20 October 2016
World Bank Launches Gender-Based Violence Task Force
Photo by IISD/ENB
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The World Bank launched a Global Gender-Based Violence Task Force to strengthen its response to issues involving sexual exploitation and abuse.

The Task Force will be chaired by Geeta Rao Gupta, former Deputy Executive Director at UNICEF and former President of the International Center for Research on Women, and Katherine Sierra, former Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank.

13 October 2016: The World Bank launched a Global Gender-Based Violence Task Force to strengthen its response to issues involving sexual exploitation and abuse. According to the Bank, the Task Force is part of efforts to learn from the failings of the Uganda Transport Sector Development Project, which involved allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse by contractors.

Stressing the Bank’s zero tolerance for gender-based violence, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim noted that large infrastructure projects, which involve a substantial influx of workers into a community, can expose women and girls to risks of sexual exploitation and abuse, unless adequate measures are taken to prevent and address such risks. He explained that the Task Force will advise him and his management team on specific measures that can bolster World Bank’s work on addressing these issues.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim noted that large infrastructure projects, which involve a substantial influx of workers into a community, can expose women and girls to risks of sexual exploitation and abuse, unless adequate measures are taken to prevent and address such risks.

The Task Force will be comprised primarily of outside experts on gender-based violence, chaired by Geeta Rao Gupta, former Deputy Executive Director at UNICEF and former President of the International Center for Research on Women, and Katherine Sierra, former Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank. The experts also will include members from UN agencies, academia, NGOs, foundations and government.

The Task Force is intended to build on existing World Bank and other work to tackle violence against women and girls, advising on approaches to identifying threats, and applying lessons in World Bank projects to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation and abuse. Over a nine-month time frame, the Task Force is tasked with: developing a set of actionable recommendations for the President and the Bank’s management on ways to strengthen prevention, design, reporting and supervision interventions in World Bank’s operations, including infrastructure construction such as roads, energy, water and sanitation, slum upgrading and resettlement; and identifying effective ways for the Bank to increase coordination with multiple stakeholders locally, nationally and internationally, to prevent and respond to gender-based violence.

Based on the Task Force’s recommendations, World Bank staff will prepare an action plan to strengthen its work in the area. [World Bank Press Release]

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