JRR at the International Conference on Action

with Women & Peace

Photo credits: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea

JRR was proud to present its vision and approaches to advance survivor-centric justice and accountability processes in relation to conflict-related sexual violence at the International Conference on Action with Women and Peace, which was hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea under the theme of “priorities and innovation for the future.”

Our Executive Director, Samuel Emonet, had the pleasure of being accompanied by Esther Dingemans, Executive Director at Global Survivors Fund, Dominique Vidale-Plaza, Director of Care and Country Programmes at Dr. Denis Mukwege Foundation, and James Heenan, Representative of OHCHR in Seoul. The panel was moderated by Eun Mee Kim, Goodwill Amb. UN Women and Professor Emeritus, Ewha Womans University 이화여자대학교.

During his intervention, Samuel emphasized the importance of injecting multidisciplinary expertise in justice processes to ensure that perpetrators are held to account, but also that victims and survivors can fully participate in a given justice process in a safe and dignified manner. Samuel also illustrated the impact of this approach by mentioning JRR’s work in relation to the DPRK, Colombia and the Gambia, with a particular focus on accountability for gender-based violence. He emphasized the central role of women JRR experts in promoting a victim-centric approach to justice, as they represented more than 70% of all deployments of expertise made by JRR in 2024.

Looking at major trends, Samuel highlighted how digital information has become increasingly available and how investigators have no choice but to rely on technology to collect, analyze and leverage it in justice and human rights work. Based on JRR’s experience, Samuel underlined the urgent need to ensure that a victim-centric approach is also adopted when technology is used in an investigation, which will require the right expertise, new policies, and capacity building for justice actors.

Samuel finally stressed how maintaining a strong political will to keep progressing on gender equality was critical in these turbulent times. He mentioned how spaces such as this conference could help strengthen solidarity and ensure accountability for past commitments among States and other stakeholders. This is key to make the Women Peace and Security agenda a reality.

Photo credits: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea