Suai, Covalima – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched the Tetun version of the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Pocket Guide during the celebrations of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction in Suai, Covalima. 

The GBV Pocket Guide was developed in 2018 by a joint Working Group comprised of international gender-based violence experts and is currently available in 26 languages. The Pocket Guide provides an easy reference for non-GBV specialists on how to support survivors of gender-based violence using the ‘do not harm’ approach.   
 
“We translated the GBV Pocket Guide into Tetun because we thought it could be a very useful resource for Timor-Leste” said Ihma Shareef, Chief of Mission of IOM Timor-Leste, during the launch. “During an emergency, it is critical, as frontline workers, to be able to adequately support GBV survivors, as GBV specialized services might be more difficult to access or not available in the affected area. The dignity and rights of GBV survivors are our primary concerns. It is time for all the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) actors to consider GBV and protection issues as cross-cutting priorities during an emergency response, to make sure that women, girls and vulnerable people feel safer and included”. 

Based on global standards and the Psychological First Aid framework, the Pocket Guide includes an easy-to-read flowchart, a quick reference of the do’s and don’ts and a step-by-step list of actions. The Tetun version of the Pocket Guide will be used to train first responders on how to safely deal with the disclosure of GBV incidents at evacuation centres or elsewhere during emergency response. 

The translation was made possible thanks to the funding from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in the framework of the “Together for Equality” project implemented by UN Women, UNDP, UNFPA and IOM. 
 

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For more information, please contact: Ihma Shareef at IOM Timor-Leste, Tel: +670 3313038, Email: ishareef@iom.int