During the initial stages of a conflict or natural disaster, those who are
forced to flee are particularly at risk—women, children and young people most
of all.
The Women’s Refugee Commission has identified 10 pressing
needs that must be met during the first weeks and months of an emergency to
ensure the safety and well-being of refugees and internally displaced people
(IDPs)*. Some 43 million people are currently uprooted from their homes by
armed conflict and persecution.
- Keep
refugees and IDPs safe. Ensure that they are settled in a secure location away
from borders and ongoing conflict.
- Provide safe access to
basic needs,
including food, safe
and appropriate cooking fuel, potable water, sanitation and shelter.
- Communicate with the
people most affected and ensure their safety whether or not they have legal status
or official
documents.
Ensure every adult is provided with individual documentation that allows
him or her to access key services.
- Provide life-saving
health care, including reproductive
health care.
Ensure there are enough health workers and all necessary medicines and
supplies to prevent and respond to infectious diseases and other health
needs. Establish priority reproductive health services for women and
girls.
- Prevent and respond to sexual violence. Protect women and children from sexual violence by
ensuring safe access to food, cooking fuel, water, latrines and other
basic necessities. Offer medical services and psychosocial support to
survivors of sexual violence.
- Reduce the transmission of HIV. Enforce use of
infection control measures by health workers; make condoms freely
available; and ensure blood for transfusion is safe by screening it for
HIV and other blood-borne diseases.
- Prevent excess maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity. Provide skilled
birth attendants for normal births; manage obstetric complications at
health facilities; establish 24-hour emergency referral system; provide
contraceptives to meet demands; provide clean delivery kits to all visibly
pregnant women.
- Identify vulnerable
individuals with specific needs, such as unaccompanied minors, child- or women-headed
households, pregnant women, victims of trafficking and persons with disabilities. Secure their care and
physical security. Monitor, report and respond to violations against
children.
- Provide education to children and young people. Offer structure for children and restore hope and a
sense of normalcy in a safe, adult-supervised space. Teach basic literacy
and numeracy skills, and provide vocational training for young people.
- Provide economic opportunities and preserve existing economic
assets.
Build on refugees’ skills, taking into account local market needs, to
provide the best chance for a sustainable income. Protect women and girls
from sexual exploitation by providing them with economic opportunities.
* A refugee has crossed an international border; an internally displaced
person (IDP) has fled from his or her home but is still in his or her own
country.