Best Practice Guide Inter-Agency Community-Based Complaint Mechanisms Protection against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Inter-Agency IASC Standing Committee IOM OIM The opinions expressed in the report are those of the authors and do not necessarily refl ect the views of the Internati onal Organizati on for Migrati on (IOM). The designati ons employed and the presentati on of material throughout the report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IOM concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authoriti es, or concerning its fronti ers or boundaries. IOM is committ ed to the principle that humane and orderly migrati on benefi ts migrants and society. 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Box 17 1211 Geneva 19 Switzerland Tel.: +41.22.717 91 11 Fax: +41.22.798 61 50 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.iom.int Word-Cloud: The front cover of this Best Practi ce Guide features a cloud of words associated with CBCMs. During the Best Practi ces Workshop conducted in Kigali for the IASC’s PSEA CBCM Pilot Project (2–6 November 2015), parti cipants were asked to name a word or phrase that symbolizes a CBCM to them. The results were compiled to form the word-cloud, where the size of a word or phrase corresponds to the number of individuals who listed that term. © 2016 Inter-Agency Standing Committ ee (IASC) The CBCM Best Practi ce Guide is based on the lessons learned from an IASC pilot project to establish inter-agency complaint mechanisms, and was produced in coordinati on with the project’s Global Steering Committ ee members: Internati onal Medical Corps (IMC), Internati onal Rescue Committ ee (IRC), Save the Children, UNICEF, UNHCR and the Co-chair and Coordinator for the IASC Task Team on Accountability to Aff ected Populati ons and PSEA. This guide is provided by the Inter-Agency Standing Committ ee for general distributi on. All rights are reserved. Reproducti on is authorized, except for commercial purposes provided that IASC is acknowledged. Suggested citati on: Inter-Agency Standing Committ eeInter-Agency PSEA-CBCM Best Practi ce Guide (2016). 03_16 i FOREWORD Sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarian workers and other actors engaged in assisting the most vulnerable populations directly contradicts the principles upon which humanitarian action is based. Sexual exploitation and abuse inflicts indelible harm on the very people seeking protection from armed conflict and natural disasters. Despite humanitarian principles and commitments to counter these abhorrent acts, instances of abuses committed by aid workers have occurred. As such, much high-level attention has been directed at effectively fighting sexual exploitation and abuse over the past decade, and the international humanitarian community has been actively engaged in efforts to eradicate it. These include initiatives to establish clear guidelines and global standard operating procedures to strengthen responses to sexual exploitation and abuse allegations, by individual organizations and collectively. This Community-Based Complaint Mechanism Best Practice Guide is a compilation of lessons learned from an Inter-Agency Standing Committee pilot project, coordinated by the International Organization for Migration on behalf of the Committee and carried out by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Save the Children in Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project was a key objective of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Team on Accountability to Affected Populations and Protection from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation in 2014-15, and the resulting tools were endorsed by the Committee Principals in June 2016. This Guide demonstrates a significant step forward in strengthening systems at the field-level for protection against sexual exploitation and abuse. It provides instructions on how to set up and run an inter- agency community-based complaint mechanism to handle reports of abuse by humanitarian aid workers and to provide victim assistance. Building on the substance of international commitments, as well as lessons learned from previous research and complaint mechanisms in various countries, the Guide aims to turn high-level commitment into useful instruction. Experience has shown that the community- based complaint mechanism is a vital and effective component of a comprehensive response to sexual exploitation and abuse in an emergency operation. Humanitarian organizations, coordinators, country teams, clusters and donors – all have a responsibility to report sexual exploitation and abuse incidents and to mainstream protection measures into every aspect of humanitarian assistance programming. In the words of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “We must all be resolved to create a United Nations that lives up to the public’s trust and that combats any form of sexual exploitation of abuse. We must model a spirit of respect, dignity, equality and other universal ideas that we hope to instill in society.” In keeping with the core responsibilities outlined in the Secretary-General’s Agenda for Humanity launched at the World Humanitarian Summit, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Principals have affirmed their international commitment to actively respond to incidents of sexual exploitation and abuse and achieve a true system of collective accountability necessary to eradicate this wrongdoing. ii Foreword Together, we can help the communities, families and individuals we serve to be stronger and safer. Stephen O’Brien William Lacy Swing Under-Secretary-General Director General for Humanitarian Affairs and International Organization for Migration Emergency Relief Coordinator and IASC Champion on PSEA Filippo Grandi Helle Thorning-Schmidt United Nations High Commissioner Chief Executive Officer for Refugees Save the Children International iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Best Practice Guide was a collective endeavor of many agencies and individuals. The Guide is based on the lessons learned from an IASC pilot project to establish inter- agency complaint mechanisms in order to compile best practices and address a gap in the collective response to prevent and address sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative was spearheaded by the IASC Task Force on PSEA1, and supported by the IASC Principals and Working Group. The Principals’ endorsement of this Guide will help promote the good practices found within and contribute towards ensuring that inter-agency complaint mechanisms are systematically developed in all humanitarian response operations. Large thanks are due to the Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Ambassador William Lacy Swing. He has been a staunch advocate of inter-agency collaboration in his role as the IASC Champion on PSEA since 2011. Particular gratitude is extended to Mr. Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, and Ms. Valerie Amos, former Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, under whose leadership the PSEA pilot project was carried out. The main contributing authors of this Guide were Alexandra Hileman (IOM) and Tristan Burnett (IOM), the project’s Global Coordinator. Significant appreciation is extended to Mohammed Abdiker, Director of IOM’s Department of Operations and Emergencies for his continued support throughout the duration of the project, and the pilot’s Global Steering Committee members International Medical Corps (IMC), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Save the Children, UNICEF, UNHCR, and the Co-chair and Coordinator for the IASC Task Team on Accountability to Affected Populations and PSEA, who provided guidance and oversight throughout the life-span of the project and who reviewed the Guide. Particular thanks goes to the CBCM member agencies in Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, especially the programme managers in Dollo Ado, Restituta Cang (UNHCR), Eric Dentor (IMC) and Rocky Oyoo (IMC); and in North Kivu, Anita Exantus (Save the Children). Substantial contributions and support were provided by the IASC Task Team Coordinator, Astrid De Valon, who facilitated the Best Practices Workshop in Kigali, Rwanda in November 2015, by the IASC Secretariat, particularly Christelle Loupforest, and by the IOM Special Liaison Office in New York, especially Lea Matheson. Special gratitude is extended to the IOM Publications Department for its outstanding assistance on the design and editing, notably Valerie Hagger and Mae Angeline Delgado. Finally, a note of thanks is extended to all individuals who devoted substantial time and effort to design the pilot project, especially David Derthick (IOM) and Manisha Thomas. The pilot project was made possible through the generous financial