HPNW Event Report: Humanitarian Operations, Gender Vulnerability, and Security Agencies

The InterAgency Institute is dedicated to research security issues, such as border control, interagency schemes, and cooperation frameworks, especially complex scenarios, policy building, and governance. Our proposal aims at enhancing collaboration in developing ideas for a more effective multistakeholder approach in dealing with migration crises, adopting a people-centered approach and a gender perspective. Our focus for the HNPW 2021 is the Venezuelan refugee crisis, especially the experiences and demands of women, LGBTQIA +and children. Our main invitee is Plataforma CIPÓ, an independent policy research institute dedicated to climate and environmental issues, as well as correlate issues such as migration, including in the Amazon basin. Theme: Humanitarian Operations, Gender Vulnerability, and Security Agencies. Humanitarian actions aimed at supporting migrant populations involve situations of vulnerability, often featuring violations of rights. In institutionally deteriorated systems, groups of affected individuals crossing international borders receive different types of treatment from the various stakeholders involved, which calls for qualified policies to overcome barriers to assistance, especially to women, LGBTQI+ and children. Latin America's recent experience with the Venezuela refugee crisis, including the movement of large numbers of Venezuelans to Brazilian and Colombian cities (as either final or intermediate destinations), shows that, despite local innovations, greater attention is needed to women, LGBTQI+ and children. The Acolhida Operation, launched in 2018 by the Brazilian government with support from civil society, private sector, and international organizations, has had a significant impact in terms of developing coordination instruments to facilitate cooperation among military, security, social and civil society institutions. As with any complex environment, the humanitarian operations in this context are also marked by both improvements and failures. Recently, one of the humanitarian shelters dedicated to women, LGBTQI+, and children in the border state of Roraima (Brazil) was invaded by the Federal Police, without previous notification or court order. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic also poses new challenges in addressing humanitarian contingencies, and the sanitary conditions of the Acolhida Operation have been conditioned by an upholding security approach. This environment may create other adverse conditions for the wellbeing of the migrants, like conflicts of conduct, in which the rules of engagement are either incipient or nonexistent. Women, LGBTQI+ and children are especially affected, and thus, more attention is needed in terms of understanding and improving how institutions and representatives behave and how interaction should be governed in the field. Objectives – Our objective is to discuss ways to govern the interaction between local agencies and external observation, military and civilian; to build communication schemes, and to promote multistakeholder incremental policy-building. Target audience – our target audience comprises students, researchers, and practitioners (from national, local, international organizations, NGOs). Expected outcomes - In the first activity, we are proposing a conceptual and governance lens to offer guidelines for addressing the needs of women, LGBTQI+ and children. In the second session, we will build a simulation in order to propose a framework informed by the views of different stakeholders.