UK pledges more support for victims of sexual violence in war
Foreign Secretary William Hague announces new funding to help expand work to help victims of sexual violence at the Global Summit.
UN Special Envoy Angelina Jolie and Foreign Secretary William Hague at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict. Picture: FCO
Britain will provide new assistance to help victims of sexual violence in developing countries rebuild their lives through a new commitment from the Department for International Development.
Announced by the Foreign Secretary at the opening of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, the new funding will help the UN and International Organisation of Migration to expand their work to help survivors.
Commenting on the commitment, International Development Secretary Justine Greening said:
Rape and sexual violence destroy the lives of countless women and their families. We know that girls who suffer violence are more likely to do badly at school, die during child birth or contract HIV.
We can put an end to this. Our major new contribution will help survivors rebuild their lives and prevent future attacks.
The Department for International Development will invest £5 million to prevent sexual violence and help survivors. This includes:
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£4.25 million contribution to the UN Trust Fund on violence against women. This will expand their work and existing support services to help survivors of sexual violence.
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£750,000 for a pilot with the International Organisation for Migration to speed up the referral of survivors of sexual violence in refugee camps across the developing world to people with the right skills and expertise to help them.
This new investment complements DFID’s existing programmes to address violence against women and girls in over 20 developing countries and substantial investment in research to understand how best to prevent violence against women and girls.