The guide summarizes an assessment of War Child Canada’s three-pronged legal protection model was implemented with South Sudanese refugees in Northern Uganda and uses it to identify the most important lessons for ensuring legal protection mechanisms are in place at the onset of an emergency. It is meant to help build the evidence base on what may be a replicable model, or set of practices, for survivor-centered SGBV legal protection services in emergency settings; expand understanding of positive practices and lessons learned; and help humanitarian actors gain the competencies needed to uphold their SGBV responsibilities.

Marriage under the age of 18 is widely considered a human rights violation, though it is legal with parental consent in many countries. It falls within the definition of genderbased violence.Married girls are at risk of intimate partner violence and exposure to sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Marriage often means the end of a girl’s education and limits her vocational opportunities. Ninety percent of early first births happen within the context of child marriage and complications during pregnancy and delivery are the second leading cause of death among 15- to 19-year-olds. Nine of the top 10 countries with the highest rates of child marriage are considered fragile states. Similarly, many countries particularly vulnerable to natural disasters have the highest child marriage prevalence. Fragility and conflict impact child-marriage decisions. However, the role they play is complex and not fully understood. The need to protect girls from rape, as well as the stigma of surviving rape; from pregnancy outside marriage; and from the influence of other communities are factors that lead to child marriage. Poverty, exacerbated in displacement, is a driver of early marriage as parents hope to secure a daughter’s future or to meet basic needs. Child marriage is both exacerbated by barriers to education and an impediment to school for the girls. Additionally, marriage isolates adolescent girls from friends and programs that would help them overcome the challenges of marriage.

Commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of children is considered by ILO as one of the worst forms of child labour which requires immediate and definitive action from governments. It is a violation of the fundamental human rights of the most vulnerable in our society, our children, and an outrage that must be condemned in the strongest manner, it must also galvanize us into action. ILO research in the Pacific has shown that these issues are present in our communities and a collective effort is required in the fight against this. The “Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Children in a Nutshell” is a resource designed to enhance the knowledge base on sexual exploitation and trafficking in the Pacific. It clarifies the worst forms of child labour concepts and relevant ILO and UN Conventions that deal with these issues and highlights the risk and vulnerability factors that we must guard against to protect our children.

Migrants from the Horn of Africa continue to travel along the southern route towards South Africa and almost all of them use smugglers to get to their final destination. This RMMS briefing paper provides an update on the volume, trends and dynamics of mixed migration and migrant smuggling along this route. It offers new estimates on the volume of migration and the value of the illicit migrant smuggling economy from Ethiopia and Somalia to southern Africa and highlights many of the protection issues migrants and refugees face while being smuggled south. The research draws upon data from the RMMS Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism initiative (4Mi), through which field monitors conducted 398 interviews in South Africa, as well as additional interviews in southern Africa and secondary research.

Post Disaster Needs Assessments (PDNAs) are jointly undertaken by the UNDG, the World Bank and the European Commission at the request of national governments in crisis affected countries. In the aftermath of a disaster, a PDNA is conducted to value the physical damages and change in economic flows and to identify recovery and reconstruction needs. These findings are integrated into a single assessment report. As a member of the UNDG, the ILO has developed the PDNA Vol B guidelines for the ‘Employment, Livelihoods and Social Protection’ (ELSP) Sector to outline how to assess and estimate the effects and impact of disasters on ELSP and to provide recommendations for reactivating economic activities and employment for livelihoods recovery. Although ELSP are treated as a single topic in this chapter, the ELSP methodology is “cross-cutting” and includes data and assessment results from the infrastructure, social and productive sectors of the PDNA. The ELSP guidelines are globally applied, most recently in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia after the 2014 Balkan floods, in Malawi after the 2015 Southern Africa Floods, in Vanuatu after the 2015 Tropical Cyclone Pam and in Nepal after the 2015 Himalayan Earthquakes.

Heavy seasonal rainfall starting in December 2014 caused flooding across Malawi, Mozambique, Madagascar and Zimbabwe. In Malawi, the floods caused extensive damage to crops, livestock and infrastructure. The southern districts of Nsanje, Chikwawa, Phalombe and Zomba were the most affected. In response, the President of the Republic of Malawi declared a State of Disaster in 15 out of 28 affected districts on 13 January 2015. As of 11 March more than 106 have been reported dead, 172 are still missing and 230,000 people remain displaced. Following a request from the Malawian government, the PDNA tripartite partners, (UN, EU and WB) deployed a team of national and international experts to support government officials in assessing the floods’ impact and to identify actions and resources needed for recovery.Based upon the ILO’s Employment and Livelihoods assessment, it is estimated that out of 359,000 household enterprises, 15,000 have been destroyed and 19,000 damaged, resulting in 4 million work days. An additional income loss of 8 million USD is expected as a result of permanently or temporarily disrupted business operations.

This training material was developed in the framework of the project Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings - Phase 1 (THB/IFS/1), which was funded by the European Union under its Instrument for Stability with the aim to fight organised crime and trafficking in human beings (THB) in Azebaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and Turkey. The project was implemented in the period January 2013 to September 2014 by ICMPD (International Centre for Migration Policy Develpment) in partnership with FIIAPP (Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas) and EF (Expertise France) and focused on the enhancement of national, regional and trans-regional law enforcement cooperation.

Violence in Syria has been driving children, women and men from their homes for almost five years. ICMPD’s new research study looks at the vulnerability of displaced Syrian people to trafficking in persons. The research found that people are often trafficked or exploited because they are not able to meet their basic needs. This is exacerbated by complications in relation to legal residence status in host countries and legal authorisation to work. While some trafficking is committed by highly organised criminal networks, the most common type of exploitation is at a lower level, involving fathers, mothers, husbands, extended family, acquaintances and neighbours. The context of general vulnerability means that there are often factors that leave families with no viable alternative for survival other than situations that could be defined as exploitation and trafficking in national and international law. We therefore need a paradigm shift in how trafficking, refugee, migration and child protection policy are viewed in terms of access to protection. While policy-makers and practitioners might see themselves as working in distinct fields, on specific topics, the human beings in need of protection do not always fall under one single, clear-cut category. We must concentrate efforts to provide access to basic needs and safety for people displaced from and within Syria.

This document explains why there is an elevated risk of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, who is likely to be most affected and what operational approaches can be adopted to prevent, mitigate or respond to SGBV by Movement actors. The guidance also includes diplomatic messages to support decision-makers in preventing and responding to SGBV and brief guidance on how to ensure staff and volunteers are protected in their SGBV prevention and response efforts.

This guidance presents Red Cross and Red Crescent staff, members and volunteers with a set of minimum standards for protection, gender and inclusion (PGI) in emergencies. It aims to ensure that the emergency programming of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and National Societies provides dignity, access, participation and safety for all people affected by disasters and crises. It provides practical guidance on how to mainstream these four principles in all sectors, based on a consideration of gender, age, disability and other diversity factors. This includes limiting people’s exposure to the risks of violence and abuse and ensuring that emergency programmes “do no harm”. The standards address protection, gender and inclusion concerns by providing practical ways to engage with all members of the community, respond to their differing needs and draw on their capacities in the most non-discriminatory and effective way. This helps to ensure that local perspectives guide assistance delivery. The standards also support incorporation of the seven Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (hereinafter referred to as “the Movement”).