The Population Council’s cooperation with Regional Team for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), and Embassy of Sweden, Lusaka (‘the Team’) on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in East and Southern Africa has spanned over a decade, emerging in late 2006 in response to high levels of SGBV in the region, coupled with minimal understanding of how to respond to the issue in the low-resource settings that this region includes. The Expanding the Evidence Base and Networks for Sexual Violence Response in East and Southern Africa program was a nearly four-year agreement (3 years and 10 months) between the Team and the Population Council, representing the final phase of funding within an 11-year period. From May 2014 through February 2018, the program sought to mitigate the consequences and occurrence of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) by strengthening the capacities of the medical, legal, and justice sectors to care for survivors of such violence. This approach was intended to serve the Team’s larger development objectives of preventing HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa and promoting the sexual, reproductive and human rights of survivors across the region. It also aligned with the Team’s emphasis on regional integration, collaboration, and solutions. This report provides an overview of the results achieved under this program, and the impact observed in regard to national and regional SGBV issues by the completion of the program.
Centre de Ressources sur la Santé et L'Éducation