Webinar: Accountability for Women and Girls in Humanitarian Situations

The Center for Reproductive Rights, along with several international partners, will host a virtual side event to the 49th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, titled “Centering Their Voices: Accountability for Women and Girls in Humanitarian Situations.” The event is open to the public and will be held on March 8, 2022 at 4:30pm CET/10:30am EST.

Featuring international human rights experts, the webinar will foster conversation to advance accountability around the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of women and girls in humanitarian settings, covering topics including global development, on-the-ground operations and implementation of programs, and supporting women and girls’ human rights defenders in these situations.

Speakers include:

• H.E. Ambassador Sofia Calltorp, Swedish Ambassador for Gender Equality and Coordinator of the Feminist Foreign Policy
• Catherine Godin, Director General, Office of Human Rights, Freedoms and Inclusion, Global Affairs Canada
• Georgina Mendoza Solorio, OIC Women’s Rights and Gender Section, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• Dr. Anne Kihara, President-Elect, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO)
• Wezzie Kamphale, Programme Manager, Plan International Malawi
• Christina Zampas, Associate Director for Global Advocacy, Center for Reproductive Rights, Geneva
• Moderator: Paola Salwan Daher, Senior Global Advocacy Advisor, Center for Reproductive Rights, Geneva

The event is being hosted by the Center alongside the Permanent Missions of Canada, Fiji, Sweden, Uruguay and Norway; the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); the Global Protection Cluster Human Rights Engagement Task Team; the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW); the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies; the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO); the International Planned Parenthood Federation; Plan International; and the Sexual Rights Initiative.

Event Details

• What: “Centering Their Voices: Accountability for Women and Girls in Humanitarian Settings”
• When: March 8, 2022 @ 4:30pm CET / 10:30am EST
• Where: Online virtual
• Accessibility: Interpretation and closed captioning will be provided.
• Register for the virtual event here. Interpretation and closed captioning will be provided.

Click here to view and print the webinar invitation.

Barriers to Justice Faced by Women and Girls in Humanitarian Settings

Historically, women and girls in humanitarian settings face disproportionate barriers to justice when subject to human rights abuses and violations.

In October 2020, the Human Rights Council passed resolution 45/29 on “Promoting, protecting and respecting women’s and girls’ full enjoyment of human rights in humanitarian situations,” which:

• Highlighted the need for the Council to devote more attention to the disproportionate impact of humanitarian emergencies on the rights of women and girls, including events such as forced displacements, armed conflicts, and both sudden-onset and slow-onset natural disasters. 
• Recognized the difficulties they face in accessing justice and remedies for human rights violations and abuses they have experienced, which undermines accountability.
• Requested that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights submit to the 49th session of the Human Rights Council an analytical report on a comprehensive approach to promoting, protecting and respecting women’s and girls’ full enjoyment of human rights in humanitarian situations. The report was submitted on January 10, 2022.

In June 2021, the Center for Reproductive Rights released a technical paper titled “Accountability for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Humanitarian Settings,” which examined the role and relationship of international human rights law (IHRL), international humanitarian law (IHL), and international criminal law (ICL) on the full realization of SRHR in these settings.