11 October 2009 -- In continuing promotion of its mandate to protect civilians, UNAMID has conducted a workshop on sexual and gender based violence (SGBV) in the Rwanda internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Tawilla, North Darfur, about 50 kilometers from El Fasher. Thirty women leaders participated in the activity, which focused on ways of combating the perpetration of SGBV in their community and on reporting mechanisms.

Similar workshops have already been conducted in Al Salam IDP camp, just outside of El Fasher. By the end of November, UNAMID hopes to complete workshops in Abu Shouk camp in El Fasher and Shangil Tobayi, about 75 kilometres outside of El Fasher.

The issue of SGBV remains an important one in Darfur. In its resolution 1881 on 30 July 2009, the UN Security Council demanded that all parties to the conflict in Darfur take measures to protect civilians, including women and children, from SGBV, and requested that the UN Secretary-General develop a strategy for providing protection for women and girls against perpetration of such acts.

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