Persevering through Times of COVID-19: Integrated Services to Victims of Gender-Based Violence

December 17, 2020

On 10 December 2020, the “Knowledge Exchange Webinar on Providing Integrated Service to Victims of Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV)” was jointly hosted by UNDP Seoul Policy Centre (USPC) and UNDP Indonesia. The purpose was to introduce the benefits of Korea’s Sunflower Center model to the global audience and demonstrate how Indonesia was able to maintain the operation of its Sunflower center-inspired one-stop service facilities for SGBV victims amidst the global pandemic. USPC and UNDP Indonesia shared the key benefits of the government-funded integrated one-stop service mechanism, which allowed the facilities to function in spite of strict COVID-19 restrictions.

The Republic of Korea has been operating and institutionalizing a one-stop service mechanism for SGBV survivors and victims, known as the Sunflower Center, for more than ten years. The Sunflower Center provides various, yet integrated services to victims of SGBV, including medical, counseling, legal, police investigation, and accompaniment support. Since its establishment in 2004, the number of centers in Korea has grown to reach 39 Centers currently nationwide. The centers are fully funded by the Korean government and operate under collaboration between the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF), local governments, hospitals, and the police. The Sunflower Centers continue to provide a full range of services to  SGBV victims amidst the COVID-19 crisis.

Korea’s experience of implementing the Sunflower Center mechanism was initially shared with UNDP Indonesia in the 2017 Seoul Debates organized by USPC. This led to a partnership between USPC and UNDP Indonesia that ultimately resulted in the establishment of a successful Indonesian integrated service model for supporting SGBV survivors. Through various study visits, focus group discussions (FGD), and seminars, Indonesia was able to establish a Center of Excellence Tarakan Hospital in Jakarta, also known as the Bunga Tanjung. The center, integrated under unit P2TP2A (Integrated Services of Women and Children) and the Police Department (Polda Metro Jaya), provides medical services, psychological counseling, legal counseling, and accompaniment services. Indonesia was able to maintain service provision for SGBV victims even in the face of severe pressures in the medical sector due to COVID-19.   Pak Syamsul Tarigan, Senior Technical Advisor and Programme Manager of UNDP Indonesia, pointed out the continuous operation to the political will of the Indonesian government and Dr. Dian Ekowati, the Director of Bunga Tanjung as one of the enabling factors.

Director of USPC, Mr. Stephan Klingebiel, Resident Representative of UNDP Indonesia, Mr. Norimasa Shimomura, and Regional Gender Advisor of UNDP RBAP, Ms. Koh Miyaoi, expressed appreciation and anticipation for the collaboration. Mr. Klingebiel congratulated Indonesia’s achievement for receiving the “99 Best Public Service Innovation Reward”, stating that “the power and value of knowledge-exchange [...] will facilitate a meaningful sharing of lessons learned and experiences from both sides”. Mr. Shimomura emphasized that “UNDP Indonesia has been committed to working with the Government to address [these] serious and urgent issues by attempting to replicate Korea’s practice of ‘Sunflower Centers’”. Finally, Ms. Koh described the difficulties during the pandemic for governments and healthcare institutions, underlining the need to “continue with the provision of services to GBV victims despite the difficulties posed by the pandemic and recognize the essential nature of such services”. Following an overview of the Sunflower Center by USPC, a co-presentation by UNDP Indonesia and Doctors of the Tarakan Hospital revealed that the number of cases Bunga Tanjung took on has increased from 3 in 2018, to 59 in 2019 and 85 as of September 2020. Ms. Hye-young Park, Associate Director of Seoul Sunflower Center, also attended the webinar to share her experience in operating the Sunflower Center under the COVID-19 crisis.

The webinar concluded with all parties agreeing that the three years of sustainable engagement through the partnership between USPC and UNDP Indonesia led to inspiring initiatives and the successful operation of Bunga Tanjung.