Strengthening GBV prevention and response through life-saving services for women and girls affected by conflict in Panyjiar County, Unity State 6 Months
01/03/2019
01/03/2019
The proposed six months project will provide lifesaving GBV services and GBV prevention services in Nyal, Panyjiar county targeting an estimated 16,072 (7,715M, 8,357F) population of IDPs and host community members affected by conflict. The proposed intervention is designed to:
 Increase access to life saving GBV case management and psychosocial support (PSS) services for women and adolescent girls.
 Reduce risks to GBV through prevention and response to violence against women and girls.
IRC will promote access to lifesaving services through comprehensive case management, referrals, and individual and group psychosocial support services in women and girls’ friendly spaces (WGFS). IRC will utilize two existing women and girls’ friendly spaces in Nyal and Kol for the provision of psychosocial support services, skills building activities, recreational and life skills activities for adolescent girls, group information sessions, and provision of social cohesion and support networks for women and girls. Within the women and girls’ safe spaces, specialized, age-appropriate, individual and group-based support is available to women and girls who fear to come forward to access available GBV services. To mitigate barriers such as fear and stigma which prevent GBV survivors from seeking help and a lack of information on health consequences of sexual violence, the IRC will implement both basic and more tailored psychosocial support interventions including GBV information sessions, as well as specialized group psychosocial support sessions with a focus on supporting survivors’ healing process from traumatic events. These structured sessions are designed to provide emotional support to survivors, and equip women and girls with improved coping mechanisms, self-esteem, resilience and social support networks. The IRC will also provide tailored psychosocial support activities for adolescent girls to mitigate their vulnerability to multiple forms of GBV, and offer support systems and access to information. This will be pivotal in reducing women and girls’ isolation, and boosting their self-confidence. To promote resilience and enhance psycho-social support, women will be consulted and supported through skills building. The IRC will work to mitigate and respond to the needs of women, girls, men and boys affected by conflict through frequent joint community-based safety audit assessments, address risks identified, and strengthen community based support mechanisms, create safe and meaningful access to relevant services, and advocate with other humanitarian actors on GBV mainstreaming. The IRC will also provide material support both food and nonfood items to the most vulnerable women and girls in Nyal. Both female and male community leaders, local authority, frontline service providers, IRC Community Health Workers and IRC staff will be trained on GBV guiding principles, referral pathway and the GBV IASC guidelines. Further, community outreach on GBV and available GBV services will be done to promote uptake of services. Close collaboration with local service providers like IMC, Mercy Corps, GAA, UNIDO, Cuamm and IRC Health, Nutrition and Child Protection in Nyal will be promoted to protect women and mitigate issues affecting them. This project will offer an opportunity to provide the much needed humanitarian services in Nyal where the community are in high need of Gender Based Violence services.