 Hello, good afternoon everyone, and welcome. Whether you're joining us via Zoom or in person, we're delighted to have you here today. On June 6th, to talk about the Ukraine conflict and the crisis of sexual violence. We are joined today by distinguished panelists who will speak to this issue, and we will have a Q&A session toward the end of the hour. So please be ready with some great questions. Finally, my name is Kathleen Kienis. I direct the gender policy and strategy work at the Institute of Peace, and welcome. Lisa Grande? We are very pleased to welcome everyone for this important conversation with you and special representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence and Conflict Premilla Patton. My name is Lisa Grande, and I am the head of the United States Institute of Peace, which was founded by the U.S. Congress in 1984 as a national nonpartisan public institution dedicated to helping prevent, mitigate, and resolve violent conflict abroad. SRSG Patton has just returned from Ukraine, where she has been able to assess very disturbing patterns of sexual and gender-based violence during the conflict. She joins us today to reflect on the steps that the international community can and should take to hold the perpetrators of these violations and atrocities accountable. USIP is proud to host this event, which is part of a series of high-level discussions the Institute is convening on holding perpetrators accountable for crimes against humanity and for violations of humanitarian and human rights during the conflict in Ukraine. SRSG Patton was appointed to her position as the UN special representative in 2017. She is a practicing barrister and serves on the committee on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women, the high-level advisory group for the Global Study on Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security, and on the advisory panel for the African Women's Rights Observatory within the UN's National Economic Commission for Africa. SRSG Patton, we are honored to have you with us. Thank you. Welcome to all of you. I'm Don Jensen. I'm the director of Russia and Europe at the US Institute of Peace here. It's a great pleasure to host this event, to welcome our distinguished guests. It's a great pleasure to have you in the building. More than 100 days into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the fighting now concentrated mostly in the east, of course, continues. There are 9,000 civilian casualties, according to the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights. There are many casualties on both sides of the fighting. There are many other people missing, wounded, and so forth. But I think one of the most under-covered and most important stories is the very little. It needs much more attention, and that's why I'm so happy. Please, proud to have you here today. And that, of course, is a conflict-related sexual violence. Our president, Lise Grande, just outlined on the incredibly impressive resume of our guests, Ms. Patton, it's a pleasure to have you here. And I would also add that she briefed the United Nations Security Council this morning. And so she can give an up-to-date assessment of where the situation is going, where help is needed. And after her remarks, we will have a fireside chat here on the podium. And we will chat for a while and open the floor up to questions. So let me introduce our distinguished guest, Ms. Patton. Thank you again. And the floor is yours. Thank you so much for this introduction. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, and colleagues who have joined us virtually, good afternoon. It is a pleasure to join you today for this critical and timely conversation. And allow me to extend my gratitude to the United States Institute for Peace for organizing this event, especially to USIP president Lise Grande and to Kathleen Kunas, director of gender policy and strategy for providing this opportunity to shed light on a particularly dark chapter of history unfolding right now in Ukraine, including mounting allegations and harrowing personal testimonies of conflict-related sexual violence. Today's event directly follows the grim milestone of 100 days of war in Ukraine. And in 100 days, the conflict has claimed, as you just mentioned, thousands of lives, displaced close to 14 million civilians, and inflamed a global food, energy, and financial crisis with ripple effects that reach far beyond the battlefield to compound the suffering of some of the most vulnerable populations in some of the most fragile countries on Earth. And as one Ukrainian woman reflected, in 100 days, it feels as if we have aged 100 years. At the same time, it also feels as if we have been plunged into the distant past and compelled to relieve medieval horrors of looting, payage, and rape, the ancient trilogy of wartime terror. What should long ago have been consigned to the history books is, unfortunately, again in our daily headlines. And indeed, every new wave of conflict brings with it a rising tide of human tragedy, including new waves of wars, oldest, most silenced, and least condemned crime, conflict-related sexual violence. Since I took office in 2017, I have consistently stated that conflict-related sexual violence does not occur in a vacuum, but is tied to broader security dynamics, such as the resurgence of hostilities, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, mass displacement, and the proximity of combatants to civilian population centers. And in the midst of active conflict, sexual violence is often invisible, but is rarely non-existent. History has taught us the danger of dismissing wartime sexual violence as the random acts of few renegade soldiers, or a few rogue units, or of assuming that it is merely an inevitable byproduct of war. Conflict-related sexual violence has been rightly recognized as a self-standing threat to collective security and an impediment to the restoration of peace. It can constitute a war crime, a crime against humanity, and or a constituent act of genocide. This means that it can no longer be written off as mere collateral damage, but must be reflected on the historical record addressed in transitional justice processes and excluded from the scope of amnesty provisions. The normative framework developed by the United Nations Security Council since 2008, through a series of robust resolutions, provides a set of diplomatic and political tools to prevent and punish these grave crimes. And these resolutions from 1820 in 2008 to 2467 in 2019 signaled a sea change in terms of treating wartime sexual violence as a security issue that carries real consequences and demands an immediate security, justice, and service delivery response, rather than being a second-class crime against second-class citizens. Yet this new paradigm and policy consensus is being put to the test by the conflict in Ukraine and by the epidemic of coup and military takeovers escalating behind the scenes from Afghanistan to Myanmar, Sudan, Mali, and elsewhere. The question must therefore be asked, are we making full