Ukraine Sets a World Precedent: Moving forward on holistic care and urgent interim reparation for survivors of CRSV

PRESS RELEASE

The Hague, 2 November 2022

The Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation (MF) and the Global Survivors Fund (GSF) visited Kyiv between October 24 – 28, 2022, at the invitation of the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy, under the leadership of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine Olha Stefanishyna. The visit took place to further the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in July 2022, between these organisations and the Office of the Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy.

Experts from Panzi Hospital DRC, The Mukwege Foundation, and Global Reparations Fund meet with government officials in Ukraine.

The aim of the visit was to discuss the roadmap for the enactment of the Urgent Interim Reparation Programme, and Holistic Care for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) as envisaged in the Memorandum of Understanding.

Meetings were held with the Deputy Vice Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and the Office of the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy, as well as the Ministry of Social Policy and the National Social Services Agency, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition, representatives of civil society organizations in the field of preventing and combating CRSV and gender-based violence, as well as a representative of the SEMA network, a global network of victims and survivors of CRSV, were consulted.

MF and GSF commend the commitment expressed by the various Ukrainian State authorities to take the necessary steps to ensure that the right to reparation and holistic care for survivors of CRSV are fulfilled in a timely, adequate and effective manner. By upholding this right to reparation and providing holistic care during an on-going occupation, Ukraine is setting a world precedent.

MF and GSF welcomed the consensus expressed by the State to move the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding forward ensuring that the process is truly survivor-centred.

About the Mukwege Foundation

The Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation supports survivors’ demands for a world where sexual violence as a weapon of war is no longer tolerated, and bears consequences for individual perpetrators and states. We work for a future where survivors receive the holistic care & compensation they need to rebuild their lives. We create opportunities for survivors to speak out and be heard, and where they can organise to create change, influence policies, and demand justice and accountability.

About the Global Survivors Fund

The Global Survivors Fund (“GSF”) was launched in October 2019 by Dr Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize laureates 2018. Its mission is to enhance access to reparations for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence around the globe, thus responding to a gap long identified by survivors. GSF acts to provide interim reparative measures in situations where states or other parties are unable or unwilling to meet their responsibilities. GSF advocates for duty bearers as well as the international community to develop reparations programmes, and guides states and civil society by providing expertise and technical support for designing reparations programmes. GSF’s survivor-centric approach is the cornerstone of its work.

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