Nay Pyi Taw - On 15 August, the Ministry of Social Welfare Relief and Resettlement (MSWRR) and UNFPA held a three-day workshop on gender-based violence case management in Nay Pyi Taw. Two trainers from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) facilitated the workshop. In total there were 27 caseworkers from the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) and 2 from Marie Stopes International (MSI), with a further 9 observers from DSW. The workshop was to train caseworkers to provide quality psychosocial support and case management in order to provide both response services and to mitigate the risk of violence for women and girls in times of trauma.

The three-day workshop was to build participants’ capacity to provide case management support, including psychosocial first aid, establishing women and girls safe spaces and developing safe referral pathways to support the needs of women and girls who are particularly vulnerable in times of disaster. Often, with more obvious and immediate pressing needs such as food, water and shelter, the basic needs of women are overlooked, especially their need for hygiene products and physical security. Mi Mi Thin Aung, National Coordinator, GBV said: “During and immediately after a disaster, women and girls are more vulnerable to the risk of gender-based violence. They are often traumatised by the loss of life and their belongings. Currently, we have extreme flooding in 12 of Myanmar’s 14 States and Regions. In this emergency context, appropriate psychosocial interventions and case management services for women and girls are essential.”