UNHCR Ethiopia: Integrated Gender-Based Violence & Accountability to Affected People (AAP), Assessment Report (September 2022)

Executive Summary

This document is composed of the results of an assessment on Ethiopia GBV programming with a specific focus on gaps and opportunities to strengthen compliance with the UNHCR Policy on the Prevention of, Risk Mitigation and Response to Gender-based Violence, Age, Gender and Diversity Policy, including Accountability to Affected People (AAP).

The specific objective of the Integrated GBV and AAP assessments was to:

• Understand and map the distinct GBV trends across the UNHCR operation sites.

• Assess and document quality and gaps in the multi-sectoral GBV response service provisions for survivors.

• Map and understand barriers to accessing GBV response services, risk mitigation and prevention interventions across the operation.

Data collection was conducted between March and June 2022 across seven refugee locations of the operation. 8,816 (48% Female, 49% male, and 3% choosing not to disclose) refugees participated in different parts of the process. The assessment was undertaken using the KoBo toolbox in all seven locations covering 20 camps and 1 site.

This assessment is the first of its kind in UNHCR Ethiopia’s operation in focusing on GBV at the scale the assessment undertook.

Accountability to Affected People (AAP)

The AGD Policy aims to reinforce UNHCR’s longstanding commitment to ensuring that people are at the center of all that we do. The policy consolidated and updated existing commitments to a strong AGD orientation, Accountability to Affected People (AAP), and commitments to women and girls. AAP is widely used in the humanitarian community to refer to the related commitments and mechanisms humanitarian agencies have in place to ensure that communities are meaningfully and continuously involved in decisions that directly impact their lives.1The AAP questions were developed based on the AAP Operational Guidance building blocks i.e., Participation and Inclusion, Communication and Transparency, and Feedback and Response. The findings of the assessment identified major barriers to refugees’ participation, most particularly barriers for women and girls’ participation. Furthermore, with the assessment, the operation is now able to identify the preferred communication channels and identify the most effective ways of gathering feedback from refugees. Furthermore, the assessment included findings from protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) questionnaires.

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees