In association with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Context
A common and prevalent barrier to effectively prevent and respond to Sexual Exploitation, Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment in aid and peace-related contexts is a lack of sufficient, predictable and sustainable human, technical and financial resources.
The Common Approach to Protection from SEAH (CAPSEAH) is clear that PSEAH policies and approaches should be backed by sufficient resources. However, investments and funding mechanisms have tended to be short-term, patchy and inconsistent, with insufficient predictability and scale to meet needs, support a more transformative and decisive journey, and ensure long term sustainability of PSEAH efforts.
A small multi-stakeholder group was set up early 2024 to explore this issue, with the aim to develop a system-wide understanding and mapping of PSEAH resourcing needs and challenges, and to provide recommendations to improve PSEAH resourcing. The group published on the CAPSEAH website a think piece setting out the challenge, evidence and potential recommendations for action to gather views and feedback.
PSEAH efforts now face additional challenges as the international system grapples with seismic geopolitical, funding and policy shifts that are further constraining resources and forcing difficult prioritisations. This event was an opportunity to take stock of these challenges and agree urgent, practical recommendations to protect, prioritise and streamline PSEAH work.
Forty stakeholders from the humanitarian, development, and peacekeeping sectors discussed the impact of the current ODA landscape on PSEAH resourcing, and looked at needs and challenges at global, country and organisational levels. Participants included the United Nations, donor governments, International Financial Institutions, non-governmental organisations, private sector, foundations, academia, victim/survivor representatives and independent experts. This paper outlines key points and proposed next steps.