INITIATIVE/PROGRAM: Gender-based Violence Emergency Response and Protection Initiative

The Gender-Based Violence Emergency Response and Protection Initiative is a program designed to address extreme forms of gender-based violence (GBV) and harmful traditional practices around the world. The program has three specific objectives:

• Provide emergency assistance to those facing extreme acts of GBV, including harmful traditional practices. Click HERE for more information on who is eligible to apply for assistance.
• Provide advocacy support, prevention and technical assistance to GBV survivors and those working to address gender-based violence, including civil society organizations, service providers, and justice system actors; and
• Provide a focal point for improving GBV regional and international network coordination.

The emergency assistance will support victims/survivors of extreme forms of GBV and harmful traditional practices in the form of small, short-term emergency grants for expenses that include, but are not limited to, medical expenses, psychosocial support or counseling, emergency shelter or other safe accommodation, relocation expenses, livelihood and dependent support (including foster care and other forms of child care), and legal assistance. The program is meant to provide assistance to those in urgent situations with little to no alternatives for support. Individual victims/survivors of GBV can request emergency assistance directly or through intermediaries such as civil society organizations, services providers, community or faith-based groups, and/or family members.

In addition, the program will provide advocacy support and technical assistance to address gender-based violence generally. Advocacy and technical assistance activities will be designed as a response to the emergency cases that arise throughout the course of the program. This may include specialized trainings for law enforcement and justice system actors around the implementation of laws that aim to protect victims, workshops designed to engage men and boys around GBV prevention, and advocacy campaigns in response to concrete incidents of extreme gender-based violence against individuals or communities.

The GBV Initiative is managed by a consortium of non-governmental and international organizations led by Vital Voices Global Partnership. Consortium members include Promundo-US, the International Organizaiton for Migration (IOM), and the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI). The Consortium also receives assistance from its Advisory Council, which includes organizations, services providers, and experts from around the world.

About the Consortium Partners:

• Vital Voices Global Partnership is a global women's leadership and empowerment organization that identifies, trains and empowers emerging women leaders and social entrepreneurs around the globe.

• American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI) is an international development program that promotes the rule of law by working with in-country partners to build sustainable institutions and societies.

• Promundo is an international organization founded in Brazil whose work engages women, girls, boys, and men in an effort to transform gender norms and power relations within key institutions where these norms are constructed.

• International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the leading organization dedicated to migration and is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. IOM's gender-based violence interventions aim to protect, treat, care and support vulnerable populations including migrant women and girls throughout the world.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact: gbvresponse@gmail.com