The Gender-Based Violence Area of Responsibility (GBV AoR) is the global level forum for coordination and collaboration on GBV prevention, response and advancing risk mitigation in humanitarian settings under the Cluster System. The GBV AoR constitutes a focus area within the Global Protection Cluster (GPC). The GBV AoR works to strengthen systemwide preparedness and technical capacity to respond to humanitarian crises, bringing together non-governmental organisations, UN agencies, academics and others under the shared objective of ensuring life-saving, predictable, accountable and effective action on GBV. The GBV AoR was founded in 2006 and sits within the GPC, one of the eleven humanitarian clusters established by the IASC in 2005. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) co-coordinated the GBV AoR with UNICEF until April 2016, when UNFPA took on the sole lead Agency and provider of last resort role. 

Core Functions of the GBVAoR:

• Global leadership and coordination
• Support to field level coordination mechanisms
• Advocacy, communications and partner engagement
• Learning, development and capacity building
• Policy and standard setting

As of December 2021, GBV AoR has operational presence in 44 countries across 5 regions around the world: Arab States Asia & the Pacific East & Southern Africa Eastern Europe & Central Asia Latino America & the Caribbean West & Central Africa; including 28 IASC clusters and 16 other coordination mechanisms (e.g. GBV sub-sectors, GBV working groups, etc).