REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:
Following the Government of Canada's announcement this month to resettle an additional 25,000 Syrian refugees (16,000 UNHCR submissions and 9,000 private sponsorships) through its Humanitarian Transfer Programme by the end of the year, the Lebanon and Jordan teams have initiated the processing of vulnerable Syrian refugees. UNHCR has been identifying potential cases using its registration database, then contacting refugees by SMS to set-up face to face interviews with the aim to submit 16,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by the end of 2015. 3RP actors have continued to provide children with protection assistance. In Iraq, the provision of child protection services continues in all camp locations. However, outreach to non-camp refugee children remains limited, with only 16 per cent of refugee children being reached in non-camp locations. To address the gaps that have recently been identified in the provision of services in urban locations, the child protection sub-working group is exploring the use of 50 Directorate of Youth and Sportmanaged youth centres across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Clowns without Borders toured the KRI for three weeks, performing 30 shows in 20 days for children and adults alike in camps and urban areas. In Jordan, UNICEF and UNHCR rolled out a joint campaign against child recruitment; several awareness sessions using focus group discussions and videos were conducted in Mafraq, Zaatari camp and Amman, benefitting more than 400 refugees, almost half of whom were male adolescents.
Members of the sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) sub-working groups in the region planned a series of activities, events and initiatives as part of the 16 Days Activism against GBV, which global theme this year was “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Make Education Safe for All”. In the region, initiatives have included the dissemination of posters, focus group discussions, public events and radio episodes. In Lebanon, where the inter-agency team decided to focus on the theme of "Protecting and Empowering Women and Girls: A Collective Accountability", events included a photo exhibition, theatre and role-plays, video projections, debates and round-tables, drawings and billboards.