The Murad Code project is a global consultative initiative aimed at building and supporting a community of better practice for, with and concerning survivors of systematic and conflict-related sexual violence (“SCRSV”). Its key objective is to respect and support survivors’ rights and to ensure work with survivors to investigate, document and record their experiences is safe, ethical and effective in upholding their human rights.

RECORDING & GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION of West Africa Dialogue on the Murad Code “Uncovering Blind Spots: Empowering Survivors in Transitional Justice - Understanding Drivers of Harmful and Good Practices When Documenting Systematic and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, and Adopting a Survivor-Centred Approach.” On 27 June 2024, IICI hosted a 90-minute webinar featuring a panel discussion with key actors involved in transitional justice processes in West Africa: Fatou Baldeh MBE, CEO of Women in Liberation and Leadership (The Gambia); Councillor Isaac George, Chief Prosecutor at the Ministry of Justice’s SGBV Crimes Unit (Liberia); Gloria Bayoh, Head of Gender and Children's Rights Affairs at the National Human Rights Commission (Sierra Leone); and Isma’il Alfa, journalist with work featured in the New York Times and Al Jazeera (Nigeria). Throughout the discussion, the panellists identified and explored drivers of both harmful and survivor-centred practices related to gathering and using information about systematic and conflict-related sexual violence, and shared valuable lessons for future transitional justice mechanisms on offering a pathway to greater accountability and dignity for victims and survivors. The recording of the webinar, in English, can be found here. The French transcript and presentation from the webinar are available here. A graphic illustration drawing out the key themes and relevant commitments from the Murad Code discussed by panellists during the event is available here in English and French.

NEW MURAD CODE TRANSLATIONS. IICI is glad to announce that the Murad code (that is, the Global Code of Conduct for Gathering and Using Information about Systematic and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence) now also is available in Bosnian, Sorani Kurdish, Nepali, Burmese, Amharic, Tigrigna and Swahili.  These new translations and the English, Arabic, Spanish, French and Ukrainian versions are available on the Murad Code page. We are grateful to the translators and reviewers; the code is a challenging text to translate well. Should users of these translations discover any mistakes or other problems, please email us (preferably in English) at info@muradcode.com with your recommended improvements.

2023-26 IMPLEMENTATION OF MURAD CODE. We are grateful to the government of Canada, through Global Affairs Canada, for its funding and other partnership support to further implement the Code in 2023-2026. Building on the foundations of 2019-2023, and working with partners around the globe, the focus in 2023-2026 would be on (a) the improved implementation of the minimum standards distilled in the Code by documenters, investigators, funders, humanitarians, journalists and others; (b) the use of the Code by survivors to demand respect for their human rights during documentation and other information-gathering processes; and (c) improved collaboration and cooperation between and within sectors who gather information about SCRSV. Further details about the focus of the 2023-26 work will be provided shortly.

GUIDE ON SURVIVOR-CENTRED & EFFECTIVE OPEN-SOURCE RESEARCH. IICI is partnering with the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (HRC) to develop a guide for practitioners on how to conduct survivor-centred and effective open-source research, investigations and other information-gathering (OSR) into systematic and conflict-related sexual violence (SCRSV). The Code is the benchmark and framework for the forthcoming guide.  The guide’s content will be aligned with the minimum standards distilled in the Code and articulate how the minimum standards apply to OSR. A draft guide is being developed with the help of an expert working group and other advisers, including survivors. The draft guide should be published for global feedback later in 2023; the final guide will be published in 2024.

RECORDING of IICI-hosted panel discussion at PSVI conference: “The Murad Code: how to implement it”. IICI hosted a panel discussion on the theme “The Murad Code: how to implement it” at the PSVI conference of 28-29 November 2022 in London.  The video-recording of the panel discussion can be found here.  The panellists and audience shared examples & ideas for how the Global Code of Conduct for Gathering and Using Information About Systematic and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (the “Murad Code”) can be implemented.  The panellists mainly focused on cooperation across sectors, and by funders, governments, humanitarian actors, the media and civil society, including survivor organisations.  The panellists were Nadia Murad, Kolbassia Haoussou, Nina Donaghy, Ingrid Elliott, Mollie Fair and Brahmy Poologasingham; the discussion was moderated by Gabriel Oosthuizen.  IICI was delighted at the level of implementation support expressed for the Murad Code at the PSVI conference, including by governments. 

RECORDING of IICI & Nadia’s Initiative webinar of 14 April 2022. IICI & Nadia’s Initiative have co-hosted a webinar on Survivor-Centred Documentation of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: the Murad Code Project on 14 April 2022, which accompanied the release of the Murad Code of Conduct. A recording of the webinar is available here on UN Web TV (in English, including English live captioning, and with International Sign language interpretation). The webinar moderators, speakers and panellists were Nadia Murad, Lord Tariq Ahmad, Miriam Lewin, Nadine Tunasi, Erin Gallagher, Priya Gopalan, Ingrid Elliott, Philip Trewhitt and Gabriel Oosthuizen.

The main components of the Murad Code project include:

• The Murad Code: a global, voluntary code of conduct for those collecting information from survivors of systematic and conflict-related sexual violence. The Murad Code’s full title is the “Global Code of Conduct for Gathering and Using Information about Systematic and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence”. The Code is named after the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Nadia Murad, which reflects its objective to place survivors’ rights and well-being at its heart.

• A set of practical Code-implementation tools and guidance for survivors, those who gather and use information about SCRSV, and policy-makers, managers and funders. This toolkit will link the Code’s core commitments and its implementation to helpful guidance, resources, guidelines and international law sources, and will include shared learning and practical, creative ways to use and apply the Code across sectors and with different types of resource constraints and realities. This toolkit will include a “survivors’ charter” or survivors’ perspectives resource addressed to documenters but prepared by survivors to express their wishes on how documenters should engage with them and which reflects the core commitments of the Code, as well as a survivor’s guide for survivors, which will assist them to better understand and demand respect and protection for their rights during documentation processes.

• In partnership with survivors, information-gatherers, policy-makers, funders and other actors around the globe, Code-implementation pilot projects, dialogues, technical and other assistance, “breaking-down-silos” exchanges within and between sectors involved in the gathering and use of SCRSV information, and capturing and sharing of lessons learned.

The main interlinked goals of the Murad Code project are:

• To distill existing minimum or core standards which are critical for safe, effective and survivor-centric gathering and use of information about systematic and conflict-related sexual violence (“SCRSV”) through the development and implementation of a globally supported code of conduct. The goal is not to create new core standards.

• To strengthen respect for, and fullfilment of, survivors’ and witnesses’ human rights, including with regards to dignity, privacy, health, safety, justice, remedies and development.

• To reduce and ultimately prevent further harm, including re-traumatisation, being caused to survivors.

• Generally, to enhance the effectiveness of such documentation efforts, thus improving the chances of better outcomes for survivors, and, consequently, for those who document and the wider local, national and international communities.

• To set in place support systems and provide practical guidance to ensure all actors can commit and adhere to the Code, in their respective roles, without creating any insurmountable barriers to those willing and able to act in the best interests of survivors.

The Murad Code project is a global, consultative initiative involving partners from across the globe, including survivors and other individuals, civil-society organisations, governments, inter-governmental and other international organisations, and funders. The idea of a global code of conduct for the gathering and use of information about systematic and conflict-related sexual violence originated with the Institute for International Criminal Investigations (IICI) (www.iici.global). The government of Canada, through Global Affairs Canada, is providing funding and other partnership support in 2023-2026. The founding partners of the project are IICI, Nadia’s Initiative (www.nadiasinitiative.org) and the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative of the UK government (PSVI).