What’s New from the IRC in Women’s Protection and Empowerment

The International Rescue Committee helps survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) to heal and thrive, and works with communities and institutions to break the cycle of violence. The Women’s Protection and Empowerment (WPE) Team supports the development of holistic, survivor-centered services, conducting research, creating technical guidance and developing evidence-based best practice for prevention of and response to violence against women and girls in humanitarian settings.

For a complete accounting of WPE’s research, toolkits and guidance, please visit GBVresponders.org and follow @GBVResponders for updates.

Developments in 2018-2019

A number of new guidance and tools were released by the IRC, independently and with partners, in 20182019. These include:

GBV Blended Curriculum & ROSA App

To accommodate frontline staff working in GBV response, IRC has created an innovative approach to capacity building through an interactive “Blended Curriculum” that can be utilized in face-to-face instruction as well as in remote, low-connectivity settings through the Remote-Offered Skill Building Application

(Rosa). Both are designed to utilize technology and keep

the content, community and continual skill assessment ongoing for staff working in and outside of traditional offices. [Development of this curriculum and mobile application was supported by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).]

Download both the GBV Blended Curriculum and ROSA App at GBVResponders.org/response.

Guidelines for Mobile & Remote GBV Service Delivery

Mobile and remote GBV service delivery responds to the changing nature of displacement. Increasingly, displaced persons are living in host communities, urban settings or informal settlements with more than half of the world’s displaced people living in urban areas. With mobile GBV service delivery, service providers move to where people are displaced, residing, or in transit, in order to provide services to those who cannot be easily reached with traditional (static) services. With remote GBV service delivery, GBV services (predominately emotional support and case management) are provided over a technology platform (i.e. hotline, chat, or SMS) rather than in person.

The Guidelines for Mobile and Remote GBV Service Delivery reflect the learning of a two year pilot project and a feasibility and acceptability study implemented in Myanmar, Burundi and Iraq in 2017 and 2018. [Development of the guidelines was supported by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and the U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration Services (PRM).] Download the Guidelines at GBVResponders.org/response.

Women & Girls’ Safe Spaces – A Toolkit for Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment in Humanitarian Settings

Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSS) are considered a minimum component of GBV programming in emergency settings and have been used for decades by GBV actors in humanitarian programming as an entry point for women and girls to report protection concerns, express their needs, access vital services, engage in empowerment activities, and connect with the wider community. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and International Medical Corps (IMC) jointly developed the Women and Girls Safe Space Toolkit (WGSSTK), which was piloted in Lebanon, Thailand, Cameroon and Ethiopia. The toolkit offers a global blueprint for women led, context tailored, community-informed programming which supports women’s and girls’ sense of self and empowerment. It offers staff with different WGSS frontline, support or supervision roles a choice of 38 tools and databases with step by step instructions and guidance across 6 key project cycle phases. [Development of this Toolkit was supported by the US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (BPRM).] Download the Guidelines at GBVResponders.org (from November 14, 2019).

Screening for GBV in Primary Health Facilities in Humanitarian Settings Implementation Guidelines

Screening for GBV has become a topic of debate in humanitarian programming over the past few years as research has largely been limited to studies in developed countries. To address this, IRC has worked with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) since 2011 on the piloting, implementation and evaluation of ASIST-GBV, a GBV screening tool developed by JHU specifically for use among women and older adolescent girls in humanitarian settings. Findings from the evaluation, which led to the creation of Implementation Guidelines, indicate that, with the appropriate measures taken and prerequisites met, GBV screening by health providers has the potential to create a confidential environment where survivors can speak openly about their experiences with GBV; ensure competent care and referrals based on individual needs and wishes of survivors; and increase community awareness about GBV issues, thereby reducing stigma and improving attitudes. [Development of these Guidelines was supported by the US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (BPRM).] Download the Guidelines from GBVResponders.org/response.

GBV Case Management Outcome Monitoring Toolkit

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is an important part of accountable and effective GBV response, but traditionally the sector has focused on outputs (# of survivors receiving services, # of staff trained and # of dignity kits distributed). The GBV Case Management Outcome Monitoring Toolkit aims to measure outcomes, not outputs: the impact of gender-based violence

(GBV) case management on psychosocial well-being and felt stigma. [Development of this Toolkit was supported by Elrha’s Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF) program, funded by the UK Government and Directorate General of ECHO.] Download the Toolkit at GBVResponders.org/response.

Update of GBV Emergency Response & Preparedness (ERP) Materials with Feminist Partners

The Building Local Thinking Global (BLTG) Project has led to an update of all the GBV ERP materials to strengthen accessibility and use by local women’s movements and local GBV actors through a process of engagement with women’s rights networks across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. BLTG and this update are part of IRC’s commitment to strengthen and support outreach to and meaningful engagement of actors in the global south throughout programming. [BLTG is funded by the US Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (BPRM)].

