UN, AU call for more efforts to combat gender-based violence in Somalia

Envoys from both the United Nations and the African Union (AU) on Tuesday made a joint call for increased measures to protect women and girls in Somalia, Vannina Maestracci, the associate UN spokesperson, told reporters here.

Nick Kay, the UN secretary-general's special representative for Somalia, and Maman S. Sidikou, the special envoy of the African Union Commission chairperson, reiterated their commitment to support efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence in Somalia, she said at a daily news briefing.

"They also highlighted the importance of providing better, more timely and comprehensive assistance, including health and psychosocial care, to victims of sexual violence and their families," she said.

The United Nations reported nearly 800 cases of sexual and gender-based violence in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, alone for the first six months of 2013, although the actual number is likely much higher.

The Somali government and the UN signed a joint communique on the prevention of sexual violence in May 2013, stressing that there is zero-tolerance to sexual violations and that perpetrators will be punished.

Somalia has been torn by factional fighting since 1991. On June 2, 2013, the UN launched an assistance mission to offer expertise in areas ranging from the political process to disarmament to help Somalia achieve peace, reconciliation and stability. Endite