IFRC Safeguarding Framework, including 16 Standards for Safeguarding system development and a tool for National Societies to assess their safeguarding risk

This report outlines the results of a country case study undertaken during December 2016 in Zimbabwe. It is part of a global IFRC initiative on ‘Effective law and policy for addressing gender in disaster risk management and sexual and gender-based violence in disasters’. The country case study was conducted in order to contribute to:
• Implementing Resolution 3 of the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent on ‘Sexual and gender-based violence: Joint
action on prevention and response’ (32IC/15/3); and
• Filling a knowledge gap on gender equality in disaster risk management laws, polices and their implementation, that was identified in the IFRC
and UNDP 2014 study, Effective Law and Regulation to Support Disaster Risk Reduction: A Multi-Country Report.

Global Study

A new report, Humanitarian Protection During Disasters: The Responsibility to Prevent and Respond to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, found that sexual and gender-based violence increased after disasters in three South-East Asian countries. It details how different agencies – including local and international humanitarian organizations, governments and communities – can better prevent and respond to this. The report is based on the views of more than 1,700 disaster-affected women, adolescent girls, men and adolescent boys in Indonesia, Lao PDR and the Philippines.

The report is the result of a collaboration between IFRC, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Committee for Disaster Management, the Indonesian, Laos and Philippine Red Cross, with funding from the Australian, British, Canadian and Finnish Red Cross, and the governments of Australia and Canada.

Although it is increasingly recognized that gender-based violence (GBV) is a major feature of many conflicts, its occurrence during disasters is not as well understood. This study, commissioned by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), is designed to foster that discussion within both the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement and the larger humanitarian community.

The research addresses three questions:

What characterizes GBV in disasters?
In what ways should legal and policy frameworks, including disaster risk management, be adapted to address GBV in disasters?
How should National Societies and other local actors address GBV in disasters, and what support do they need to fulfil their roles?