Investigating_allegations_of_sexual_exploitation_and_abuse in_humanitarian settings toolkit_UNHRC./ILLUSTRATION by;UNHRC
A new tool has been launched to help humanitarian actors identify, prevent, and address sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEA) risks in frontline operations, strengthening the protection of vulnerable communities during crises.
Launched by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the SEA Risk Mapping Package provides practical, visual, and context-adaptable tools that enable humanitarian teams to integrate safeguarding directly into everyday programming without requiring specialised expertise or additional resources.
The tool responds to a long-standing gap in humanitarian operations, where existing guidance on sexual exploitation and abuse is often either too complex, resource-intensive, or too generic to be effectively applied in field-level coordination mechanisms.
Many existing tools require dedicated Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) expertise or lengthy assessments, making them difficult to use in fast-moving and resource-constrained crisis environments.
By contrast, the SEA Risk Mapping Package is designed for immediate, practical use.
It offers simple materials that can be applied in routine meetings, trainings, and planning sessions, helping humanitarian clusters identify and manage SEA risks as part of their core operational decisions.
This approach moves safeguarding beyond policy commitments and embeds it into day-to-day humanitarian action.
The tool enables Food Security Cluster Coordinators and partners to identify SEA risks directly within sectoral activities, strengthening safeguards across the humanitarian system while ensuring assistance is delivered safely and with dignity.
It is adaptable across different contexts and can be used without additional funding, staffing, or complex data-collection processes.
“As humanitarian workers, each of us has a responsibility to prevent sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment on our watch. It is critically important that every vulnerable person who receives assistance can do so safely and with dignity,” said Cindy McCain, WFP Executive Director.
“This practical risk assessment tool gives humanitarian partners the ability to identify and effectively manage these risks during frontline operations.”
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu echoed the importance of making protection a core operational standard rather than a parallel process.
“FAO is committed to ensuring that those we serve receive assistance safely and with dignity,” he said.
“This tool is a concrete and practical example of what collective action can achieve when we put people’s protection, dignity, and rights first.”
The SEA Risk Mapping Package has been developed in collaboration with Empowered Aid, a participatory research initiative focused on preventing sexual exploitation and abuse in aid delivery, based at the Global Women’s Institute at the George Washington University.
The collaboration ensured that the tool reflects real-world risks faced by communities and aid workers, as well as the operational realities of frontline humanitarian response.
The launch comes at a time when humanitarian programmes are facing increasing financial constraints, shrinking services, and growing needs.
These pressures, humanitarian leaders warn, can increase the risk of SEA if safeguarding measures are not actively integrated into programme design and delivery.
“As humanitarian programmes face increasing resource constraints and services are scaled back, the risk of SEA rises,” said Ross Smith, WFP Director of Emergencies.
“This tool embeds risk identification into routine sectoral work, ensuring safe access to assistance and making protection everyone’s responsibility.”
“As co-lead of the Food Security Cluster, WFP is committed to helping clusters and partners integrate PSEA into everyday decisions,” Smith added.
Rein Paulsen, FAO Director of the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, stressed the importance of early risk identification in preventing harm.
“PSEA must be embedded in every stage of emergency response and resilience building,” he said.
“This tool does this by giving clusters a practical and shared way to identify and address SEA risks early, ensuring that assistance does not cause harm to the communities we serve. In the current environment, this is more important than ever.”
In addition to the Food Security Cluster tool, similar practical packages have been developed for other humanitarian clusters, including Logistics, Emergency Telecommunications, Health, and Shelter.
Together, these tools aim to strengthen system-wide accountability and ensure that protection from sexual exploitation and abuse becomes an operational reality across humanitarian responses.
By providing accessible, adaptable, and field-ready materials, the SEA Risk Mapping Package represents a step toward more people-centred, dignified, and accountable humanitarian assistance, ensuring that those most affected by crises are not only reached but also protected.
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