and effective use of the tools at our disposal? Are we turning commitments on paper into compliance in practice? Globally wartime rape, wartime sexual violence remains a chronically underreported crime, owing to the fear of reprisals, stigmatization, revictimization, and ostracism faced by survivors compounded by insecurity, the paucity of service provision, and lack of humanitarian access in conflict-affected settings. Humanitarian experts in the field estimate that for every rape reported to a clinic or service provider, 10 to 20 cases go unreported and unaddressed. Although there is never accurate bookkeeping on an active battlefield, it is clear that in the context of Ukraine, all the warning signals for the commission of atrocity crimes, including conflict-related sexual violence, are flashing red. Following the Russian invasion on the 24th of February, I issued a series of public statements calling on all parties to refrain from committing sexual violence, to avoid attacks on essential healthcare infrastructure, to prioritize life-saving assistance for survivors of sexual violence as part of the humanitarian response, and to ensure swift and rigorous investigations as a basis for accountability. We have all seen the harrowing images of this conflict, of the bodies of women and girls, true naked in the streets, and of women and children killed while trying to flee to safety. We have all heard the accounts of horrific acts of sexual violence, reports of gang rape, rape in front of family members, sexual assault at gunpoint, women who have become pregnant as a result of rape, as well as the reports of refugee women and children being exploited by traffickers and predators who view this turmoil not as a tragedy, but as an opportunity to abuse the vulnerable. While women and girls are particularly vulnerable and disproportionately targeted, reports have also surfaced of sexual violence against men and boys, including prisoners of war. The failure to address or to even acknowledge these atrocities is the surest sign that they will continue unabated. It is starkly evident that lawlessness in its tent amount, to license to rape, and that a culture of impunity fuels violations and emboldens their authors. Unpunished crime is repeated crime. All actors complicit in this criminality from the highest levels of government to the food soldiers in the field must face the full force of the law. Against this backdrop, at the request and invitation of the Ukrainian authorities, I traveled to Lviv and Kiev from the 2nd to the 6th of May and also visited two of the frontline refugee receiving countries, Poland and Moldova, in light of concerns about the cross-border trafficking of Ukrainian women and children, including for the purpose of sexual exploitation and prostitution. This visit resulted in the signing of a framework of cooperation on the prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence with the government of Ukraine on 3rd of May in Kiev. And this follows the operational methodology of my mandate, which recognizes that the United Nations can support, but can never supplant the primary responsibility of states to protect their populations. Accordingly, our aim is to foster national ownership and responsibility and to assist states to bolster their domestic capacity to protect through structured agreements. The framework includes five critical objectives. Firstly, ensuring that survivors of sexual violence, as well as their children, have access to comprehensive services. Secondly, strengthening the rule of law and accountability as a central pillar of prevention, deterrence and non-repetition. Thirdly, building the capacity of the security and defence sector to prevent sexual violence, including by the more than 100,000 active volunteer forces. Fourth, ensuring that sexual violence is specifically reflected in the provisions of NEC's fire or peace agreement, including those related to security arrangements and transitional justice mechanism. And fifth, addressing concerns related to conflict-related trafficking in persons for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Massive destruction of urban settlements and civilian infrastructure has made life unbearable for millions of innocent civilians and has severely disrupted essential public services. More than half of all attacks against healthcare facilities in the world this year have occurred in Ukraine. Supply routes have also been disrupted, thereby jeopardising access to medicine and medical equipment. Gender-based violence services and reproductive healthcare are least available just when they are needed most. While the United Nations system is still working to corroborate many of the allegations of sexual violence, I would like to reiterate that we do not need hard data for a scaled-up humanitarian response. We do not need hard data for all parties to take precautions and preventive measures in line with international humanitarian law to spare civilian population and their property from attack and to ensure zero tolerance for sexual violence. This is a historically hidden, invisible crime which is chronically under-reported in terms of war and peace. Implementation of the framework of cooperation on the side of the government of Ukraine will be led by the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, who has convened an intergovernmental task force consisting of relevant line ministries and institutions, including the ministries of justice, defence, interior, health and social services, as well as the Commission of Agenda and the Office of the Prosecutor General as part of a cross-sectoral whole-of-government approach. The role of local civil society organisations will also be essential, particularly in terms of ensuring a tailored, survivor-centred approach which gives precedence to the rights, needs and aspirations of survivors and treats them not as passive beneficiaries, but as co-creators of solutions. As relates to the United Nations system, the framework provides entry points for operational entities to strengthen and coordinate their work on conflict-related sexual violence, including by supporting the national authorities to align Ukraine's National Action Plan on Security Council Resolution 1325 with the substantive elements of the framework of cooperation. And while my office will be providing strategic and technical support, the implementation process will be driven from the ground. It is therefore my intention to deploy a team of women protection advisers to Ukraine, who will play an instrumental role in enhancing our monitoring analysis and reporting and response, as well as to provide OHCHR's human rights monitoring mission to Ukraine with specialised capacity. My team of experts on the rule of law and sexual violence in conflict has already conducted a mapping of ongoing accountability initiatives following discussions with experts involved in the recently established atrocity crimes advisory group, in order to ensure complementarity between the various efforts underway to support the investigation and prosecution of sexual violence crimes. To that end, we are considering the deployment of dedicated staff within the office of the prosecutor general, building on best practices from the team's previous work to strengthen institutional safeguards against impunity and build the technical capacity of police, prosecutors and the judiciary in a range of countries from DRC to Central African Republic, which will be critical to reduce the risk of re-traumatising victims and witnesses, or tainting their testimony through repeat interviewing. I also intend to deploy a specialist on trafficking in persons to ensure a coherent regional approach in response to these concerns. In Poland and Moldova, I witness first-hand the challenges at border crossing points in reconciling open border policies with the identification of risk-facing vulnerable persons. With over 90% of those fleeing Ukraine being women and children, this humanitarian crisis is also becoming a human trafficking crisis. