Written declaration No. 581 | Doc. 13622 | 01 October 2014

Protecting women and children in a humanitarian crisis

Signatories: Ms Olivia MITCHELL, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Lord Donald ANDERSON, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Sirkka-Liisa ANTTILA, Finland, ALDE ; Mr Josep Anton BARDINA PAU, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Deniz BAYKAL, Turkey, SOC ; Mr Levan BERDZENISHVILI, Georgia, ALDE ; Ms Eka BESELIA, Georgia, SOC ; Ms Tinatin BOKUCHAVA, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Ms Sílvia Eloïsa BONET PEROT, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Irakli CHIKOVANI, Georgia, ALDE ; Ms Lise CHRISTOFFERSEN, Norway, SOC ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Mr Paolo CORSINI, Italy, SOC ; Ms Pascale CROZON, France, SOC ; Ms Ismeta DERVOZ, Bosnia and Herzegovina, EPP/CD ; Ms Ute FINCKH-KRÄMER, Germany, SOC ; Mr Gvozden Srećko FLEGO, Croatia, SOC ; Mr Daniel FLOREA, Romania, SOC ; Ms Darina GABÁNIOVÁ, Slovak Republic, SOC ; Mr Karl GARÐARSSON, Iceland, ALDE ; Ms Maria GIANNAKAKI, Greece, SOC ; Ms Ana GUŢU, Republic of Moldova, ALDE ; Mr Tore HAGEBAKKEN, Norway, SOC ; Ms Carina HÄGG, Sweden, SOC ; Mr Mike HANCOCK, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Mr Alfred HEER, Switzerland, ALDE ; Mr Pavel HOLÍK, Czech Republic, SOC ; Mr Gediminas JAKAVONIS, Lithuania, ALDE ; Ms Snežana JONICA, Montenegro, SOC ; Mr Igor KOLMAN, Croatia, ALDE ; Ms Athina KYRIAKIDOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Pierre-Yves LE BORGN', France, SOC ; Ms Valentina LESKAJ, Albania, SOC ; Mr Jacob LUND, Denmark, SOC ; Mr Dirk Van der MAELEN, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Guguli MAGRADZE, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Philippe MAHOUX, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Meritxell MATEU PI, Andorra, ALDE ; Ms Liliane MAURY PASQUIER, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Oľga NACHTMANNOVÁ, Slovak Republic, SOC ; Mr Žarko OBRADOVIĆ, Serbia, SOC ; Mr Bernard PASQUIER, Monaco, ALDE ; Mr Grigore PETRENCO, Republic of Moldova, UEL ; Ms Mechthild RAWERT, Germany, SOC ; Mr Luc RECORDON, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Mailis REPS, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Indrek SAAR, Estonia, SOC ; Ms Deborah SCHEMBRI, Malta, SOC ; Mr Damir ŠEHOVIĆ, Montenegro, SOC ; Mr Predrag SEKULIĆ, Montenegro, SOC ; Mr Aleksandar SENIĆ, Serbia, SOC ; Mr Elkhan SULEYMANOV, Azerbaijan, EPP/CD ; Ms Chiora TAKTAKISHVILI, Georgia, ALDE ; Mr Ahmet Kutalmiş TÜRKEŞ, Turkey, ALDE ; Ms Dana VÁHALOVÁ, Czech Republic, SOC ; Mr Petrit VASILI, Albania, SOC ; Mr Volodymyr VECHERKO, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Mark VERHEIJEN, Netherlands, ALDE ; Mr Eric VORUZ, Switzerland, SOC ; Ms Nataša VUČKOVIĆ, Serbia, SOC ; Ms Gisela WURM, Austria, SOC ; Mr Jordi XUCLÀ, Spain, ALDE ; Ms Kristýna ZELIENKOVÁ, Czech Republic, ALDE ; Mr Levon ZOURABIAN, Armenia, ALDE

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

During the summer 2014 several humanitarian crisis flared up around the world with the vast majority of internally displaced persons and refugees being women and children. They represent the most vulnerable group among the refugees: at risk of sexual violence, including rape and exposed to trauma, malnutrition and disease. The lack of access by women, especially pregnant women, to reproductive health services is a major health disaster:

By September, in Gaza, 46000 women were pregnant and 10000 of them displaced; in Syria 200000 and in Northern Iraq 60000 pregnant women in need of urgent care; in Ukraine, a large portion of IDPs are women, many of whom are pregnant. In Liberia 3 out of 4 Ebola fatalities are women and in Sierra Leone they are 3 out of 5. Female nurses represent the majority of the health staff infected and dying from the virus.

We call on Council of Europe member States to respond to the disproportionate impact of humanitarian crisis on women and children and urge the States to prioritize funding for women, children and their health needs.

We encourage the international community to consider the long-term impact of health infrastructure rebuilding and the need for psychological support for those impacted.