Attachments
Key highlights
▪ 3174 (2665F/509M) SGBV incidents were reported between January and August 2019 in the refugee hosting districts. In August alone, 489 incidents were reported. Compared to the previous months, incidents of psychosocial and physical assault were reported highest from the refugee settlements. However, rape was recorded highest in Kampala among urban refugees and Kisoro Transit centre that receives new arrivals from DRC. Reported incidents of violence against children also slightly increased this with 78 incidents compared reported in comparison to the 50 last month. They were referred to Child protection actors for Best Interest Assessment.
▪ Inter-Agency PSEA Meeting: UNHCR briefed on the progress of Inter Agency Community Based Complaints Mechanisms trainings at the taskforce meeting. Trainings have been conducted for PSEA networks in refugee settings. The only sites pending are Adjumani and Moyo. It was also agreed during the meeting that trainings will be conducted in nonrefugee hosting areas as well. Further, an initial draft of the Inter Agency SOPs was prepared and shared with various organizations for comments. The comments once received will be incorporated into a final draft for eventual tabling and endorsement by the UNCT. An analysis of the Action plan matrix was conducted to track compliance and it was noted that UNHCR is almost fully compliant on all the action points and is by far the most compliant of all UN Agencies.
The other agencies were urged to make efforts in following up on the agreed actions in the plan.
▪ As part of implementing SASA! in Adjumani, UNHCR led partners in planning for the next phase of implementation. As SASA! Phase III (Support phase) concludes, a rapid assessment using focused group discussions is planned in September to assess the impact of this phase of implementation. The findings will subsequently inform on readiness to move to SASA! Phase IV.
▪ Engaging Men in Accountable Practices (EMAP): 8 EMAP sessions were held in Imvepi and Omugo, reaching 161(137F/24M). In Bidibidi, 171 men from zones 1, 2 and 4 graduated in EMAP, 82 women turned up for EMAP sessions and 20 men were identified and enrolled to start EMAP sessions.
▪ 20 sessions of the Girl Shine methodology were held to address barriers to development and education of girls aged 10-19. 573 girls discussed life skills, response to violence and stress management. As a result, girls are learning to control impulses, understand emotions, recognize healthy relationships and deal with challenges.
▪ 2,270 women and girls accessed the Women Centres of Imvepi and Rhino Camp settlements. UNHCR also participated in the handover of 3 Women and Girls Centres from CARE to OPM in Imvepi Zone II. Further, construction works for the 02 Female Friendly shades by DRC have been completed in the 02 Ranches and clusters E and G of Kiryandongo settlement.
▪ Safety audit findings dissemination workshops for Imvepi and Rhino Camp (Ofua zone) were conducted. The workshops were organized to share the findings of the safety audit conducted in June 2019 to assess the physical protection conditions for women and girls, their general concerns and gaps in service provision. The results of the safety audit depict that sexual, physical and emotional violence are the highest forms of violence faced by women and girls in Imvepi and Rhino Camp (Ofua zone). Challenges in accessing livelihood support, health and education were highlighted by the community, recommendations were made and will be circulated to relevant stake holders.
▪ UNHCR coordinated a joint SGBV health centre monitoring exercise in Bidibidi involving partners from health, protection and SGBV sectors with both government and partner’s health facilities providing care for SGBV survivors visited. The monitoring activity noted great improvements in the quality of care for SGBV survivors not withstanding a few gaps including lack of privacy, limited personnel trained in clinical care for rape, quality of documentation in the GBV register, poor data/document management among others.
▪ UNHCR in coordination with protection partners in Bidibidi conducted a rapid protection risk assessment in schools to assess protection risks for learners. Some of the issues documented include: abuses of learners, inadequate protection monitoring, inadequate MHM systems, poor documentation of reported child sexual abuses, poor referral linkage with school systems among others. A follow up meeting was conducted, and immediate actions generated including massive go back to school campaigns, mapping of school clubs, regular protection monitoring and school mentorship programs, improving referral pathway and linkage with school complaint mechanisms, and distribution of menstrual hygiene kits at the beginning of the term among others.