Joint Programme Seeking Care, Support and Justice for Survivors of Conflict Related Sexual Violence 

ObjectivesFund scope

Aligned with government frameworks and national UN strategies, the CSRV Joint Programme in Bosnia and Herzegovina, sought to make a lasting impact across the three pillars of empowering individuals and improving the quality of their lives through access to public services aimed at alleviating their trauma and suffering, and the strategic capacity building of public service providers in providing support to survivors.

Programme outputs included the provision of:

• Output 1: Comprehensive care and support services, in accordance with UN and European standards, to CRSV survivors through evidence-based targeted interventions.
• Output 2: Access to justice and reparations, and efforts made to combat impunity for CRSV at all levels.
• Output 3: Outreach and advocacy programmes developed in co-operation with all relevant stakeholders to combat stigmatization, and ensure equality of social reintegration.

Stakeholders leveraged their areas of expertise to collaborate on high-level and local advocacy for inclusive, non-discriminatory policies and public attitudes towards CRSV survivors. Furthermore, local community youth leaders were mobilized to champion projects that sought to alleviate the stigmatization and societal exclusion of survivors. 

Projects

Joint Programme Seeking Care, Support and Justice for Survivors of Conflict Related Sexual Violence

Joint Programme Seeking Care, Support and Justice for Survivors of Conflict Related Sexual Violence is currently supporting count_projects ongoing projectscount_globalInterregional and count_countries country-specific. This table shows the most recently approved ongoing projects.

All project financial information can be found in the Financials section, including delivery analysis by organization, theme and project; project financial status by country and by theme.

Joint Programme Seeking Care, Support and Justice for Survivors of Conflict Related Sexual Violence

Results

Survivors were empowered improve the quality of their lives through economic means. Support to local survivor associations and their leaders resulted in several individuals taking leadership roles in their communities, helping smaller associations become more vocal in representing association members before government authorities. In 2017, more than 200 survivors received information on new application procedures foreseen by the draft law on Protection of Victims of War Torture.

In addition, survivors’ associations received training on advocacy and communication to strengthen their capacity to monitor the implementation of recent legislative changes and effectively voice members concerns. In support of the health, psychosocial, and legal sectors, resource packages and training programs were developed for care staff, putting the basis for education of free legal aid or accessible psychosocial care in the hands of local communities.

The launch of stigma alleviation plans

Localized stigma alleviation plans (SAPs) integrated global principles for ‘Tackling the Stigma of Sexual Violence in Conflict’. Officially launched at a conference on Stigmatization of Survivors of Conflict-related Sexual Violence in October 2017, the SAP was adopted in the municipalities of Bijeljina, Gorazde and Sanski where young community leaders and activists were engaged in traditional and digital public awareness campaigns to mobilize government and religious leaders support. Campaigns served to raise the awareness of local first-line responders on the issue, and local activities involved youth, clergy members from the Islamic, Catholic and Orthodox Christian faiths, civil society, women’s groups and associations, civil servants, and politicians. Close to 350 people participated in advocacy activities that were designed to alleviate stigmatization in pilot communities.

CSRV declaration

In June 2017, leaders from Orthodox, Islamic, Jewish, and Catholic communities signed a landmark declaration denouncing the stigmatization of female and male survivors of sexual violence in war. They called for local religious leaders to actively fight social exclusion and condemnation of survivors of sexual violence; a breakthrough lauded nationally and internationally as the signing of the declaration paved the way for more intensive work with religious communities.

ContactsPoints of contact