Sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality. It is a major factor undermining the safety, dignity and overall health of the millions of individuals who experience it. A familiar statistic that is often quoted and remains stubbornly unchanged: 35% of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual violence.

While for decades, humanitarian organisations have recognised that SGBV increases during times of armed conflict and disasters, the protection of groups vulnerable to SGBV, particularly women and girls, continues to be inadequately addressed through disaster risk reduction, prevention and response efforts.

As noted by several donor representatives in connection with a March 2017 high-level meeting on the Call to Action on Prevention of Gender-based Violence in Emergencies, more unity is necessary among the multiple initiatives to advance gender, diversity and the fight against SGBV.

This workshop aims to “connect the dots” and draw on the best practices and most relevant initiatives currently available. In order to raise awareness and equip participants with tools to guide policy and programming, the workshop will offer interactive, problem-solving exercises. Disability inclusion will also be addressed in the workshop, and elements from training porgrammes on gender and diversity, as well as SGBV prevention, will also be used.

Target participants

Practitioners of humanitarian policy and programming in the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and other humanitarian organisations
Humanitarian focal points from Permanent Representations
EU Civil Servants
Members of the European Parliament
International organisation representatives based in Brussels

Objectives

Equip participants with insight and tools for including gender and diversity issues, and prevention of SGBV in programming and policy work.
Connect the dots of various international partners’ commitments to reduce SGBV.
Follow-up on the December 2015 resolution by the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent on “Sexual and gender-based violence: Joint action on prevention and response”.

Registration

Due to a limited number of places, you are invited to nominate one representative from your organisation to participate in the event. The training workshop will be offered free of charge. Lunch will be provided, and a certificate will be awarded to participants who complete the workshop.

In order to submit a nomination for this event, please fill in the registration form (link) no later than 24 October 2017. Selected participants will receive a confirmation email latest by 26 October 2017.

Background reading

Background materials for the event include the ground-breaking December 2015 resolution by the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent on “Sexual and gender-based violence: Joint action on prevention and response”, the Minimum Standard Commitments on Gender and Diversity in Emergency Response, the Gender and Diversity Organizational Assessment Toolkit and “Unseen, Unheard - Gender-Based Violence in Disasters”.

Training workshop: Gender, Diversity, and SGBV in Humanitarian Action