The SGBV WG met regularly in May 2019 with a focus on youth and GBV, this included the presentation of the COMPACT- interagency guidelines for working with and for young people in humanitarian settings. In the reporting month the working group provided technical review of 12 submitted proposal to the OCHA managed humanitarian funding. In order to collect lessons learnt on inclusion of people with disabilities in GBV programming in this operation a taskforce met to develop briefing note. A second briefing session was offered on SGBV WG mobile data entry. The working group worked with sub national coordination in Mafraq to support the establishment of CMR services in the area. In Zaatari camp a multisectorial initiative brought together youth, protection and GBV actors and community volunteers to discuss solutions for street sexual harassment in the camp.

8,253 Burundian refugees have been assisted to voluntarily return so far in 2019, with some 1,801 assisted in March and 2,975 assisted in April.

UNHCR’s Regional Refugee Coordinator (RRC) for the Burundi situation, Ms. Catherine Wiesner carried out a mission to Burundi, on 24-26 April, 2019. The mission aimed at taking stock of the current situation of Burundian refugee returns. The RRC spoke with returnees that arrived at the newly opened Kinazi Transit Center in Muyinga. During her visit, the RRC highlighted the need for more support to strengthen the reintegration programming to create sustainable conditions for the returnees and communities in areas of return.

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency welcomes South Sudan’s ground-breaking accession to the 2009 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, also known as the Kampala Convention. The Kampala Convention is the first and only regional legally binding instrument for the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons, which incorporates the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

UNHCR evacuates hundreds of vulnerable refugees out of Libya to safety. Amid violent clashes and a deteriorating security situation in Tripoli, 149 vulnerable refugees and asylum-seekers were evacuated to safety in Rome on 30 May. Many of the evacuees need medical treatment and are suffering from malnourishment. The group was moved from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency’s Gathering and Departure Facility (GDF), after surviving months in dire conditions inside detention centres in other parts of the city. The evacuation was carried out in collaboration with Libyan and Italian authorities.

Over a quarter of a million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have now been jointly registered and provided with identity cards by the Bangladesh authorities and UNHCR.

In 2018, across the region, RRP partners achieved a number of tangible results for South Sudanese refugees, including: the provision of food assistance to 1.23 million people, assisted deliveries for 23,000 South Sudanese mothers, support and care provided to 100 per cent of identified survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and the provision of core relief items for 165,000 refugee families.

Despite considerable underfunding, RRRP partners were able to support Burundian refugees in a number of key areas in 2018. Achievements include access to primary schooling for 43,695 Burundian refugee children (69 per cent), assisted deliveries for 96 per cent of pregnant Burundian women, provision of food assistance to all refugees in need of food and relatively low rates of global acute malnutrition among children six months to five years across the region.

For returns to Burundi to be sustainable, more investment in areas where refugees are returning is desperately needed. While UNHCR is not promoting refugee returns to Burundi at this point in time, UNHCR and partners are providing assistance to those who indicate they have made an informed choice to voluntarily repatriate.

The SGBV WG met regularly in April 2019 and endorsed the annual workplan. Moreover IRC presented a good practice on adolescent programming with their Girl Shine approach. A learning session was organized on the new application for referrals to ensure partners familiarize with it and provide information as needed. The GBV IMS taskforce met regularly and based on the results of assessment included a new member as data gathering organization. The SGBV WG participated to the launch of the Standard Operating Procedures for the prevention and response to Gender Based Violence,Family Violence and Child protection and the Clinical Management of Rape Protocol organized by NCFA under the patronage of the Prime Minister.