MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th November, 2022) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, warned on Friday of the increasing risk of gender-based violence for forcibly displaced women and girls amid the deteriorating socio-economic situation, ongoing conflicts, and cuts in humanitarian funding.
"A toxic mix of crises - conflicts, climate, skyrocketing costs, and the ripple effects of the Ukraine war - are inflicting a devastating toll on the forcibly displaced. This is being felt across the world, but women and girls are particularly suffering," Grandi said in a statement.
The statement also said that displaced women and girls are the most subject to shocks because of the loss of assets and means of subsistence, "the disruption of community-based safety nets and their frequent exclusion from education and other national social protection."
Many displaced women and girls are experiencing food shortages and surging prices, which forces them to "take gut-wrenching decisions to survive," it added.
"With savings depleted, many are skipping meals, children are being sent to work instead of school and some may have no options but to beg or engage in the sale or exchange of sex to survive. Too many are facing heightened risks of exploitation, trafficking, child marriage and intimate partner violence," Grandi said.
The UNHCR has recorded "serious nutrition concerns" among refugee populations in Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Niger, Tanzania, Uganda, the Republic of the Congo and Zambia, according to the statement.
The organization also estimated the global needs for gender-based violence prevention and response programs in 2023 at around $340 million, the highest figure ever for the UNHCR.