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a coordinated regional approach by humanitarian actors, law enforcement agencies, border guards, immigration officials and political leaders as Ukrainian refugees are moving rapidly and fluidly across Europe. Refugee receiving countries need support to put in place vetting systems to register in screen organisations, companies and individual volunteers who are offering assistance to refugees to ensure that reception, transit and service centres operate in accordance with do-no-harm principles. This includes oversight of the buses and minivans that are transporting refugees free of charge from border points to other European destinations. Additionally, support must be provided to these refugee-receiving countries to scale up response services for survivors of sexual violence, including information provision and appropriate referral pathways for sexual and reproductive healthcare, as well as psychological support. My mandate requires engagement with all parties to conflict to encourage the adoption of specific preventive measures in line with relevant Security Council resolutions. This includes the issuance of clear orders for military chains of command that reinforce zero tolerance for sexual violence and the designation of high-level civilian and military focal points to engage with the UN in this regard. While it continues to be challenging to monitor and verify violations due to the ongoing conflict and access constraints, particularly to occupied areas not under Ukrainian government control, I would like to note that the UN has at 3rd of June received 124 reported incidents and the verification process is still ongoing. And some of these reports involve forces of the Russian Federation. Hence, I have also directly engaged with representatives from Russia to debrief on the findings of my visit to the region and to ensure that these concerns are addressed. This morning, I briefed the UN Security Council on the key findings of my visit with a focus on heightened risk of trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation, which is becoming a crisis within a crisis. And I call for sustained support from the international community in advancing implementation of the framework of cooperation, including with respect to accountability, to ensure that international law is not an empty promise and that today's documentation translates into tomorrow's prosecutions. I also call for enhanced risk mitigation measures to prevent a human trafficking crisis from intensifying in this context. Although it is too early to quantify the scale of human trafficking associated with the conflict, evidence has already been documented of an increase in trafficking. Activity has more people are displaced and access to services and livelihoods become ever more precarious. Survivors of sexual violence who have crossed into neighboring countries are struggling to access basic sexual and reproductive health care and account of the cost and owing to pre-existing legal and policy barriers. On the 5th of May, the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning the use of sexual violence as a tactic of war and calling on the EU and host and transit countries to guarantee access to sexual and reproductive health and rights services, particularly emergency contraception, post-exposure prophylaxis and abortion care, including for survivors of rape. We cannot discuss the Women, Peace and Security agenda without stressing the importance of women's full, equal and meaningful participation in all decision-making processes. Yet, while women's leadership has increased in community-level humanitarian efforts, including on the front lines of the response to sexual and gender-based violence, Ukrainian women have to date been conspicuously absent and marginalized from formal political negotiations to end the conflict. With every day that the war continues, violations multiply and risk increase exponentially. Our Secretary-General Guterres has stated, when we talk about crimes, we cannot forget that the worst of crime is war itself. What I witness in Ukraine, where conflict has turned entire cities into crime scenes, makes it abundantly clear that no amount of protection or assistance is a substitute for peace. The aim of my mandate and that of the wider Women, Peace and Security agenda is not simply a war without rape, but a world without war. Prevention is the best protection. Our latest annual report on conflict-related sexual violence focused on enhancing structural and operational prevention and made five key recommendations to chart the way forward. Firstly, concerted diplomatic action upstream to ensure that sexual violence is addressed in ceasefire and peace agreements, recognizing that no agreement can become prehensive if the gunfire ceases, but the weapon of rape continues unchecked. Secondly, using early warning indicators of sexual violence to inform monitoring, risk assessment and early response. Third, leveraging the credible threat of sanctions to curtail the flow of arms and resources to perpetrators and spoilers to the peace, to incentivize corrective action and compliance with international norms. Targeted and graduated measures, including asset freezers and four features, visa denials, and travel bans raise the perceived cost of war's so-called cheapest weapon. Fourth, gender responsive justice and security sector reform, including the vetting, training and oversight of security sector institutions and gender balance among their personal to ensure that they are equally accessible and responsive to women. And fifth, amplifying the voices of survivors and affected communities in decision-making processes to ensure that local realities guide the global search for solutions. And in this respect, we must defend women's human rights defenders and protect the protectors, including the first responders on the front lines. It is critical to safeguard civic space and the safety of victims and witnesses who bravely come forward to testify as well as that of journalists who risk their lives to share