Attachments
The GBV Sub-Sector Sudan welcomes the IASC’s decision to scale-up humanitarian response in the country. During this scale up, the Sub-Sector reminds all actors that:
1. The Sudanese people are facing a Protection crisis, with women, girls, and vulnerable men and boys experiencing the worst consequences.
The outbreak of conflict in Sudan has driven humanitarian need to critical levels, with a 57% increase since just November 2022; 24 million people now require assistance. The situation is getting worse, not better. Active conflict has shut down a host of basic services while making it unsafe to seek the services, care, and goods that do exist. These risks include sexual violence, harassment, abuse, and exploitation.
Since 15 April 2023, over 4 million people have fled their homes. For women and girls, the risks of domestic violence as well as conflict related sexual violence (CRSV), trafficking, and sexual exploitation, harassment, and abuse (SHEA) are staggering, with reports increasing since the very onset of increased conflict. At the same time, GBV responders are reporting increased sensitivity and fear in reporting GBV by women and girls.
Need for protection services is not being met. Limited access, which is particularly acute in conflict-affected states, shortages of supplies, and limited availability of specialized services have increased significantly and are three of the most serious challenges to the service provision.
2. Despite significant challenges, GBV prevention and response humanitarian operations have intensified their efforts and innovated to support clients.
From April through mid-August 2023, GBV prevention and response partners have reached a total of 121,214 people (in comparison, from January through March of this year, GBV partners reached 42,078). These individuals have been reached with life-saving GBV responses such as medical care (including Clinical Management of Rape), psychosocial support (PSS), GBV Case Management, awareness raising and material assistance to GBV survivors, as well as referral to other appropriate services. Utilizing community-based structures, GBV responders have conducted information dissemination sessions on GBV related issues, including the availability of services and referral system. In accessible gathering points, temporary Women Centers were established based on consultation with women and girls as well as community leaders; over 50% of these were established in the 5 hardest-to-reach Darfur states.
Across the crisis, innovative means of providing services have been created. For instance, actors in Khartoum State developed a unique mechanism, providing life-saving GBV services through coordination between a community level mechanism called ‘Emergency Room.’ Meanwhile, GBV Sub-Sector partners are scaling up GBV prevention and response services in the new IDP-hosting states, with the GBV Sub-Sector now having partners that cover 16 of the 18 States in Sudan.
Due to the urgent need to scale-up service provision, significant investments have been made in capacity building, training 1,209 frontline GBV service providers, including 660 trained by the GBV Sub-Sector. As access remains one of the most critical barriers to providing physical services, GBV responders have looked to remote service provision. Training for remote service provision has particularly focused on remote PSS, psychological first aid, referrals, emergency response planning and preventing sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA). For the first time in Sudan, standard operating procedures, and protocols for remote GBV service provision have been developed.
3. Local organizations, in particular women’s rights and women-led organizations (WROs/WLOs), are critical to the success of overall scale-up.
Driven by insecurity and bureaucratic and administrative impediments to international aid workers and relief getting into Sudan, local responders have been at the forefront of providing humanitarian aid to those in need.
Collaboration and support across all types of actors is critical, but local actors are those accessing the States that are most conflict-affected. In dangerous and hard-to-reach areas such as Darfur and Khartoum, local responders are sometimes the only organizations operational; they need access to resources so they can replenish supplies, with the flexibility and support to make full use of international and donor mechanisms.
For GBV operations, WROs/WLOs are particularly necessary as they are very often the most able to access women and girls most in need. In Jazeira state, of 31 organizations that are providing GBV services, 11 of them are WLOs. These are the same organizations staffed by individuals who are themselves displaced, which face increasing operational costs for things like office rent, and particular social and operational risks and challenges.
Gender biases limit collaboration, while discrimination and stereotypes about women's leadership capabilities and preconceived notions about women's competence and suitability for leadership roles limit resources and exclude them from decision-making processes. In practice, this results in funding decisions that favor men-led organizations, with WROs/WLOs struggling to obtain funds to respond to GBV survivors’ needs or improve their organizational and institutional capacity to meet donor requirements.
4. Despite being a Protection crisis, GBV prevention and response is disproportionately underfunded and needs are significantly outpacing requirements.
Overall, the financial requirements for Sudan have risen by 47% and, as of the announcement of the scale-up, only 26% of that has been met. Given the nature of the conflict, GBV prevention and response required an 81% increase2 in funding; as of the announcement of scale-up, only 18.2% of that has been met3 , leaving a need for an additional $51.3 million to respond to the needs before the end of 2023.
5. The cost of inaction will be severe, with life-long impacts on women and girls.
As has been noted elsewhere, the consequences of this war on the protection of civilians will be severe while the consequences of a collapse of governance and basic services will be difficult – if not impossible - to reverse. For women and girls, the long-term impacts of the GBV they are experiencing includes but are not limited to: pregnancy and parenting;
HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections; and negative psychological and mental health outcomes.