Launching the initiative «Stopping Harm Before It Happens» in Ukraine – Ла Страда

Launching the initiative "Stopping Harm Before It Happens" in Ukraine

Preventing sexual exploitation, abuse, and sexual harassment in the humanitarian sector begins not with responding to incidents, but with preventing them from happening in the first place. As effective prevention not only reduces the likelihood of misconduct but also helps foster a culture of respect, accountability, and zero tolerance for any form of violence, abuse, or misuse of power, the creation of prevention SEAH tools has become a crucial part of the 2-day workshop, which took place in Kyiv recently.

Funded by the European Union, the “Stopping Harm Before It Happens” initiative gathered together UNFPA, the Global Women's Institute, and national partners to co-create practical tools for the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment.

The main goal of the initiative is to create a Global Knowledge Platform for SEAH Prevention Practices for all humanitarian actors across the world, and Ukraine is proud to be a part of this initiative as one of the leading countries, where such tools will be created, piloted, and validated to be used all around the globe.

As one participant noted, “We are proud to become part of something bigger — to contribute to shaping the global agenda on SEAH prevention tools.”

La Strada-Ukraine is engaged in this process as a key implementing partner, supporting the co-design of tools that respond to the realities, experience, and expertise of local actors.

The workshop created space for open reflection, practical exchange, and collective thinking on how to strengthen prevention efforts. All ideas from the participants were not only shared, but immediately taken forward and built upon by others in the room — creating strong momentum for the piloting phase ahead.

Together with UNFPA and the Global Women's Institute, and with the support of the European Union, La Strada-Ukraine looks forward to contributing to the development of practical, field-informed tools that help ensure assistance is delivered safely, responsibly, and with protection at its core.

#EUHumanitarianAid

Launch of the “Stopping Harm Before It Happens” initiative in Ukraine

Ukrainian version of the text

Preventing sexual exploitation, abuse and sexual harassment (SEXA) in the humanitarian sector begins not with responding to incidents, but with preventing them from occurring. Since effective prevention not only reduces the likelihood of inappropriate behavior, but also contributes to the formation of a culture of respect, accountability and zero tolerance for any manifestations of violence, abuse or misuse of power, the development of SEXA prevention tools was a key part of a two-day workshop recently held in Kyiv.

With financial support European Union, initiative "Stopping Harm Before It Happens", brought together the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Global Women's Institute and national partners to jointly develop practical tools to prevent sexual exploitation, violence and harassment.

The main goal of this initiative is to create a Global Knowledge Platform on SENDI prevention practices for all humanitarian sector representatives in the world. Ukraine is one of three selected leading countries where such tools will be developed, tested, and validated for further use worldwide.

As one of the workshop participants noted:

We are proud to be part of something bigger – the opportunity to contribute to shaping the global agenda for developing tools to prevent CED.”

NGO "La Strada-Ukraine" is actively participating in this process as a key implementation partner, supporting the joint development of tools that take into account the realities, experience, and expertise of local organizations.

The workshop became a space for open reflection, practical exchange of experience, and joint search for solutions to strengthen preventive work. All ideas proposed by participants were not only voiced, but also immediately picked up, developed, and supplemented by others, which created a powerful impetus for the next stage - piloting the developed tools.

Together with UNFPA, Global Women's Institute, and with the support of the European Union, NGO "La Strada-Ukraine" will continue to work on creating practical, field-based tools that will help ensure that humanitarian assistance is provided safely, responsibly, and with human protection as the absolute priority.

The initiative "Preventing Harm Before It Happens: A Knowledge Platform on Practices to Prevent Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment" is funded by the European Union (ECHO) and implemented by the United Nations Population Fund in partnership with the Global Institute for Women at George Washington University.

#EUHumanitarianAid