these stories with the world. Every year, my office commemorates the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, which is an important opportunity to signal solidarity with the survivors and those at risk. And this year, the commemoration will focus on the launch of a new strategic framework to prevent the occurrence and recurrence of these crimes through structural and operational prevention measures to mitigate risk and build resilience. This prevention framework is intended to serve as a roadmap for more tailored, timely and effective interventions as part of broader efforts to safeguard civilians from the effects of hostilities and to translate early warning into early response. It covers a broad array of issues ranging from addressing root causes and risk factors to operational strategies and guidance principles. I encourage the various institutions represented here today to join us in mobilizing to mark this occasion. Prevention for compliance with international norms and standards is key to breaking the vicious cycle of violence and impunity. Ladies and gentlemen, meeting the challenge of this historical moment will require a level of political focus and financial resources commensurate with the scale and complexity of the problem. The United States government has shown steadfast and strategic leadership on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and has been a strong supporter of my mandate, notably in its capacity as penholder on conflict-related sexual violence in the Security Council. In these uncertain times, I believe that doubt is justified, but despair is not. As a Ukrainian Women's Civil Society activist told me, we must do everything possible and everything impossible to end abusers and atrocities. This is an important reminder to not just do what is easy, but what is necessary and what is right. Norms have no power unless they are known, respected, implemented and enforced. We must send an unequivocal message to all parties that women's rights are not western rights, they are human rights and they are universal in times of war and peace. We have debunked the insidious myth that sexual violence in conflict is inevitable. Now we must demonstrate through proactive protection and empowerment efforts that it is indeed preventable. It is time to move from best intentions to best practice, to catch the women and girls who may otherwise fall through our safety nets. Let us not forget that while the eyes of the world are on the Ukrainian women and girls who are caught in the crossfire, who are living in terror-inoccupied territories and who have been deported or forced to flee their homes and homeland, they are looking to us. We must not and cannot fail them. Thank you. Thank you so much. Let's chat a bit about this important topic and then we're going to open it up to the floor. Thank you for your remarks. I have a number of questions, but let's just start with the one that's both simple and complex at the same time. Why does this happen in war? What's it supposed to achieve, or is it maybe a bright product of the chaos caused by conflict? Can you say more about that? Right. I must say that the methodology of the UN is to rely on UN verified information. But my approach is not to underestimate, not to undermine, not to neglect reports that are surfacing. And for me, we are dealing with a crime that is chronically under-reported from Afghanistan to Myanmar, Central African Republic to DRC, from Bosnia to Ukraine. So I take all these allegations seriously. I don't think these are isolated incidents. I don't think that they are opportunistic. I was in Ukraine in early May. I have met a range of stakeholders from government officials to civil society organizations, frontline responders. I have not met with survivors, but I have met with families of survivors. And from all accounts, in terms of the way that the sexual violence is being perpetrated, the location where it is happening, the modus operandi, I think that sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war, as a tactic of war. I'll just give you a few examples. For example, I had a long meeting with the prosecutor general. And she had the files right in front of her. And she's on the ground night and day with her team. And she shared with me accounts of women and girls being held captive in the basement of several buildings in Mariupol, amongst other places, and being gang raped. There are several accounts of women and girls being raped in front of family members being gang raped at gunpoint. Even men and boys being raped, being threatened with rape, being there's lots of cases of stripping, forced nudity. So these are compatible with what we have learned over decades of sexual violence being used as a deliberate strategy to humiliate, to terrorize, to displace communities, to assert power over another group, to assert male dominance over women, and to feel emboldened as perpetrators. And why is it used? It's used for the very reason that it is cheap. It's cost-free because perpetrators know that they will turn the victims into outcasts. They know that sexual violence will be rarely reported. And they know that impunity is the norm and justice and accountability is the rare exception. So it is a calculated strategy. And that's why when I was in Ukraine, and I went to Ukraine during the week when it was most dangerous to be there, the week of the second. On the second, I drove nine hours from Lviv to Kyiv. And my colleagues were telling me, you are crazy to go there during that week. And I had to go. I had to send a strong signal to the perpetrators, to the Russian soldiers who, by all accounts, constitute the majority of the perpetrators. And I had to send a message of solidarity to the victims and potential victims that they are not alone, that the world is watching, that my office stands in solidarity with them, and I stand in solidarity with them, and to urge them to break the silence and to impress on them that the only shame of rape is on the side of those who commit, command or condone the sexual violence. Victims must know that they are not alone. Because I have met, over the past five years, victims from Bosnia. I was in Bosnia in 2017, and I met a woman who walked up to me, and she said, you know, I reported the sexual violence, which was committed 23 years ago. And she said, do you want to know why I reported a few months ago? She said, and the government is accusing me of wanting to benefit from the pension because there was a new law at the time. And the government is accusing me of wanting to benefit from that pension. She said, I don't want the pension. I looked at her and she said, you know, my husband passed away three months ago, and the first thing that I did was to get this huge burden of my chest. Because had I reported the sexual violence at the time, I would have lost my husband and I would have lost my kids. I would have been rejected by him, by my family. So can you imagine the stigma attached to rape? And as much as we are hearing about sexual violence in Ukraine, many more cases. This