Investigating Allegations of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse - A Learning Package for Partners

UNHCR has developed a learning package to help partners enhance their skills in investigating allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse against beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance. The learning package, which consists of an online elearning programme and a resource kit, is one of the deliverables of the UN High Commissioner for Refugee´s IASC Championship on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Sexual Harassment (September 2019 – December 2020), and closely aligns with his commitment to support partners and working jointly to enhance capacity and accountability. 

UNHCR initiated this project as a response to specific requests from its partners to support the strengthening of their capacity to conduct high quality investigations of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse. It is based on commonly used principles and standards for administrative investigations within the UN system, as well as UNHCR´s training programme on investigation for partners. Some aspects of the process may have to be modified in order to reflect a specific organization´s internal policies and procedures, as well as local laws and regulations. Field consultations were conducted with NGO partners, and other stakeholders, before the finalization of the package to ensure that its contents and design are user-friendly and respond the operational needs of partners.

The interactive e-learning programme consists of five modules and is estimated to take five hours to complete.

It includes: quizzes, exercises, case studies and additional resources. The complementary resource kit contains all the relevant checklists, forms and templates to support the practitioner during their work.