UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict

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United Nations Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict (UN Action) a cross-UN initiative that unites the work of 14 United Nations entities with the goal of ending sexual violence in conflict. The inter-agency network is composed of 14 UN entities from a spectrum sectors including peacekeeping, political affairs, justice, human rights, humanitarian, health, gender equality and women's empowerment. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General Pramila Patten chairs the network which represents a concerted effort by the United Nations to improve coordination and accountability, amplify programming and advocacy, and support national efforts to prevent sexual violence and respond effectively to the needs of survivors. The UN Action Secretariat is based in the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Areas of focus[]

UN Action has three main pillars of activity:

  1. Country-Level Action: support to United Nations Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict at country level, including efforts to build capacity and train advisers in gender-based violence programming and coordination, as well as targeted support for joint UN programming in selected countries,
  2. Advocating for Action: action to raise public awareness and generate political will to address sexual violence as part of a broader campaign to Stop Rape Now,
  3. Learning by Doing: creation of a knowledge hub on sexual violence in conflict and effective responses.

Members[]

UN Action is composed of 14 UN entities including United Nations Department of Political Affairs (DPA), Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Joint United Nations Program of HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), World Food Programme (WFP), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office (UN-PBSO) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Wilton Park Conference[]

From May 27–29, 2008, UN Action organized a conference in Wilton Park under the theme “Women Targeted or Affected by Armed Conflict: What Role for Military Peacekeepers? aimed at identifying how international peacekeepers can protect women from sexual violence and other forms of abuse in the wake of armed conflict and its aftermath. Senior military personnel, including former commanders of international peace support operations, United Nations officials, policy makers and other experts met to discuss how to improve political and military responses to protect women in war.

Officials in attendance included:

  • Lieutenant General Jasbir Singh Lidder of India, former United Nations Mission in Sudan Force Commander
  • Major General (rtd) Patrick Cammaert, former commander, Eastern Divisions, United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Michael Fryer of South Africa, Police Commissioner of the AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur
  • Rakhi Sahi, Commander of the all-women Formed Police Unit in the UN Mission in Liberia
  • Former Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Edmond Muletsh
  • Ross Mountain, Former Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Assistant Secretary-General Kathleen Cravero, Director, Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery, UN Development Programme
  • Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York

External links[]

  • UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict Website
  • Keynote address by the Chair of UN Action, Kathleen Cravero, on “Sexual Violence Against Women and Girls in Crisis: From Advocacy to Action” to the Women’s Foreign Policy Group in Washington, D.C., 17 July 2008: [1]
  • Summary Report of the Wilton Park conference on “Women Targeted or Affected by Armed Conflict: What Role for Military Peacekeepers?” co-organized by UNIFEM and DPKO both on behalf of UN Action, with support of the governments of Canada and the United Kingdom: [2]
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