Trainings for Baghdad, Erbil Government Officials on addressing issue of Sexual Violence in Conflict

In both trainings in Baghdad and Erbil, officials of the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government respectively, including the high-level focal points on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, deliberated on how to strengthen services response to address the needs of survivors of sexual violence and discussed how justice to victims could be delivered. Participants also identified solutions to address the issue of stigma towards survivors and children born of rape. Further, participants stressed the need to ensure harmonization between the elements on sexual violence within the National Action Plan on Security Council resolution 1325 and the Joint Communiqué on Prevention and Response to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence.



The capacity-building effort is part of continuing UN efforts to strengthen Iraqi institutions, encouraged in particular during the visit of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General SRSG on Sexual Violence in Conflict to Iraq last February.



In his remarks at the opening of the workshops, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Mr. György Busztin, underscored the importance of the Joint Communiqué on Prevention and Response to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence as a framework for collectively working together to identify solutions to address the challenges of sexual violence. He added that meeting these challenges would require legislative actions and engagement with religious and community leaders to encourage the acceptance of survivors and their children.



“The Iraqi government is committed to implementing the Joint Communiqué on Prevention and Response to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, particularly in the post-ISIL period”, Dr. Ibtissam Aziz, Director for the Directorate for Empowering Iraqi Women, stated during the workshop held 24–25 July in Baghdad.



Pakhshan Zangana, the Secretary-General of the High Council for Women Affairs, Kurdistan Regional Government, welcomed the support provided by UNAMI. “This training initiative is important for government and civil society to enable them acquire the necessary skills to know how to appropriately respond to sexual violence. We need to be ready to tackle the challenges ahead and support the rehabilitation of survivors”, she added. The training in Erbil took place on 30-31 July.

In addition, on 01-02 August in Erbil, UNAMI and relevant UN Agencies held a workshop whose outcome led to the establishment of the first Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Arrangements (MARA) Technical Working Group on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Iraq and the MENA Region. The Working Group has been established in accordance with Security Council resolution 1960 (2010) on Women, Peace and Security and will strengthen monitoring, reporting and analysis on sexual violence incidences countrywide. The Group will also consult with key stakeholders in assessing the prevalence of sexual violence and providing programmatic advice, training and advocacy to better tackle sexual violence.