Humanitarian Response to Populations at Risk of Gender-Based Violence – UNFPA 2018

January 2018 – Palestinians face a long-term humanitarian crisis, with approximately 1 in 2 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza requiring some form of humanitarian assistance. The impacts on vulnerable Palestinians include limited access to safe water and sanitation, persistent food and income insecurity, and the risk of sexual and gender-based violence. With GAC’s support, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is helping to reduce the vulnerability of people, predominantly women and girls, in the West Bank and Gaza to all forms of gender-based violence (GBV) and from the threat of such violence. This project is expected to increase access by GBV survivors to gender-responsive GBV services, strengthen capacity to develop and implement institutional frameworks that promote and protect GBV survivors, and support the positive role of youth in combating GBV through community initiatives and campaigns designed and implemented by youth innovative approaches. Project activities include: (1) upgrading or equipping safe spaces for women and girls in the West Bank and Gaza; (2) enhancing the skills of 120 service providers to be able to safely, effectively, and ethically perform their duties, including case management based on the developed standard operations procedures in targeted areas in the West Bank and Gaza; (3) enhancing the capacity of social counselors to provide long-term psychosocial support services to 800 GBV survivors; (4) providing vocational and life skills activities and support for innovative income generating initiatives for survivors of GBV to respond to basic household needs and build resilience; and (5) conducting policy dialogue and taking action on how to strengthen the effectiveness of the referral system for GBV cases.