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Ethiopia

Community Consultation on Existing Procedures for Handling Sea Complaints, Mekelle, Tigray Region

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Executive summary

The purpose of this focus group discussion was to assess the level of community awareness regarding the existing procedures for handling Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) complaints in IDP sites and to identify areas for strengthening efforts. The discussion involved four groups from each selected IDP sites in Mekelle, including women, men, boys, and girls. The findings indicate a general lack of awareness among the community members regarding the existing procedures for handling SEA complaints. Many participants revealed that there are no available reporting mechanisms and support services in their respective IDP sites. Participants highlighted the need for improved communication channels to disseminate information about SEA complaint procedures. Suggestions included utilizing community leaders, establishing helplines and establishing an office just for handling PSEA complaints, and conducting awareness-raising sessions. Participants stressed the importance of capacity building for community members, including training on identifying and reporting SEA incidents. They recommended involving local organizations and community leaders to deliver training programs tailored to the specific needs of each group. Even though, the participants point out that, SEA cases are very rare or have never been occurred in their respective IDP sites and PSEA is not their main concern at this point in time; they understand the importance of PSEA complaint receiving mechanism in the IDP sites so that the community feels safe and protected. The participant from all IDP sited stressed that, developing and implementing targeted awareness campaigns to raise community awareness of existing SEA complaint procedures is imperative. Providing comprehensive training programs for community members, focusing on 4 identifying, reporting, and responding to SEA incidents is also the recommendation of the participants.