is only the tip of the iceberg, what we are seeing, what we are hearing. So that's where I went and sent that strong message. And that's why the international community must really focus on also creating that environment for the victims to come forward and report. Because I have been saying this since I returned from Ukraine, that I know there's a multiplicity of efforts on justice and accountability. But I think if we don't ensure that victims have a safe environment, a conducive environment to report, five years from now or 10 years from now, we will be sitting here and saying, why is it still impunity, still the norm? Without reports, there will be no justice. There will be no accountability. So we really have to get the victims to report and we have to create that safe space. We have all the services that they urgently need and we'll help them to report. So creating that safe space will lessen the stigma forward, even though there's many countries with different cultures. I'm glad you brought up the issue of reporting and verification. Could you say more about that? Your comments this morning had a remarkably small amount of cases that have been received or reported on. Clearly, there are many, many more. Could you talk about the stigma that's one aspect of it, but talk about reporting and verifying and the fact-finding stuff that is painstaking but important to go forward on this. Right. I met with many frontline responders, NGOs who were very brave people, brave women who are moving from community to community and brought up during the meeting many anecdotal reports. But they all said that the victims do not want to report formally. Well, firstly, there are security constraints. I mean, it's an active battlefield and their priorities is to flee. Secondly, there are also access issues because you may not have the appropriate law enforcement agencies accessible for them to report. There's also the issue of stigma. These are women who, those who have been left behind, are on their own. Their husbands are on the battlefield. And the stigma of many reports have referred to victims being told while they are being raped that they will never be able to bear children from Ukrainian men. The rapes have been very brutal. There are reports of the Russian soldiers having Viagra. I mean, who goes on the battlefield with Viagra? If it's opportunistic, it cannot be. So, there is that there's barriers to reporting, security access, stigma, on the other hand. Now when it comes to the UN, because there are other parallel efforts in terms of documenting. You have NGOs that are documenting. You have the Office of the Prosecutor General documenting cases. You have the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights, although she was removed from office last week, but she has a fairly big office and she has been documenting. So you have a number of institutions doing that work. When it comes to the UN, the verification threshold is, so the first step is the collection of evidence, the documenting, and the verification. The Human Rights Monitoring Team of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was established in 2014, and it's not a huge office. So there is a capacity constraint, because they are verifying and documenting all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. And the threshold is high, and I have been speaking to them while in Lviv, and they have capacity constraints. They lack capacity when it comes to sexual violence expertise, and that's why my office intends to deploy four experts from my team of experts on the rule of law and sexual violence. But the level of the reports, the sources of the reports also vary. They have also indicated that many reports are anonymous, coming through hotline, manned by agencies like UNFPA and others. So verification is difficult, and they also have security constraints, for example, reports from areas not under the control of the government of Ukraine. So these are the constraints when it comes to verification. But I think that's where the framework of cooperation that I signed with the government of Ukraine will help, because there will be a coordination of efforts. And that's why I mentioned that one area of support will be also with the Office of the Prosecutor General, which we intend to support with relevant expertise to ensure that we can enhance their capacity to document, to collect evidence. But they also, I forgot to mention, the Office of the Prosecutor General of the ICC. We're going to go to the audience for questions in a second, but let me ask one more, and that is, what support services are there any, if any? Do some of these victims have in the combat area or Donbass when the UN can't get there and when you're in an area where the front is changing every day? Are they alone? Is there any any support going on at all? I know a lot of this. You are asking me a question which I have been raising myself while in Ukraine. And it is a fact that the UN has got no access whatsoever. And that's why, for me, a priority moving forward following the signing of this framework of cooperation is to establish those monitoring and reporting and response arrangements. And this is a question that I also raised last Friday during my meeting with representatives from the Russian Federation, the whole question of access. And he responded by proposing that I visit the next. And I said that I will be very happy to positively entertain the invitation because I have a mandate to engage with all parties, and I did raise the question of access. So basically, what's available in those regions are some NGOs, but it's minimal. And considering that victims of sexual violence, I mean, first and foremost, it is a medical emergency because they need to have the sexual and reproductive health services. If it's not timely, if it's not within 72 hours to prevent sexually transmitted disease and pregnancy, it is of no use. This is a critical, this is a critical problem. And that's why I keep talking to journalists to say, please do not allow the headlines to fade. And I commend them for the way that they have actually promptly, they did shine the spotlight on sexual violence as opposed to classic war reporting, which has never dated fit to report on sexual violence. But I'm still urging them, I'm working with journalists to ensure that they shine the spotlight on this aspect of the plight of those who find themselves in areas where there's no UN presence. But even in areas controlled by the government, the damage to medical infrastructure is devastating. Just to give you one example, before 24th of February, in one area there were 24 medical centers and maternity clinics providing assistance to victims of GBV, supported by UNFPA. As at 18th of April, it has been reduced to nine. So it is, it is, there's a drastic fall in terms of provision of services to victims. We've got about 15 minutes left, our gender policy strategy. Two naps will now field questions from the audience here and online and we'll be right back. Great. Thank you both very much. We do want