Gender-based violence
The consequences of gender-based violence are a major obstacle to reducing poverty, achieving gender equality and meeting the regional goals.Gender-based violence takes many forms and includes rape, sexual exploitation, sexual assault and abuse, domestic violence, trafficking of women and girls, forced prostitution, sexual harassment and discrimination. It also encompasses forms of violence that are specific to cultures and societies, such as female genital mutilation, widow inheritance, and early and forced marriage.

Interventions and Priorities.

• ARD is engaging all stakeholders — from the community level to the local authorities’ level—to ensure widespread commitment to eliminating GBV.
• Multisectoral prevention and response strategies to gender-based violence are our priority.
• Standards for clinical management, care and counseling of survivors of gender-based violence
• Working with men, especially male youth, to change attitudes and behaviors.
• Filling  gaps on the  pervasiveness and  character of GBV in different regions,  class,  and  institutional  contexts  to  better  inform  advocacy  efforts  and program design.
• Developing better indicators and collecting better service delivery data for monitoring and evaluation, ongoing program assessment, and ongoing program improvement.

Child Protection
ARD uses holistic strategic frame work that identifies and provides clear direction and focus, immediately and for the longer term. To improve the status of children in Somalia with the objective of identifying mechanisms those are of special significance to the situation of children in the country,

This work has resulted in the development of a more integrated approach to service delivery for children, young people and their families.

Specific Objectives:

• Direct Interventions to Provide support to vulnerable children and families such that their capacity to sustain themselves is strengthened and provide residential care for orphans and other vulnerable children as a last resort
• Mobilization, Advocacy and Promotion to Mobilize resources to ensure that the ARD Child policy is implemented,advocate effectively at all levels to ensure that concerns of orphans and other vulnerable children are appreciated, use the media to promote mitigation and care efforts and advocate for the strengthening of positive cultural values that foster for the care and protection of orphans and other vulnerable children.
• Collaboration and Linkages to implement interventions through local authorities, CSOs, the private sector, networks and other actors to enhance capacity and increase outreach ; and lobby other sectors to address the situation of orphans and other vulnerable children.
• Leadership To use leadership platforms at all levels to galvanize national & international attention to the issues of orphans and other vulnerable children.
• Gender- Promote awareness of the impact of vulnerability on male and female children who are care givers.
• Monitoring and Evaluation to ensure that the Policy is integrated into the M&E systems of other sectors; and document and disseminate best practices and experiences learnt for scaling up interventions at all levels;

ARD will focus on programmes that are cost-effective and have the greatest impact on reducing vulnerability and improving the welfare of orphans and other vulnerable children to promote equity. Interventions that build capacity and improve quality and effectiveness will be supported and implemented in an integrated manner. The priority areas of focus are care and support, child protection, education, health, food security and nutrition, psychosocial support, socio-economic security, conflict resolution and peace-building. These interventions constitute the Essential Services Package for orphans and other vulnerable children.