On 28 April 2015, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani received the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura.
The Special Representative spoke about her visit to the camps in the Kurdistan Region where displaced persons fleeing the violent repression of IS have found refuge. She said she was closely observing the situation of IDPs, particularly of Yezidi women who have been raped by IS fighters and who have suffered in their captivity. She further expressed her support for all organizations in the Kurdistan Region providing psychological support to those women and assisting them in their reintegration into society.
Ms. Bangura hailed the Kurdistan Region’s governmental and non-governmental organizations that have promptly and efficiently assisted victims of violence, and stressed that such cases have occurred in other parts of the world, but were concealed due to social and religious reasons.
Prime Minister Barzani thanked the Special Representative for her visit, urging UN agencies to continue their support for the KRG’s assistance to refugees and IDPs.
Prime Minister Barzani expressed KRG’s readiness to provide the required assistance. He stressed that special units have been established within the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Interior and within local administrations and agencies inside camps specifically to provide assistance to victims of violence against women, and that these special units are equipped to cooperate with UN agencies and non-governmental organizations to help victims of IS.