REPORT: South Sudan: Investigating Sexual Violence in Conflict Proves Challenging
In 2009/10, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolutions 1888 and 1960 establishing Women's Protection Advisors (WPAs). These officials are tasked with building capacity to address conflict-related sexual violence UN within peacekeeping missions and reporting incidents for the monitoring and reporting arrangements as a basis for Security Council action against perpetrators. Today, six WPAs are assigned to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. The rollout of WPAs in that country has been marked by recruitment delays and training gaps which have ultimately led to poor practice in data collection, endangering sexual violence survivors. While Refugees International welcomes the initiative to address conflict-related sexual violence within peacekeeping missions, immediate measures must be taken to ensure that WPAs use an approach centered on the wellbeing of the survivor, following internationally recognized guidelines on safe and ethical researching, documenting, and monitoring of sexual violence in emergencies.