Addressing sexual and gender-based violence – the challenges of a global pandemic

December 2020

Tags: Epidemics/pandemics  / Sexual and gender-based violence

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is rising in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has been estimated by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) that, in the first six months of lockdown, as many as 31 million new incidents of SGBV may have occurred. As the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, we are more than ever aware of the continued discrimination and inequality that can drive increased risks to women, girls, boys, men and sexual and gender minorities, including persons with disabilities, of facing SGBV in crises. The Movement resolution on joint action for SGBV prevention and response, adopted at the 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in 2015, highlighted the continued and urgent necessity to address this issue. On the occasion of the 16 Days of Activism against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, the ICRC and IFRC operational teams shed light on where we should go from here.

Read more

The story of a resolution in the time of COVID-19

September 2020

Tags: Epidemics/pandemics 

This story is about the wisdom and courage of adopting a resolution at the 33rd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IC33), only a few months before the rise of a global pandemic that changed the world. It is about its value and relevance in real-life emergencies, and how it became one of the most important tools to position National Societies at the center of COVID-19 operations, and as allied and supported members of a global movement. It also reflects on how the Movement has had to change, connect, and adapt in the midst of this crisis.

Read more