Women’s Leadership, Access, Empowerment and Protection (LEAP)

About LEAP  

Disasters affect women more owing to a multiplicity of factors including access to resources (land, credit, technology) as well as loss of livelihoods. COVID-19 threatens to erode gains made on empowerment of women. To mitigate this and build the capacity of women and girls, UN Women ESARO has been implementing the Leadership Empowerment, Access and Protection of Women and Girls in Crisis [LEAP] programming approach. This approach ensures that humanitarian/crises response is gender responsive, and that Women affected by Crisis lead and participate in decision making and social cohesion with increasing support of men and boys.  

Somalia and Uganda:  

To build sustainable resilience among affected populations in Uganda and Somalia through the Japanese-funded Leadership, Empowerment Access and Protection Program, UN Women is supporting over 7,000 women refugees and host community members access diverse livelihood opportunities such as credit facilities. Beneficiaries are able to meet their household and basic personal needs. 

South Sudan: 

The Project seeks to protect 30,000 crisis affected women in IDPs camps and host communities in Juba and Bentiu from COVID-19 impacts through the provision of information, PCR testing kits, securing safe PCR testing and vaccination sites for women to prevent sexual violence. 

Kenya:

The project seeks to increase women’s capacity to participate and influence policymaking and programming on conflict prevention, peace and security and humanitarian action, support refugee and host communities’ women and girls in accessing new sources of income and economic opportunities through skills and livelihoods development and increase the access of vulnerable women and girls to effective services & protection mechanisms through social spaces in refugee and host communities.