International Medical Corps partnered with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to strengthen technical capacity of field practitioners to design, implement, and manage effective multi-sectoral interventions to prevent gender-based violence (GBV) and provide appropriate services for survivors.
GBV is defined as actual or threatened physical, sexual and psychological violence that occurs either within the family or in the broader community. International Medical Corps routinely integrates innovative strategies into our core programs to address GBV.
Through this new partnership with UNFPA, International Medical Corps is addressing a gap in training opportunities to build technical knowledge, skills, and abilities to design and implement programs to address GBV in complex humanitarian crises or in the recovery after natural disasters and war.
With funding from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), this project represents the second phase of a three-phase “blended learning” capacity development initiative for GBV managers, initiated by UNFPA under the auspices of the Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility global working group (GBV AoR) of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Global Protection Cluster in 2008. The first phase was released in April, 2011 as an e-learning course entitled “Managing Gender-based Violence Programmes in Emergencies” (available at: https://extranet.unfpa.org/Apps/GBVinEmergencies/index.html). A companion user manual to complement knowledge covered in the e-course will be released in late 2011.
About the course
– Aims to build professional competencies in the field of GBV
– Focuses on the day-to-day responsibilities of managing GBV programs in humanitarian settings, with emphasis on GBV programming during protracted emergencies
– Builds skills for assessment, participatory community engagement, program design, case management, etc.
– Builds on the foundational learning from the GBV e-learning course
Target participants
– Professionals working in humanitarian settings with program management and technical responsibilities
– Professionals with some knowledge, skill, and experience delivering or managing services to survivors of GBV
Phase two of the blended learning program will offer GBV field practitioners who have completed the e-learning course a face-to-face training that will build both technical knowledge of GBV and practical skills in program design and management. The course will deliver hands-on, practical tools that field practitioners can use to design and manage their programs, with the ultimate aim of expanding and strengthening the pool of skilled professionals working in the field of GBV.
Whether working in areas of armed conflict where rape has become an overt weapon of war, or in more stable development environments where GBV is less visible, International Medical Corps prioritizes strengthening the ability of local health care workers to identify and treat survivors and work with community leaders to raise community awareness of the problem. We have conducted successful programs to prevent and respond to GBV in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Russia in a variety of settings.