Kasai Region GBV Advocacy Brief
Violence has recently erupted throughout the five provinces that make up the Greater Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Over the past year, approximately 1.4 million people have fled their homes due to intercommunal fighting aggravated by government forces. Approximately 53% are women and girls who are exposed to multiple protection concerns on a daily basis.
Women have reported being raped by members of armed groups and civilians. Local health centers don’t have the necessary life-saving drugs, equipment and trained medical personnel to adequately treat survivors despite national protocols being in place and funding is urgently needed.
Key messages:
- Lives may be lost without the provision of lifesaving drugs, equipment and training to health care facilities to treat survivors;
- Preventing/mitigating future acts of violence depends on building the capacity of key clusters to “mainstream” GBV prevention and response mechanisms as per the 2015 IASC GBV Guidelines;
- Scaling up coordination across the affected region will ensure that civil society organizations and grass-root women’s right defenders have the necessary tools/capacity to lead the response;
- Measures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) need to be put in place to protect women and girls.
Read the GBV advocacy brief here.