Multisectoral coordination

When survivors of violence do seek formal support, it can be difficult to navigate a system that works in silos, where service providers offer services without interacting or being connected with each other. Such a system often leads to further trauma, including revictimization of survivors who may have to relate their experience of violence multiple times to each service provider from whom they seek support. In such a system, survivors can get lost and drop out of the system.

Multisectoral coordination seeks to reduce the effects and consequences of harmful experiences and prevent further trauma, including re-victimization. For example, when referred to a service provider within a coordinated system, survivors will have paperwork documenting their case and a phone call will already have been made from the referring provider, so the receiving provider is apprised of the survivor’s case. This reduces the number of times a survivor has to relate their experience of violence to providers.

Multisectoral coordination takes a systems approach to coordinate a network of well-trained service providers with the necessary skills to provide timely, quality and sensitive support to survivors of violence. This requires partnership and cooperation among service providers who follow a set of standards or principles in supporting survivors of violence. A network of effective quality services increases the trust of survivors in the capabilities of service providers to support them, including as they access justice.355 Box 16: Standard operating procedures

To ensure quality service provision, each provider should have detailed standard operating procedures that outline the roles and responsibilities in service provision. Standard operating procedures are important as they set the guiding principles and ethical standards, and coordinate the multisectoral provision of services. They should be developed in consultation with key stakeholders and service providers who will implement them. All service providers engaged in a coordinated structure should follow the agreed guiding standards or principles and should ensure adequate resources and budget are available to provide appropriate and sustained services to survivors.

Multisectoral coordination can take place at the national and local levels. These coordination mechanisms are often described in laws, national strategies, cooperation protocols, quality standards or referral mechanisms. These mechanisms are implemented by law enforcement institutions, social services, healthcare facilities, educational institutions, women’s groups and/or other organizations that provide specialized GBV services for survivors. The responsibility of multisectoral coordination often rests with a specific governing body or actor. In most countries, the government, supported by the United Nations or other international donors, plays this role while in other countries a specific organization or body is mandated with coordination responsibilities.

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For example, in PNG, informants shared that the two key institutions coordinating actions on GBV are the Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee (FSVAC) at national and provincial levels, and the GBV Secretariat, under the responsibility of the Department of Community Development and Religion, through the Office for the Development of Women. Both these structures are tasked with implementing the National GBV Strategy 2016–2025, alongside a few additional line ministries.

The FSVAC was established in 2000 and has a coordination, advocacy and support role that is guided by an integrated multisectoral strategy. It was created under the Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council, a CSO with private sector funding established to offer policy advice to the Government of PNG. The GBV Secretariat’s role is to ensure coordination among sectors working in the GBV field, as well as to provide technical support and improved data collection on GBV services. However, informants shared that a review of four pilot provincial GBV secretariats found that they were not functioning as planned, largely due to a lack of clarity about their roles, understaffing, and insufficient resources and training. Informants shared that the UNDP is working with the Department of Community Development and Religion to clarify the roles of the GBV Secretariat and the FSVAC, particularly at the provincial level, as they have a similar mandate. This example shows that while the focus of coordinated responses is on increasing accessibility to quality and inclusive essential services across health, social services, police and justice sectors, it needs to be based on strong foundations including comprehensive legislation and legal frameworks, resources and financing, adequately trained services providers, mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation, and gender sensitive policies and practices.