Source · Select Committees · International Development Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 49
It is imperative that aid beneficiaries who become victims and survivors of sexual exploitation and...
Recommendation
It is imperative that aid beneficiaries who become victims and survivors of sexual exploitation and abuse have access to the support and services they need, and they are informed how to safely use them. The potential need to provide these services should be factored in from the start of programmes, including at the planning stage. The FCDO should include the cost of supporting victims and survivors in grants and contracts for running programmes that it funds. The UK should work in partnership with victims and survivors to deliver the support they need, engaging with community- based organisations in country, to provide services to victims and survivors and providing funding and training if these are requested by those organisations. The FCDO should place requirements on its implementing partners to ensure that victims and survivors have free and safe access to the support and services they need and this support is not conditional on following a formal complaints process.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government highlights its existing guidance during the Covid-19 period, which advises that gender-based violence and child protection support services should be considered a core part of humanitarian responses and that programme staff should consider supporting improved service provision for survivors.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
49
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
perpetrator is a staff member or part of the delivery chain. Survivor support is complex and the existence of response services are often dependent on government provision or humanitarian emergency response. In fragile and conflict affected areas such provision is often inadequate or absent and beyond the power of implementing partners to fix in any meaningful way. The FCDO will consider any related requests for funding on a case by case basis as part of usual grant and contract management processes. In some very fragile and conflict-affected areas it may not be possible to ensure access to all the support and services that a victim or survivor request. Increasing the supply of such services in any given location will require coordinated action across multiple local, national and international partners which does not lend itself to including a requirement on individual partners through funding agreements. The FCDO continues to advocate for a sector-wide increase in support available to survivors globally, for example through the UN and other mechanisms. We will continue to work in partnership with victims and survivors and community-based organisations. Overall we partially agree with the recommendation.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