Advocacy & Communications

External Communications

External communications involve conveying messages about an organization’s work to the public, aiming to highlight issues, attract resources, and engage with communities through various channels, including social media.

Internal Communications

Internal communications focus on messaging within the organization, targeting personnel to ensure effective information sharing and engagement.

Advocacy

vocacy means actively supporting and influencing others to integrate GBV risk mitigation into organizational, sectoral, or inter-agency practices.

Why is it Important?

Leaders play a crucial role in institutionalizing GBV risk mitigation through consistent internal messaging and commitment. Their active engagement can drive cultural change and set a standard for others.

However, communication must not compromise the safety and confidentiality of affected individuals. It’s vital to ensure that GBV risk mitigation is embedded in all communication approaches to prevent harm.

Integrating GBV risk mitigation into communications and advocacy remains a developing practice, but promising examples are emerging.

Common Advocacy Targets & Sample Key Messages 

Why are they relevant?: Provides examples of advocacy outcomes and key messages per common targets such as project managers, senior managers and donors.

IOM, GBV communications package for senior leadership

Why are they relevant?: Provides a good example of a brief communications tool for senior managers on GBV risk mitigation.

The CARE International Advocacy Handbook

Why are they relevant?: A good example of how to concisely create a communications package for senior managers regarding GBV risk mitigation.

Ethical Story Telling: Resources and Tools

Why are they relevant?: Provides resources and tools for ethical storytelling.

Dignified storytelling

Why are they relevant?: Dignified storytelling upholds the human dignity with which every person is born. This webpage provides 10 principles of dignified storytelling.

Irish Consortium on GBV, Ethical storytelling on GBV

Why are they relevant?: This guide aims to help organizations talk about GBV in a way that respects and protects those who have experienced GBV. It can explain more how to do ethical storytelling on GBV.

Case study: Gender-based violence risk mitigation institutionalization: Ensuring safer and more ethical approaches to communications work on GBV

Why are they relevant?: Provides good practices, challenges and suggestions for integrating GBV risk mitigation in communications.

Example 1

IMC’s guidance created jointly by GBV and communication experts

Communications and GBV specialists from International Medical Corps (IMC) came together in 2023 to update internal guidance for creating and sharing GBV communications content. International Medical Corps allocated resources to hire a consultant with a GBV background to lead the initiative. In addition to carrying out a literature review, the consultant consulted both GBV and communications staff to generate the content for new GBV communications guidelines. The staff members shared their respective views on the risks and rewards of communications content on GBV. They discussed in detail different scenarios where GBV and communications may intersect, from media reporting to field visits to encounters with survivors, and they considered how a survivor-centred approach might be applied to these experiences, as well as to communications content about GBV. The outcome of the initiative is a guide that outlines essential actions for safe, ethical engagement that communications specialists can put into practice.

Example 2

Oslo Conference on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence  

In 2019, the governments of Norway, Iraq, Somalia and the United Arab Emirates; OCHA; UNFPA; and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), with invaluable support from Norwegian Church Aid, hosted the international conference “Ending Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Humanitarian Crises” in Oslo. The conference brought together GBV survivors, GBV specialists, national and international civil society organizations, global leaders, and regional and international organizations to make commitments to end sexual and gender-based violence in humanitarian crises, in conflict and disaster.

The conference represented a critical opportunity for UNICEF’s executive director to express the organization’s commitments to GBV at such a high-level event for the first time. UNICEF’s GBV in Emergencies team made use of the opportunity to disseminate organizational commitments on GBV, including GBV risk mitigation, internally and externally. For this purpose, the team created communication materials, including on GBV risk mitigation, to disseminate their ongoing efforts.

Internally, the executive director’s speech was available on UNICEF’s intranet where all staff members could access it. A follow-up email was sent to all staff to share the commitments in the Oslo Conference. For humanitarian response, UNICEF’s director of the Office of Emergency Programmes also sent an email to reiterate the organization’s commitment to GBV risk mitigation. The commitments included:

  • Increase the visibility of GBV in UNICEF's Humanitarian Appeals for Children (HAC): 50% of HACs to include GBV by 2020; 100% by 2021.
  • Increase the visibility of GBV in UNICEF-led clusters' HNOs and HRPs: at least 10 HNO/HRPs for 2020 include GBV risk analysis and risk mitigation measures across all UNICEF-led clusters.

The series of internal communications after the Oslo conference helped UNICEF to more systematically integrate GBV risk mitigation.The GBV specialists offer direct field support to country cluster teams by assisting in the implementation of GBV risk mitigation actions, documenting best practices, and facilitating peer learning and knowledge exchange. Their work includes conducting annual HNO/HRP a

Example 3

IOM Package for Senior Leadership: Strengthening institutional accountabilities to address GBV 

Senior leadership can make a significant difference in promoting prevention and protection from GBV by ensuring prioritization within their departments and operations, by communicating in a sensitive manner about the issue, and sharing information on agency-specific services available, as well as through contributions to collective advocacy actions. Senior management, particularly within organizations similar to IOM which sit within humanitarian country teams that focus predominantly on GBV risk mitigation, rather than specialized GBV response interventions, are often more than willing to support collective efforts to ensure GBV is adequately addressed. Still, they require further guidance on how to put their good will into practice. 

IOM created a dedicated GBV Communication and Accountability package targeting its senior leadership at global, regional and country levels to support decision-makers with strengthened, actionable guidance around institutional accountabilities and positioning on addressing GBV in crisis settings. This online package also includes some practical tools to support senior managers on how to communicate and advocate publicly for GBV risk mitigation, including responding safely to media requests.   The package is a living document which is regularly updated based on feedback and developments in the humanitarian sector related to GBV. Position papers, briefing notes, tools and other documents continue to be revised and added. The package is accompanied by a short training module with key messages on the role of management in addressing GBV in crisis and ensuring GBV risk mitigation measures are seen as a system-wide responsibility. For further information on this package, contact IOM Global GBV support: gbvsupport@iom.int.

Example 4

Advocacy for integrating GBV in the GEC annual meeting

In June 2023, the Global Education Cluster convened its 2023 annual partners meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, around the theme “Gearing Up to Meet the Education Needs of Crisis-Affected Girls and Boys”, with a record 150 participants representing close to 30 country clusters and over 40 global partners. The GEC GBV risk mitigation specialist was the lead facilitator of one of the three day-and-a-half thematic sessions that focused on protection and inclusion in education in emergencies. Global partners explored some of the most persistent and intersecting barriers to education and groups most at risk of being excluded from education and learning opportunities – especially girls, adolescent girls, girls with disabilities, married girls, pregnant girls and young mothers, and girls engaging in child labour or survival sex – and how lack of access to services or exclusion from education is often due to gender inequality and GBV. They also explored how as a collective, education clusters and their members can break down these barriers; address the specific needs and risks, including GBV risks, of girls and boys in all their diversity; and agree on priority actions. The initial roadmap developed during the annual meeting supported partners to articulate and drive collective action towards safer, more inclusive education in emergencies. These specifically included aspirations to more systematically integrate an intersectional barriers and risk analysis in education needs assessments (including GBV risk analysis) and design, implement and monitor the effectiveness of tailored gender-targeted and GBV risk mitigation actions. For more information, find here the GEC 2023 Annual Meeting Programme (English and French) and the Outcome Report/Roadmap.