Download the Materials at GBVResponders.org/emergency-response-preparedness/.

Inter-Agency Minimum Standards for GBV in Emergencies Programming

The IRC was proud to co-chair with UNFPA and UNICEF the GBV AOR Task Team which successfully led the development of the GBV Minimum Standards over the last 2 years. The 16 GBV Minimum Standards will support all actors working to implement specialized GBV programming to collectively champion the minimum standards needed to ensure survivors are provided with quality, survivor centered GBV response services, and promote the participation and empowerment of women and girls across GBV prevention and response programming. The IRC believes the minimum standards will help us to collectively advocate, together with local women’s movements, for prioritization of quality GBV specialized programming with humanitarian leadership, donors and governments. [Development of the Minimum Standards was supported by UNFPA.]

Download the Minimum Standards at gbvaor.net.

Read WPE & WRC's Report: “I see that it is possible”: Building capacity for disability inclusion in gender-based violence programming in humanitarian settings

In response to concerns raised by the field about the exclusion of women and girls with disabilities in programs and services, the WRC and IRC conducted a project, in Burundi, Ethiopia, Jordan and the Northern Caucasus in the Russian Federation, to identify barriers to access, and to pilot and evaluate strategies for promoting disability inclusion in gender-based violence (GBV) programs.

Read the full report and project brief here.

IRC Global Facilitator’s Training on Engaging Men in Accountable Practice to Prevent Violence against Women and Girls: 4th – 12th February, 2015

The International Rescue Committee in collaboration with UNHCR will be conducting an 8 day training course which will introduce practitioners working on ending violence against women and children to our Engaging Men in Accountable Practice (EMAP) intervention. EMAP is a ten month individual behavior change intervention which aims to reduce violence against women and girls by addressing its root causes. This global training will aim to equip participants with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to implement and train on this intervention in the field, specifically in humanitarian settings. More information on EMAP can be found here.

The closing date for applications is November 26^th, 2014.

For more information please refer to the announcement and application.

Addressing GBV in South Sudan

The IRC has spoken to women and girls in the South Sudan states of Unity, Lakes, Jonglei, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, and Central Equatoria since the beginning of the conflict that erupted in December 2013. They have told us about the risks they are exposed to and the violence they face: rape, sexual exploitation, abduction and intimate partner violence. The same risks and violence women and girls in emergencies have been exposed to for decades. In this brief, the IRC identifies gaps and recommendations to bring global commitments on GBV in emergencies to manifest in the lives of women and girls in South Sudan. Read the brief here.

Are We Listening to Syria’s Women and Girls?

Despite legislation meant to help women and girls in conflict zones, much more must be done to ensure rapid action on the ground—especially in Syria. In this op-ed by IRC's David Miliband and Georgetown University's Melanne Verveer share their views.

Are We Listening?

In our recent report, “ARE WE LISTENING? ACTING ON OUR COMMITMENTS TO WOMEN AND GIRLS AFFECTED BY THE SYRIAN CONFLICT,” the IRC brings to light the voices of Syrian women and girls and the barriers they face.

This annex in English and Arabic, prepared by the Georgetown University Institute for Women, Peace and Security, highlights the multiple internationally recognized resolutions and actions instituted but not yet fully implemented to make an impact on the day-to-day lives of women and girls in Syria and around the world.

Chadians Continue to Flee CAR, Often Destitute: IOM

Since late December 2013 IOM has registered and tracked over 95,000 often destitute Chadian returnees, Central African nationals and other Third Country Nationals (TCNs) arriving in Chad from the Central African Republic (CAR).

At least 10,000 Chadians and other TCNs, including Malians and Sudanese, have fled to Cameroon. IOM organized road convoys from the CAR-Cameroon border to Moundou in Chad on 30th March and April 2nd. These convoys facilitated the return home of 1,219 stranded migrants.

ILO’s First Multi-stakeholder meeting on Child Labor

On April 7th 2014, ILO’s Myanmar Program on the Elimination of Child Labour (My-PEC) held the first multi-stakeholder meeting on child labour at the International Labour Office in Yangon.

This four-year programme funded by the US Department of Labour aims at establishing a comprehensive, inclusive and efficient multi-stakeholder response to reducing child labour in Myanmar. It will provide technical and advisory support in implementing the ILO Convention C182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour that was ratified on December 23rd 2013 by the Government.

Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) 11 April 2014, vol. 89, 15

153 Meeting of the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, January 2014

Kazakhstan: Flash Floods: DREF Operation

A flash flood triggered by a dam burst killed five people and injured nine others in Kazakhstan's northern Karaganda region (oblast). The overflowing water flooded nearly 354 houses in Kokpekty village after the dam of a water storage basin had burst at 1:30 a.m. on 31 March 2014. Some 400 inhabitants were evacuated, and 5 bodies were found by rescuers as the flood water reached as high as 1.5-1.8 meters in the village.