Aim is to reduce number of victims
Sida's aim is to reduce the number of victims. Failure to deal with sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (SEAH) risks exposing more persons to severe traumas, cementing unacceptable behaviour and damaging affected organisations' reputation, making it more difficult to achieve development results.
Sida works to prevent and counter power imbalances and gender inequalities that form the root causes for SEAH, both internally at Sida and with our cooperation partners.
Working with partners to respond and prevent
Sida assesses our partners’ capacity to prevent and respond to SEAH, covering all relevant areas of an organisation’s capacity. The depth of the assessment depends on the perceived risk for SEAH.
Various clauses about SEAH are included in Sida’s agreements with NGO’s, multilateral organisations, countries, and Swedish public agencies. We also follow up how our partners prevent and respond to SEAH through reporting, dialogue meetings and field visits.
Reporting incidents to Sida
Partner organisations that become aware of suspicions or complaints of SEAH must take swift action to stop harm occurring, investigate and report to relevant authorities.
Partners should also promptly report all credible allegations to Sida. Reporting will be made without compromising the safety and due process rights of any concerned person.
Sida’s Investigations Team provides support and advice on handling SEAH cases, in accordance with Sida's process for handling suspicions of corruption, irregularities and SEAH cases. The Human Resources Management Unit is responsible for internal SEAH cases where Sida has a responsibility as an employer
E-learning on SEAH
Sida’s e-learning supports staff and partners in how to include measures to prevent and respond to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment in our development cooperation.