Regional Consultation on Compensation and Protection 9-10 July 2008

The meeting objectives were to come to a shared understanding on compensation and protection by CSos working on SGBV, to develop a CSO stakeholder position on the question of compensation and protection for SGBV survivors based on organisational and national processes and conduct a mapping of actors, institutions and processes relevant to influencing regional bodies towards compensation and protection.

This was seen as an opportunity to consolidate regional voices from various actors, all of whom would not be represented at the conference. These positions would feed into the outcomes at the conference on SGBV. This consultation brought together practitioners from Burundi, kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda, as well as Area programme staff and partners from Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda.

It was an opportunity to engage civil society organisations working on these issues through various strands on ways to harmonize an advocacy agenda at a national and regional level. ACORD specifically sought to prepare recommendations and proposals on compensation and protection for survivors of SGBV especially in post-conflict settings. It was noted that various regimes, both national and international have provided for compensation of survivors of SGBV including The Convention against Torture and All Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Tretament or Punishment and Article 75 of the statute of the ICC.

The issue of compensation is quite contentious, as in actuality the situation prior to violence cannot be recreated for the survivors. Many government schemes have attempted to provide compensation. For example, the Reconstruction and Development Program in South Africa which provided housing, school fees, public assistance and memorials. This program eventually failed and little justice was actually received. While there was a focus on repatriating the perpetrators and reconciling the police, there was little focus on reintegrating the survivors into society.

It is clear that governments have failed to address the needs of survivors around the issues of compensation and protection. it is now the responsibility of the CSOs that work with survivors to set some minimum standards related to compensation and protection of survivors of post-conflict. The meeting emerged with lowest common denominators with regard to the question of compensation and protection of survivors of SGBV which were central to the action points that emerged from the Nairobi conference.

Click here to download a copy of the Lowest Common Denominators.