to keep the conversation going. What I'd like is if you could just note that you would like to ask a question and could I take three at a time? So I have one right here in the front. Okay, perfect. So one, if we can begin with David, we'll go to the ambassador. Wait for the mic. If you wouldn't mind introducing yourself in your organization. Thank you very much. My name is David Wood. I'm representing CCSD, one of the co-chairs of the civil society working group on women, peace and security, standing in place of Raja Altalia, who can't be here today. I suppose one of the key concerns that we have is how the women, peace and security agenda has been neglected within the war in Ukraine following the Russian invasion and finding ways of practically moving the agenda forward is very, very difficult. One thing of particular concern is how the important women network that have been created across the country since 2014 have been under duress, so supporting their resilience, because they're critical on this issue. They bring their own knowledge of the local context, raising issues such as concern around the proliferation of small arms and like weapons as you were talking about and how that's detrimental to their health. They also have a critical resource as probably one of the only networks that can do this kind of work, verification, and we've seen this in other conflicts, such as Syria, for example, the importance of women's networks. I suppose my critical question is what can we practically do, not theoretically and advocacy wise, to support the resilience of these networks, but then a second more challenging follow-up is as in every conflict, the conflict in Ukraine and over Ukraine is an information war. There is a very high risk that the question of sexual violence becomes part of that information war and it's too important a question for that. How do we, rather than allowing this to be part of the information war, find a way of building cooperation with Russia over this so that they become active partners, because if we're going to be effective, we have to deal with the issues in Russian control territory as well. Thank you very much. Very big set of two questions. I am going to move to Ambassador. I'm Melanne Verveer, Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security. First of all, let me thank you, SRSG, for the extraordinary leadership you've brought to this post. I think you're going to Ukraine is a demonstration through all the difficulties you had to go through of that commitment. And I think the framework that you announced today is also critically important, but as nobody knows better than you, this is one tough issue. And over many iterations, there have been efforts to deal with sexual violence and conflict. And frankly, the impunity continues and there is no grounds for anybody to feel threatened if they're driving these horrible crimes, because very little happens. What can finally push political will to do what needs to be done? Because whether it's Tigray or Myanmar, or so many places in Africa, and the DRC is heating up again, it's really just a terrible, terrible challenge. And if I may quickly add the issue of trafficking, which is so often now apparent and active on the outskirts of war, in terms of your trip to Ukraine, has there been an effort with so many engaged over the years now, so much of a platform having been created to deal with the prevention of human trafficking? Conversations with the OSCE, with the EU, with many of the governments that have strategic efforts that they're having placed to work on trafficking. Is that coming together with the focus on Ukraine? Thank you, and I'll take one more question. I'm Lauren Bailey. I'm Senior Program Officer on Atrocity Prevention with USIP. And my question is actually somewhat similar to Ambassador Viviers. I'd be curious to hear, as you were talking about the scope and scale of the crimes committed, it struck me that the culmination of these crimes will not just be in Ukraine. The bulk of the crimes may be committed in Ukraine, but the culmination of the crimes will be where victims are located or trafficked to. So what kind of coordination on this framework is happening with European states or states that will be receiving these victims either once they're displaced from Ukraine or through trafficking? Right, first question. David Wood, the issue of WPS being neglected during the war, the role of civil society, and specifically what happens if sexual violence becomes a part of the information war? Where is Russia in this? Well, thank you for all the questions. I'll try to respond in the order. No, you are absolutely right. And I have said this several times. And when I had a meeting, second meeting with the representatives from Russia last Friday, I told them that I remind all parties that they should not instrumentalize my mandate or politicize the issue of sexual violence. And I engage with them in a very constructive manner. I mean, like, I have a mandate to engage with all parties to conflict, and you know their rhetoric, that it's fake information, etc., etc. But I told them they need to engage with my office. And I was a permanent member of the Security Council that they know the normative framework. They know what is required from them. And I also shared with them that the framework of cooperation that I have signed with Ukraine actually includes support to the defense sector, to the security sector of Ukraine, because they're not in denial that there are some cases being committed from within their own ranks. But they're not in denial and they are willing to receive support from the UN, from my office in terms of working with the security sector. So I am, they have promised to revert back to capital and to come back to me. But I was quite struck by the extension fourth wave of an invitation to visit the certain parts of Ukraine and under their control. It is important to engage. And I think that the fact that I have this mandate to engage with all parties to conflict, it should be used. And that's precisely what I intend to do, because that will be the only way to put them on notice. And they have also indicated to them that the verification is in process, what we have, the number of cases that have already been verified. And they want to have the details of those cases. And I have today actually sent a note to the Secretary General to that effect, to get clearance, including to inform the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights about that request. They know that in the next report, because I met them even before the open debate on conflict-related sexual violence on the 13th of April, to tell them that there is no dedicated section on Ukraine, Russia and the Russian invasion, but that in my statement to the Council, that was the report for 2021 that was being debated before the Security Council, but already told them that for the 2022 report, there will be a dedicated section on Ukraine and the Russian invasion. And they know about my recommendation to the Secretary General on the listing