Through the Conflict Pool and its successor, the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund, the United Kingdom has provided over £8 million in funding to projects related to the training of Syrians to collect evidence of human rights violations and abuses. This includes the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, capacity building for doctors in producing evidence of torture and rape, enabling survivors to find access to psychosocial support networks, expanding local networks of Syrian human rights defenders, and support for justice and accountability.<\/p>
The Department for International Development is also providing up to £25 million from 2015 to 2018 to UN Population Fund (UNFPA) to strengthen the prevention of - and response to \u2013 gender based violence (GBV), and provide sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services for women and girls. The project aims to ensure that survivors of GBV receive the vital medical, psychosocial, and security services they need. It establishes safe spaces for women and girls across Syria as well as supports hospitals and mobile health units to deliver vital SRH services. In addition, UNFPA coordinates the wider GBV response in Syria at the national and regional level.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4210", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-04-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-04-12T14:40:58.373Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-03-28", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Syria: Sexual Offences"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to provide (1) expertise to assist in the preservation and documentation of evidence relating to sexual violence in the Syrian conflict, and (2) funding for psychological support programmes for survivors of sexual violence, as recommended by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic in its report published on 11 March.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4331", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Helic"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Baroness Helic"} ], "uin" : "HL6760"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/421072", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/421072/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "We are extremely concerned by the high levels of sexual violence in Syria and within Syrian refugee camps. The UN Commission of Inquiry report of September 2015 highlighted widespread sexual abuse carried out by the Syrian regime, ISIL and some armed opposition groups within Syria. Assad\u2019s forces and militia are responsible for the vast majority of sexual violence, which include threats, rape, degrading body searches and sexual harassment in prisons and branches of the security agencies. ISIL propaganda condones the barbaric treatment of male and female captives, sexual relations with adolescent girls and sexual slavery. Unfortunately, many of those who flee the conflict remain extremely vulnerable to sexual violence. Exploitation of vulnerable individuals within refugee camps was highlighted by the UN Equity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women report \u201cWe keep Silent\u201d issued in April 2014. The UK is providing £1 billion in humanitarian aid, which includes support to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to provide services for survivors of sexual violence and has so far reached over 27,000 women in Syria. We are also supporting case management in Jordan for over 800 survivors and cash assistance to vulnerable refugee women in Lebanon. The FCO has committed £5.2 million to projects preventing sexual violence in Syria. We are supporting projects to train health professionals and human rights defenders in collecting and preserving evidence of human rights abuses including sexual violence."} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1487", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bournemouth East"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Tobias Ellwood"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2015-10-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/421072/answer/previousversion/23902", "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1487", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Tobias Ellwood"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Bournemouth East"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr Tobias Ellwood"} } , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2015-10-19T14:08:51.757Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2015-10-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Syria: Sexual Offences"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the level of sexual violence (a) within Syria and (b) in camps for Syrian refugees.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4510", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Helen Hayes"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Dulwich and West Norwood"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Helen Hayes"} ], "uin" : "11597"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }