Training experts to investigate cases of sexual and gender-based violence as international crimes

Date: Tuesday, 29 January 2013

From left to right: Geoff White, Acting Canadian High Commissioner and Chargé d’ Affairs to South Africa; H.E. Gaston Barban, Canadian High Commissioner Designate to South Africa; Nomcebo Manzini, Regional Director and Country Representative UN Women Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Islands; Andras Vamos-Goldman, Executive Director of Justice Rapid Response; Nahla Valji, Specialist, Rule of Law and Transitional Justice, UN Women; E. Lulu Xingwana Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, South Africa; John Ralston, Executive Director of the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI); Yanine Poc, Regional Representative, Regional Office for Southern Africa, Office of the High Commission for Human Rights; H.E. Andries Nel, Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, South Africa. Photo credit: Niamh Hayes

To increase the pool of experts that can be rapidly deployed to participate in investigations into gender-based crimes during conflict, UN Women, Justice Rapid Response (JRR) and the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI), have jointly developed a specialized training course for judges and other experts.

Currently being held in Pretoria, South Africa from January 27 – 1 February, 2013, the “Investigating Cases of Sexual and Gender-based Violence as International Crimes” course was officially opened by H.E. Lulu Xingwana, Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities of South Africa. The week-long session is the second of a series of courses, the first of which was held in The Hague, Netherlands, in September 2012.

The experts trained in these courses come from all regions of the world, and those who successfully complete the training will become part of a special joint JRR-UN Women roster, making them available for rapid deployment at the request of Governments, as well as the United Nations, the International Criminal Court, and other international institutions with jurisdiction to carry out such investigations.

Training experts to investigate cases of sexual and gender-based violence as international crimes

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