of parties credibly suspected of committing sexual violence. And they know, as a permanent member of the Security Council, the implications of that. So I think they will have no choice than to engage with my office. And that's the surest way of ensuring that sexual violence in conflict is addressed. We regard to civil society organization. I mean, that's a most pertinent question that you raise. Because I was also, I went to Brussels to meet with EU officials on the funding of the framework of cooperation, but also to stress on them the work being done by civil society organizations in Ukraine, but including those who have relocated deliberately relocated in areas where you have the majority of IDPs, several millions, but also in refugee receiving countries like Moldova and Poland where I went. But of course, there's also Romania where other colleagues, principles of UN entities have been the importance of funding this civil society organization. Because I was very impressed by the work being done by some Ukrainian civil society organizations in both Moldova and Poland. When it comes to the framework of cooperation, Milan and I think one message that I really want to highlight is the importance of the international community standing by this framework of cooperation to ensure its full implementation and time is of the essence. You are right to flag and to mention how justice and accountability has remained a distant possibility in many of those contexts, whether it is DRC or Sudan, South Sudan and others. I am encouraged by the fact that there has been a shift in both paradigm and perspective with the crisis in Ukraine in terms of the mobilization of the international community, in terms of the efforts to focus on justice and accountability, in terms of the very, very concrete measures, whether it is work with the prosecutor, the office of the prosecutor of the ICC, with the ICJ, multiple efforts, whether it is the efforts of the United States government or the European Union. So I am encouraged by that and that's why I keep saying that along with these justice and accountability efforts we cannot ignore the fact that we have to get those victims to report because many of the reports remain anecdotal and the reports that are available, whether it is from the office of the prosecutor general or whether it is reports coming to the attention of the office of the high commissioners, human rights monitoring team, it is the tip of the iceberg. And if we want to hold all the perpetrators accountable, we have to get those victims to report and we have learned over the past 13 years what it takes to get victims to come forward to report. And that entails ensuring that we get the whole chain, the whole cycle, we get it right, whether it is in terms of the documentation, how do we document, fully observing by experience people, fully complying with a do no harm, fully ensuring that there is no re-traumatization, no re-victimization of victims, ensuring that there is no multiplicity of interviews like we have seen in the past, whether it is Cox's Bazaar or Iraq where victims are interviewed 17 times and each time I meet with Nadia Murad, I can see the look on her face. She is distraught by the fact that she will never be able to stand in the court of law and get justice for her personal case because there are over 20 reports, 20 different versions of what happened to Nadia Murad, which will be exploited in any court of law. It will never be tenable in any court of law. So we have to learn from those lessons and get it right. We have to train the investigators, we have to train the prosecutors, we have to train the judges. So that's why my office is working on this range of support that we want to provide to the government of Ukraine when it comes to justice and accountability, even case management, even building the cases, but all the way from the collection of evidence, the documentation, the investigation prosecution. On the trafficking, I have recommended that a regional compact be considered because what I have seen in Moldova and Poland is extremely disturbing. I mean, everything that we already know about trafficking, nothing has been put in place. But of course, when you listen to the local authorities in Sheshof or even Warsaw or Moldova, you understand when the border guards tell you that there were people in cars waiting for three days to cross the border in the cold, women, children, the elderly. I recall when I crossed the border of Poland, although we had like a VIP treatment with our diplomatic passport, we've three or four staff with me, it took us an hour to cross the border. So they told me, they could not do that. And so there was no, they just let everyone, because people were dying in the cold with no food, nothing. So there's no record of who crossed the border. And once they arrived, people were so desperate. The reception centers were set up overnight. And the reception center in Sheshof was like, had a capacity of five to 7,000 people. And there were vans, minibuses, and everything picking them up. And there was no time for vetting, nothing could be done. And when I went to Warsaw, I could see the improvement. I could see the improvement. There is the Tesco supermarket in Sheshof that was turned into a reception center. And my chief of staff did this experiment. He went and said, I want to be a, because we were told that anyone could be a volunteer. And he went up and said, I want to be a volunteer. And he immediately got a small bracelet. So it, which means he has access to the, to the reception center, the sleeping quarters of these people. And I've heard lots of anecdotal reports of what has been happening of men walking in with this bracelet and picking people and walking up to them and saying, I have transportation to go to Germany, to different places. And they were picked up. In Warsaw, there was this criminal judge when I was talking about how difficult, how trafficking, how the criminal networks are so sophisticated, so organized, and that there is a need for, for really a sophisticated, coordinated response. Then she shared her experience. She said, I was, she introduced herself. She's a criminal judge. She said, I was visiting the reception center in Sheshof, in the border of Poland. And she said, there's this man who came up to me and told me, I have a minivan and I can take eight people. But he said, I want this one and I want that one. And, and, and she was telling me that they were all young, beautiful women and adolescent girls, but not a family, but just singling out eight people. And she said, she didn't have a clue. She, at the time, she didn't even get suspicious. She said, I walked and I started talking to these people when a volunteer came up to me and said, what are you doing? And she said, I'm a criminal judge and I'm here to visit and I'm helping. And she said, are you helping? This man has been here every day and handpicking young women and girls. And she said, it then occurred to, it only then it occurred to her. And she said, she made an urgent appeal for