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GLOSSARY

2003 Guidelines - Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Guidelines for Prevention and Response. A manual originally produced in 1995 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for addressing gender-based violence. UNHCR updated the manual in 2003.

Bhutanese Refugee Women’s Forum (BRWF) - An refugee women’s organization focusing on income-generation, health, and women’s rights with representation in all seven refugee camps housing Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.

Camp Management Committee (CMC) - The camp management committee (CMC) is the refugee-run administration in the camps. The CMC is headed by the camp secretary and is made up of representatives from each sector in the camp. The CMC has committees that coordinate birth and death registrations, food distribution, and health programming, and that determine responses to social problems, like disputes within families or between neighbors.

Camp Secretary - The head of the camp management committee in a refugee camp. The camp secretary is elected by refugees.

CEDAW - Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Children’s Forum - A children’s group under The Lutheran World Federation focusing on children’s rights and participation with representation in all seven camps.

Counseling Board - The counseling board is made up of elected representatives from the CMC. The counseling board serves as a community justice mechanism to resolve day-to-day problems in the camps.

CRC - Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Discrimination against Women - Article 1 of CEDAW defines discrimination against women as “any distinction, exclusion, or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any other field.”

Domestic Violence - Domestic violence, also called “intimate partner abuse,” “battering,” or “wife-beating,” refers to physical, sexual, psychological, and economic abuse that takes place in the context of an intimate relationship, including marriage. Domestic violence is one of the most common forms of gender-based violence and is often characterized by long-term patterns of abusive behavior and control.

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) - Violence that is directed against a person on the basis of gender or sex. It includes acts that inflict physical, mental, or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion, and other deprivations of liberty. Examples of gender-based violence are sexual violence, domestic violence, emotional and psychological abuse, trafficking, forced prostitution, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, and harmful traditional practices (e.g. female genital mutilation, forced marriage, or widow cleansing).

IASC Task Force - The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) is made up of member United Nations agencies and invited nongovernmental organizations. In March 2002, the IASC created a special task force to address sexual exploitation in humanitarian crises. The task force drafted a plan of action that includes a core set of principles for a code of conduct for United Nations employees and aid workers.

Implementing Partners/Implementing Agencies - Organizations that have subcontracted with UNHCR to carry out aid work in the camps. In Nepal, the World Food Programme (WFP) provides food aid; the Nepal Red Cross Society distributes food and non-food rations; the Asian Medical Doctors Association (AMDA) provides primary health care; The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) provides water, housing, and sanitation; Caritas provides education; and the Nepal Bar Association provides legal counseling and legal representation for victims and alleged perpetrators of serious crimes, including gender-based violence.

Inspector General’s Office (IGO) - The UNHCR Inspector General’s Office (IGO) is based in UNHCR’s Geneva headquarters. The IGO investigates allegations of misconduct by UNHCR staff.

Joint Verification Team (JVT) - The Joint Verification Team is made up of representatives from the governments of Bhutan and Nepal. The JVT verified refugees in Khudanabari camp and categorized them to determine eligibility for repatriation to Bhutan and the conditions of such repatriation.

Refugee Coordination Unit (RCU) - The Refugee Coordination Unit (RCU) is the Nepalese government authority in Jhapa and Morang districts that implements all government policy in the seven camps. RCU offices are stationed in each camp to oversee administration. Two Nepalese government officials staff each camp, and the district-level RCU office is based in Chandragadhi, Jhapa district.

Sector Head - The sector head is an elected member of the refugee-run camp management committee. The sector head is responsible for addressing problems in his or her sector, usually comprised of two to five subsectors. He or she forwards unresolved cases to the camp secretary or RCU.

Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) - See Gender-Based Violence. UNHCR and its implementing partners use the term SGBV; however, this report uses “gender-based violence” to acknowledge that sexual violence is usually gender-based.

Sexual Exploitation - The IASC Task Force defines sexual exploitation as any abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust for sexual purposes; this includes profiting monetarily, socially, or politically from the sexual exploitation of another.

Subsector Head - The subsector head is an elected member of the refugee-run camp management committee. The subsector head is responsible for addressing problems in his or her subsector and forwarding more serious cases to the sector head.

UNHCR - The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is mandated with the protection and care of refugees. UNHCR and the government of Nepal jointly administer the Bhutanese refugee camps.

Verification and Categorization Process - Nepal and Bhutan have implemented a bilateral verification and categorization process in Khudanabari camp in order to verify whether camp residents are Bhutanese, and to categorize them as evicted Bhutanese citizens, voluntary migrants, non-Bhutanese, or Bhutanese who have committed crimes.

Women’s Focal Point - The women’s focal point is an elected member of the camp management committee. She is responsible for supporting women in the camps by counseling them and channeling their complaints to appropriate entities, including UNHCR, the RCU, and health care providers.