“For survivors, with survivors”: Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative Conference 2022
9th December 2022By:
Chrissy Hart Director of Policy & Advocacy; Regional Lead, Sub-Saharan Africa,
Together for Girls
Together for Girls and partners held a session highlighting the power of education to prevent conflict-related sexual violence.
“In a crisis, we lose a lot; we lose our loved ones, our identities, our security and sadly our dignity. But the worst thing one can lose is hope. Education gives hope, and that hope has saved me.”
Josephine Kamara, GPE youth leader & Feminist Activist, Purposeful, Sierra Leone
Ten years after the launch of the United Kingdom Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative (PSVI), the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO) hosted the second ever international PSVI conference in London from November 28-29, 2022.
The PSVI conference brought together nearly 1000 participants, including over 50 government ministers, other government representatives, experts, and survivors from around the world, with the shared mission of ending conflict-related sexual violence. It was an opportunity for the international community to listen to survivors, showcase progress, and most importantly, secure new global commitments to end sexual violence in conflict.
“This is an important historical moment to come together internationally, and continue to shape the support of the survivors, but also the children born into it,” said Lejla Damon at the conference. Lejla was born out of conflict-related sexual violence during the Balkan wars in the 1990s.
During the conference, Together for Girls and the Brave Movement, in collaboration with the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO), Safe to Learn, the Global Partnership for Education, and Education Cannot Wait, co-created a session focused on the crucial role of education in protecting children, supporting survivors, and preventing sexual violence in conflict.
“If global leaders were willing to be even a fraction as brave and committed as survivors are, then we could perhaps finally find a way to meet this crime with the response it deserves.”
Angelina Jolie, co-founder of PSVI
The power of education to prevent conflict-related sexual violence
The session, “The power of education to prevent conflict-related sexual violence,” featured remarks and discussion from government ministers, young leaders, and survivors of sexual violence outlining their solutions for preventing sexual violence in and through education, and building gender-responsive and transformative, as well as resilient, crisis-proof education systems.
Josephine Kamara, a survivor, Global Partnership for Education youth leader, feminist activist, and senior advocacy manager with Purposeful, facilitated a panel discussion with Hon. David Sengeh, Minister of Education for Sierra Leone; Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait; Suresh Chhetry, Brave Movement SAGE member and Executive Director of Healing Together Nepal; Nadine Tunasi, UK PSVI survivor champion; Sarah Amu, youth advocate for Education in Emergencies; and Alicia Herbert, OBE, Director of the Education, Gender and Equality Directorate (EdGE), at FCDO.
Suresh Chhetry, Brave Movement co-founder, spoke on the panel about the impact of survivors’ voices in formulating solutions. A survivor of childhood sexual violence, Suresh is a powerful global advocate for survivor-led solutions to childhood sexual violence and also leads Healing Together Nepal, an organization that empowers individuals and communities to disrupt cycles of trauma and harm.
“No one knows how to end childhood sexual violence more than survivors themselves,” Chhetry said.
The Minister of Education for Sierra Leone, Hon. David Sengeh spoke on the panel and called on all governments to sign the Freetown Manifesto, developed to build momentum for gender equality in and through education.
“When countries commit to investing in ending all forms of violence, that’s when we accelerate towards change,” Sengeh said.
Minister Sengeh shared his thoughts on the PSVI conference, his work to catalyze Sierra Leone’s leadership on ensuring children’s access to safe, inclusive, and gender-transformative education, and the urgency of more government and stakeholder commitments to the safe schools agenda.
During the conference, Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, Minister of State in the FCDO, announced his endorsement of the Manifesto, committing to transforming education systems, pedagogies, institutions, and mindsets for gender equality.
Global action and commitments for a safer future
During the PSVI conference, many countries agreed to take concrete action to end sexual violence in conflict. Commitments included:
- More than 50 countries signed a UK-led declaration to end sexual violence in conflict.
- Around 40 countries, including the UK, made national commitments outlining the steps they will take to tackle sexual violence in conflict.
- The United Kingdom announced a 3-year strategy to tackle sexual violence in conflict supported by £12.5 million in new funding.
- The United States issue a memorandum to promote accountability for conflict-related sexual violence and committed $10 million over 2 years to support civil society organisations to document sexual violence in conflict in line with the Murad Code.
Learn more and take action
- Watch the PSVI conference opening plenary and Day 2 session on “The power of education to prevent conflict-related sexual violence.”
- Learn about the role data and research play in ending violence in and through schools in an essay by Dr. Daniela Ligiero, CEO of Together for Girls.
- Take action by signing the Freetown Manifesto for Gender-Transformative Leadership in Education.
- Read Minister of Education of Sierra Leone, Hon. David Sengeh’s Safe to Learn blog.