We invite you to join us for a breakfast seminar with Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. SRSG Patten will address the issue of how to turn commitments into action.
The Special Representative serves as the United Nations’ spokesperson and political advocate on conflict-related sexual violence. She chairs the now 24-member UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict and her work is supported by the UN Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict. The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict was established by Security Council resolution 1888 (2009), one in a series of resolutions, including 1960 (2010), 2106 (2013) and 2467 (2019), which recognized the detrimental impact that sexual violence in conflict has on communities and acknowledged that this crime undermines efforts to ensure peace and security and rebuild societies once conflict has ended.
In this seminar, SRSG Patten will focus on the many challenges we face in implementing UN Security Council resolution addressing prevention and response measures. SRSG Patten will pay particular attention to the importance of survivor-centred approaches, provision of multisectoral services to victims and efforts to reinforce accountability for crimes of sexual violence in conflict. Survivor-centred approaches include the provision of services to women and girls who become pregnant as a result of sexual violence in conflict and children born of such violence. Overall, SRSG Patten will discuss challenges and opportunities in the work of translating commitments made by UN Member States into compliance, and the work of ensuring that resolutions of the Security Council make a difference in the lives of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and in preventing these crimes from occurring in the first instance.
PRIO’s Deputy Director and Director of the PRIO Centre on Gender, Peace and Security, Torunn L. Tryggestad, will welcome and chair the seminar.
Keynote speaker
Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict
SRSG Patten's keynote will be followed by three brief expert interventions:
Gudrun Østby, Research Professor, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), will present "Children at risk of sexual violence by armed actors and armed groups - where are they and how many are they?"
Inger Skjelsbæk, Research Professor, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), will present "Children born of war, a hidden victim group?"
Signe Gilen, Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A light breakfast will be served from 8:30am.
