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| UN SRSG Zainab Hawa Bangura and her entourage [PHOTO: UNifeed] |
Mogadishu, Somalia: The United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General
on Sexual Violence in Conflict (SRSG), Zainab Hawa Bangura, has visited
Mogadishu (2-3 April), Somalia's capital, to raise awareness and discuss ways
of addressing sexual violence in the country.
SRSG Bangura met with UN officials, civil society partners
and a range of stakeholders to listen and learn about the challenges faced in
tackling sexual violence.
SRSG Bangura's first trip to Somalia also included a visit
to the Tarabunka IDP (internally displaced people) Camp - the biggest in the capital.
She also visited a health centre where victims of sexual
violence are given free medical treatment and taught vocational skills like
hena design - a highly sought-after traditional dyeing technique used by women
to decorate their bodies on special occasions.
SRSG Bangura said the focus of this first visit was on
information gathering to help inform future conversations with the government.
SRSG Bangura said: "My visit is to gain first-hand
knowledge, to listen, to hear the content of what is happening in relation to
sexual violence, to be able to know what and where are the gaps, and what can
we do to be able to work with the government and the national stakeholders on
the ground to address this problem of sexual violence."
The UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict
also praised Somali journalists covering the subject at a press briefing in
Mogadishu on Wednesday (April 3),
SRSG Bangura said a team of experts from her office would be
deployed to Somalia in July 2013 to work alongside the Police Commissioner and
the military to carry out a needs assessment for training and prosecution, and
would provide assistance as requested.