As Members of the International Alliance on PSVI, we reaffirm our shared commitment to the prevention of, and victim and survivor-centred responses to, conflict-related sexual violence.

We recognise the efforts to prevent, address and eliminate all forms of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict, particularly against women, children, marginalised groups and those at greater risk. These are part of wider global efforts to achieve gender equality, advance the empowerment of all women and girls, uphold the human rights of all, and end impunity for conflict-related sexual violence.

We reaffirm respective obligations and commitments adopted through international instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (1979); The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989); the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) (1998); United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) (2000), and the nine subsequent WPS resolutions; PSVI Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict (2013), among others, as well as other relevant obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

We reaffirm the commitment to transparent and timely monitoring through progress reports for ratified treaties. We recognise the importance of strengthened international coordination to support improved monitoring and reporting of conflictrelated sexual violence.

We recognize that preventing, addressing and eliminating conflict-related sexual violence -in alignment with the commitments adopted in the WPS agenda- can only be fully achieved by addressing gender inequality and preventing armed conflict altogether, promoting peace as a culture and the non-violent inclusive resolution of disputes and building societies that advance respect for human rights, as well as human life, dignity, and equality.

We also recognize the disproportionate risks and impacts of conflict-related sexual violence faced by women, children and marginalized groups, are deeply rooted in inequalities such as those based on gender, race, social class, ethnicity, age, geographical location, disability, religion, gender identity and sexual orientation.

We acknowledge the importance of establishing and strengthening legislative and regulatory frameworks to end impunity and hold perpetrators of conflict-related sexual violence accountable and support victims and survivors’ rights to access truth, justice, holistic redress, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition in accordance with the Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law.

We recognise that the rights, needs, dignity, safety, and wellbeing of victims and survivors must remain at the heart of our approach. We underscore the importance of appropriate and accessible services, including comprehensive healthcare, psychosocial care, livelihood and economic support, legal aid and reparation, to foster and ensure the rehabilitation and reintegration of victims and survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, including children born from conflict-related sexual violence, to help them rebuild their lives.

We underline the crucial importance of trauma-responsive, victim and survivorcentred and human rights approaches, and gender mainstreaming in all measures aimed at eliminating and responding to conflict-related sexual violence.

We commend efforts to ensure victims’ and survivors’ full, equal, meaningful, safe participation and leadership in all stages of decision-making that affects them, including peacebuilding as both a matter of justice and a guarantee of more robust and lasting peace arrangements. We are dedicated to ensuring meaningful survivor participation when designing government policies and programs. We recognize the importance of supporting survivor-led initiatives and networks.

We pledge to do more to prevent, judicialize, prosecute, address and eliminate conflict-related sexual violence, end existing impunity, to hold perpetrators accountable, and to promote victim and survivor-centred approaches and reparation, including through:

• actively exchanging best practices and lessons learned by victims and survivors including those provided by practitioners and service providers, and governments
• strengthening incorporation of trauma-responsive, victim and survivor-centred approaches and fundamental guiding principles into policies and programming
• ensuring policies and programs guarantee and are designed with victims and survivors full, equal, meaningful and safe participation and input at all stages, and leadership in all levels of decision-making processes without stigma or discrimination
• coordinating group positions on conflict-related sexual violence in diverse multilateral fora as appropriate

This declaration does not constitute an instrument that binds the State members of the Alliance under international or national law. Therefore, its statements will not be interpreted or implemented in a way to create obligations for them.

These members of the International Alliance on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict (PSVI) have endorsed this statement:

State members:

• Australia
• Colombia
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• France
• Japan
• Luxembourg
• Republic of Korea
• Spain
• Switzerland
• Ukraine
• United Kingdom
• United States of America

Non-state members:

• Global Survivors Fund
• Justice Rapid Response
• Legal Action Worldwide
• Mukwege Foundation
• PSVI Survivor Advisory Group
• Sisma Mujer
• UN Women