Sec. 4. Safe from the Start authority
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The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration and in coordination with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (in consultation with the Director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance), shall direct and oversee all United States foreign assistance that addresses humanitarian crises in a manner that implements a Safe from the Start programming focus on the following objectives:
Preventing and reducing the incidence of gender-based violence. Ensuring quality protection for survivors of such crises beginning with the onset of the emergency through timely and effective action. Promoting standards and activities to prevent, mitigate, and respond to gender-based violence. Advance the empowerment of survivors and individuals at risk of gender-based violence. The Secretary shall develop guidelines, toolkits, reporting mechanisms, and other institutional response and accountability measures through the Safe from the Start programming described in subsection
(a)in order to incorporate effective gender-based violence prevention and response activities across all humanitarian assistance programs and projects, including through— the promotion of minimum standards, indicators, and metrics to assess the adequacy of interventions relating to gender-based violence, taking into consideration the Guidelines for Integrating Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action published by the United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Council in 2015, the assessment released by the Real-Time Accountability Partnership on Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies in 2016, and the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action published by the non-profit organization Sphere in 2012; the establishment and implementation, in coordination with international organizations and nongovernmental organizations, of standards, protocols, and accountability mechanisms for preventing and addressing sexual or other gender-based exploitation or abuse perpetrated by personnel delivering humanitarian assistance; and the development of monitoring tools across all humanitarian assistance programming to standardize monitoring and accountability relating to gender-based violence prevention and response. The Secretary shall improve the delivery and quality of United States assistance to protect survivors of gender-based violence, through the Safe from the Start programming described in subsection (a), by improving activities in the following areas: Access to and quality of comprehensive medical services for survivors and at-risk populations in line with international standards, including— post-rape and post-sexual assault medical care; psycho-social and mental health services; and hygiene and dignity kits. Service delivery to hard-to-reach populations, prioritizing services that reach— shelters for survivors of natural disasters; internally displaced person camps; active conflict zones; and refugees living in urban areas. The Secretary of State is authorized to provide assistance to organizations based outside the United States who are working to provide humanitarian relief in affected regions or countries, prioritizing such organizations that are led by refugees or displaced or stateless women and youth, through Safe from the Start programming in accordance with subsection
(a)for the following purposes: Building capacity to identify, prevent, and address gender-based violence in humanitarian settings and to support survivors and those at risk, including through training and deploying female humanitarian aid workers. Promoting women’s leadership and participation in the design, implementation, and evaluation of humanitarian responses. Developing safe spaces for meaningful dialogue, psycho-social interventions, and culturally-specific support. Developing technical skills for advocacy, monitoring, data collection, evaluation, and communications. Performing on-the-ground gender analyses and otherwise rapidly assessing and communicating the needs of women, girls, and other populations that are vulnerable to gender-based violence in crises. The Secretary of State is authorized to provide support to enhance the capacity of international nongovernmental organizations to achieve the following: Improving technical expertise and availability of dedicated gender advisors to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in humanitarian settings through the Gender Based Violence Area of Responsibility forum and across sectors of humanitarian action, including through training and sensitization of humanitarian aid workers on identification of and care for survivors of gender-based violence. Promoting supportive partnerships with local humanitarian actors and nongovernmental organizations, including for women’s leadership and participation in humanitarian response. Increasing and improving empowerment activities, including women’s and girls’ access to economic opportunities and livelihoods, education and skills, and leadership roles. Training for international development implementers during the onset and transformation of a humanitarian crisis so that such implementers are equipped to continue relief, recovery, and reconstruction work that is sensitive to the prevention and mitigation of gender-based violence after the immediate humanitarian engagement has finished.