support, for awareness raising, for, for training. And so this is what we all confronted, no vetting of private accommodation. I mean, Moldova, the Minister of Interior, who was the former Director General of L'Astrada, one of the largest NGO dealing with trafficking, she was telling me that 95% of, of, of the, of the refugees, 500,000 are in private accommodation. There's no record whatsoever. We, we know that the thousands, hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied children have crossed the border. And there's no trace of these, of these children. And, and some people have rightly said that human trafficking is exploding. And, and that's why I went to, to Brussels after, after Moldova, to talk to the, to the European Union, if there's no coordinated response. And, and, and it's very fluid, their passage through these, through Poland, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, it's, it's very fluid. And they are, they are, they are, they are moving on. And there's no, no, no, no record, no vetting, even the volunteers who are all these reception centers, whether it is Warsaw, Poland, they are being, the premises are offered by, by the local authorities, but they are manned by, by, by, by volunteers with no training. The UN is, it's, it's really search capacity that has been sent urgently to these places for a, for a month on a monthly, on a monthly basis. So it is, it is, that's why I've called for, for a regional compact, because the president of the European Council, Mr. Charles Michel, was also at the security, in the Security Council chamber to brief. The Security Council this morning, I called on him to, to, to lead on, on, on this regional compact. Sorry, thank you for that. We have, we've gone a bit over our time, but I do want to allow one more question. And I also, Don, I'd like your inputs as well on this. One more question from the audience, please. Thank you. Thank you. My name is Amanda van Doren. I'm with the State Department. I have maybe controversial question. I'm curious about your thoughts on civilian protection units. Basically, at the very beginning of this, we were kind of already talking about instituting documentation, putting in place, you know, what we needed to do documentation is kind of an acceptance of what was going to happen. And we had discussed, you know, recognizing there are legislative restrictions for the US government funding, civilian protection units, what are the kind of immediate, what are the options besides kinetic force, which obviously depends on political well. We talk a lot about self resiliency, we have a lot of different atrocity prevention tools, humanitarian corridors, but I guess, I don't feel like we're really talking about if there are any options for immediate protection of women and girls once this starts. And then for reporting, curious if your office is looking at app based reporting, I know some of our program implementers are using that for early morning, being able to submit reports, you know, via app, if it's a location where there's high amount of smartphone usage. And then the last thing I just want to say thank you for raising the issues with clinical management of rape and not being able to have those services there. It seems like with both Ukraine, Afghanistan, I mean, even Tigray, it's not like this came out of nowhere. And it seems like we're out of supplies before we, and then we lose access. We know we're going to lose access, right? And if there needs to be a surge in supplies like EC, et cetera, before we lose humanitarian access. Thanks. That's the last question. Right. Section reproductive right is a critical problem. Yes, there are issues of access, of supplies, because of security and access constraints. I have, I was talking to the executive director of UNFPA on this. But it's even more concerning when we look at the population flight and we look at the large numbers of women crossing the border. The fact that at the border, I mean, certainly for Poland and Moldova, there's really nothing to provide these victims the possibility of reporting. And I raised this with the government of Moldova and Poland. And I think they will need a lot of support to be able to, because these women and victims of sexual violence fleeing Ukraine, there's no time to report in Ukraine. And how do we make sure that they are able to report once they have crossed the border? So that's one thing that really needs to, on which we have to pay attention when we deal with the support that these refugees receiving countries need. The section reproductive rights, for example, in Poland was a critical issue. And I raised it with the government of Poland. There was, they were very, very uncomfortable. And I did not get a response, because they were passing the ball. When I meet with health, they say, you have to talk to justice. And when I talk to justice, they say, you have to speak to health. And I was saying, I'm not asking you to change your laws. But I'm asking you to treat this as a humanitarian priority. But in the meantime, we have to find alternative ways. And I'm also speaking with the Ukrainian authorities and UN agencies to ensure that provision are provided at the border before they cross into Poland, because it is very, very difficult. Even for UN agencies, I mean, UNFPA is not allowed, as you can imagine in Poland. But even NGOs and other service providers are finding it extremely, extremely difficult. I think you have raised some very, very critical issues about civilian protection of civilian. And you have provided, I mean, your question contains all the answers. How do we use the early warning signals? How do we identify the hotspots and the kind of protection that needs to be in place in terms of identifying those most vulnerable to sexual violence and other violations? I think that's it. Over to you. First of all, let me conclude by thanking you for your remarks, but your passion and your commitment. And I want to assure you that everybody here at USIP and in the audience and online is firmly your allies in the struggle. We want to look forward to having you back where you can report, I hope, on some progress. So thank you again for your inspiring remarks. Now we have a crack cadre of ushers back there who's going to do a sport. People to our exhibits. On that point, I wanted to add that we are pleased to have you here for a reception to follow, but also for the Imagine Reflections on Peace exhibition, which is down one floor. We'd love it if you could join us and looking at this exhibit, which was created in collaboration with the Seven Foundation. It explores themes dealing with peace building in very tough predicaments most of us are aware of in violent conflict. It's open through August 1st. It's open to the public several days a week. We hope you can join us. And without further delay, I too want to really thank you and thank the audience for a really important message. We cannot wait. We have to keep moving on this agenda. Thank you so much for your courage and for coming to share this with us today.