Action progress reports. Specifically, they were asked to address why GBV is important to each institution; envisioned success; and needs for improved collaboration and coordination within the humanitarian community. Speaking time is limited to two minutes. 

TALKING POINTS

• Why Accountability, mainstreaming gender equality, and preventing GBV matters to IOM

Of the 232 million people who migrate regularly, women and men do so in almost equal numbers. Although numbers vary by crisis and region, women and girls comprise about half of any refugee, internally displaced, or stateless population. 

As gender equality issues are central to the causes and consequences of migration, and thus to effective organizational responses, IOM has committed to make gender equality and GBV mitigation a priority in its emergency response operations. This is particularly important, as crisis-induced population movements expose vulnerable people, especially women and children, to gender-based violence (GBV).

• The importance of GBV mitigation in all phases of an emergency

While there has been commendable progress made on this important issue, both by individual agencies and the collective, it is unfortunate that prevention of and response to GBV is still not prioritized enough during humanitarian operations. It is critical that steps be taken to identify and mitigate the root causes of GBV, both at the start of an emergency, but also well into the transition and recovery phase.

IOM is working to improve our response to ensure that it is comprehensive and sustainable by strengthening both our internal policies and programming. This includes updating our gender policy to better address gender-specific protection and assistance needs in humanitarian crises and incorporating GBV considerations into our Humanitarian Policy.

At the programmatic level, we now include GBV risk indicators in data collection exercises, are embedding GBV prevention and mitigation measures into camp planning and management, and have increased prevention and assistance activities to address sexual exploitation and abuse, human trafficking, and gender-based violence. We also work with governments to promote women’s inclusion in peace-building processes, and the access to justice and reparations for victims of sexual violence.

• What will successful collaboration/coordination as a humanitarian community look like?

I want to take a moment to emphasize the importance of the Call to Action Road Map. The aim of this operational framework is to meet the need for accountability (a Transformative Agenda priority), collective action, and locally driven programming through a series of articulated goals and prioritizations. Agencies’ continued commitment to mitigating the vulnerabilities and threats caused by gender-based violence is a key facet of accountability.

Ensuring that GBV considerations are central to humanitarian programming will depend on continued strengthening of intra-agency coordination and inter-agency collaboration. This cooperation can be achieved through the advancement of discussions on GBV prevention and mitigation, clarifying the different sectors’ relevant roles and responsibilities, and raising awareness of the need to address GBV holistically.

Only through such systemic engagement and information-sharing can the international community as a whole attempt to truly invoke change. This is why the Call to Action is such a valuable initiative – one that IOM fully embraces.