Protection of Syrian Refugees and Turkish Host Community: Launching a Joint Project on Prevention of Gender-Based Violence with UN Women

REALs (Reach Alternatives) provides trainings on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) for capacity building of four local organizations in Turkey under the joint project with UN Women.

In Turkey, which is a host country of approximately 3.6 million Syrian refugees, REALs has been supporting Syrian refugees since 2015. GBV is one of the most serious problems in not only the refugee communities but also Turkish host communities. Especially, due to the impact of self-restraint and unemployment caused by the spread of COVID-19, there have been reports of increased livelihood insecurity and psychological stress, domestic violence and child marriages.

In addition, gender-sensitive support is highly needed to support the people affected by the earthquakes and tsunami hit western Turkey on October 30, 2020. Capacity building of local organizations on GBV is necessary to support to promote self-resilience and stability of both the refugees and Turkish host communities.

In the project, REALs develops the training curricula and provides trainings focusing the following five topics: (1) causes of GBV, (2) international and national legal systems, (3) prevention of GBV and PSEAH (sexual exploitation, abuse, and sexual harassment), (4) Turkish government and local administration systems related to GBV, and (5) Introduction of gender perspectives in disaster response during natural disasters.

The project is scheduled to run until March 2021.