Displacement

Women, War, Peace and Displacement

UNIFEM Desk Review: Fuel Provision and Gender-Based Violence 

Introduction

The often-cited statistic that as many as 80 per cent of displaced populations are women and children fails to convey the complete devastation that displacement visits upon women and communities. Leaving homes, property and community behind renders women vulnerable to violence, disease and food scarcity, whether they flee willingly or unwillingly. Internally displaced women face additional dangers as they are often invisible to the international community within the context of violent conflict. Camps for refugees and the internally displaced have been criticized for not addressing women’s needs and concerns in their design and procedure. Failure to account for women’s security and health needs can make a camp that was intended to provide refuge a dangerous and deadly place for women and girls. Fortunately, the UN, governments and civil society organizations that serve displaced women are beginning to rise to the challenge of including women and a gender perspective at every stage of policy-making and implementation.

Specific challenges faced by female displaced persons include but are not limited to:

  • Increased vulnerability to human rights abuses including sexual harassment, gender-based violence and severe sex discrimination, which are also reasons many women and girls flee their homes in the first place. more...
  • Increased risk of HIV infection as wars and conflicts often force them to flee to areas where the virus is prevalent. Women and girls are also exposed to factors that facilitate transmission when they flee, including poverty, the disruption of health services and social structure and increases in sexual violence. more...
  • The “protection gap” that results from the international aid community’s focus on providing food and shelter to the displaced while largely overlooking their security and protection concerns. more...
  • Obstacles to reintegration and repatriation in the aftermath of a conflict. Abducted women and girls are often forced to serve as sex slaves, porters or soldiers in enemy militias and are therefore seen as accomplices and rejected by the community after the conflict is resolved. more...

Key Terms

Refugee: The 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as any person who:

"... [O]wing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it." The 1967 Protocol extended the application of the Convention to the situation of "new refugees";  more... The convention's definition of "refugee" excludes gender-based persecution as a legitimate claim for asylum. more...

Internally Displaced Person (IDP): According to UNHCR, an internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who, like a refugee, has been displaced by crisis or conflict but, unlike a refugee, has not crossed an international border. In other words, IDPs are displaced within their own home countries. This can make assistance and protection much more difficult. Of the estimated 25 million IDPs around the world, “UNHCR currently helps over 5.6 million of those internally displaced, and a lively international debate is underway on how to more effectively help this group."  more...

Asylum Seeker: Often confused with the term "refugee," UNHCR defines an asylum  seeker as "a person who has left their country of origin, has applied for recognition as a refugee in another country, and is awaiting a decision on their application." more...

 

Treaties and Institutions

  • UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Calls on “all parties to armed conflict to respect the civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements, and to take into account the particular needs of women and girls, including in their design…”
  • UN Security Council Resolution 1208: Stresses “the particular security needs of women, children and the elderly, who are the most vulnerable groups in refugee camps and settlements…”

International Organizations


Amnesty International: advocates for the rights of refugees and IDPs more...

Human Rights Watch: advocates for greater protection of refugees and IDPs and seeks to address the root causes that force people to flee more...

Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC): advocates for the rights of IDPs, raises awareness of their plight, points to gaps in national and international responses and promotes solutions reflecting interational standards and good practices more...

International Committee of the Red Cross: ensures the protection of victims of war and internal violence and to provides them with assistance more...

Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University: focuses on all aspects of international migration, including the causes of and potential responses to population movements, immigration and refugee law and policy, comparative migration studies, the integration of immigrants into their host societies, and the effects of international migration on social, economic, demographic, foreign policy and national security concerns. more...

Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University: the leading multidisciplinary centre for research and teaching on the causes and consequences of forced migration more...

Refugees International: advocates for lifessaving assistance and protection for displaced people and promotes solutions to displacement crises more...

UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR): the main UN body responsible for the well-being of the world's refugees, mandated to coordinate and lead international action on the protection of refugees and on solutions to refugee problems. See Helping Refugees: An Introduction to UNHCR, which outlines the basic concept, principles and activities of UNHCR, or visit the UNHCR homepage here.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA): mobilises and coordinates effective and principled humanitarian action in partnership with national and international actors more...

UN Population Fund (UNFPA): works to protect the reproductive health of communities in crisis more...

Women's Refugee Commission: seeks to improve the lives of refugee women and children by assessing and monitoring the situation of refugee women and children through research, field visits and consultation; identifying and documenting the widely overlooked problems and issues that affect refugee women and children; developing and promoting policies and practices that will lead to real on-the-ground change by advocating to policy makers, key organizations, donors and the public to ensure their implementation. more...

UNIFEM Action and Analysis

UNIFEM’s work on displacement takes several forms, from policy formulation and analysis to support to women’s organizations and inter-agency processes. Examples of UNIFEM work include:

  • Supporting the All-Party Burundi Women's Peace Conference on reconstruction issues such as repatriation, resettlement and reintegration of refugees. UNIFEM collaborated with AFRICARE to support a four-month reconciliation program for women IDPs, returnees and women in Burundi .
  • Supporting increased participation of internally displaced women in peace-building. For instance, for the first time, “Women’s Public Diplomacy” meetings were held in South Ossetia and also in Abkhazia with internally displaced women from Tbilisi and Georgia , local authorities, the UN Observer Mission and CIS peacekeepers.
  • Forging relationships with other UN agencies to improve the protection of women refugees affected by the Colombian civil war.
  • Working with UN and humanitarian partners to develop guidelines to address gender-based violence in humanitarian crises, including refugee and IDP settings.

Tools & Checklists

UN Documents

  • UNFPA: "The Trajectory of Life as Internally Displaced Persons In Angola" more...
  • UNHCR:
An Assessment of Ten Years of Policy on Refugee Women.more...

Five Commitments to Reguee Womenmore...

Global Report 2002. more...

Sports recreation programs for refugee children and girls. more...

Refugee Women photo gallery. more...

Accountability Framework for Age, Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming more...

Guidelines on the Prevention of Sexual Violence Against Refugees more...

Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women and Girls more...

Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings more...

Handbook for the Protection of Women and Girls more...

Independent Experts' Assessment & Recommendations

The Independent Experts' Assessment on Women, War, Peace and Displacement and the accompanying recommendations can be accessed in this archive: Displacement Archive.