Back in 2013, the inter-agency GBVIMS Steering Committee participated in the development of a new database, called Primero. Primero is a partnership of UNICEF, IRC, Save the Children, UNFPA, DPKO and OSRSG-CAAC. Primero is an open-source software system designed to help GBV and Child Protection service providers securely and safely collect, store, manage, and share data on case management and incident monitoring. Primero houses different modules, and GBVIMS+ is one module of Primero. This is why you may see it called “Primero/GBVIMS+”. You may already be familiar with the paper-based GBVIMS for incident monitoring. GBVIMS + is an technological enhancement of the traditional GBVIMS. What’s more, it goes beyond incident monitoring, to include functionalities for GBV case management.
You can find the 2020 Periodic Review of the GBVIMS+ in English here.
GBVIMS+ utilizes technology enhancements to manage individual cases and services (case management) for survivors, as well as aggregate incident monitoring, while also facilitating internal compilation. The system also features heightened security, role-based access and viewing rights, and ways to accommodate different languages.
GBVIMS+ and international standards
GBVIMS+ is designed to integrate international best practices and standards in GBV case management and information management. Foundational to GBVIMS are the Guiding Principles and the Survivor-centered Approach:
- Ensuring the physical safety of the survivor.
- Guaranteeing confidentiality.
- Respecting the wishes, the rights, and the dignity of the survivor.
- Ensuring non-discrimination.
The GBVIMS tools are also rooted in the practices embodied in the WHO 2008 Safety and Ethical Recommendations for Documenting, Monitoring and Researching Sexual Violence in Emergencies including, for example:
- GBVIMS+ is only used by people directly providing services.
- Survivor/incident data is anonymised so that the confidentiality of survivors is protected.
- Incident data and referral data is only shared with informed consent from survivors.
- Client data is protected at all times and only shared with those who are authorised
- An agreement must be reached with all service providers on how data will be shared, used, and protected, and for what purposes.
The GBVIMS+ is also built to reflect the principles and practices recommended in the 2017 Inter-Agency GBV Case Management Guidelines, to ensure that survivor data is collected safely and ethically, and in line with what case management staff need to know in order to perform their duties, and to promote good supervision practices while facilitating safe referral between services. GBVIMS+ also helps us to analyse how well our services are adhering to the GBV Case Management Guidelines by measuring Key Performance Indicators.
The Inter-Agency Minimum Standards for Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies Programming also recognise that the minimum requirements for GBV survivor data management are those embodied in the GBVIMS.
Advantages of GBVIMS+
GBVIMS+ technology brings numerous advantages:
- Ease of global updates, bug fixes
- Mobile application allows for data collection in low-connectivity environments
- Accommodate different languages (English, French, Arabic, Spanish, and more)
- Ease of Compilation
- Strengthened case management and supervision through flagging, approvals, and referral features
- Heightened Security
- Based in more secure framework (threat tests conducted)
- Role-based access (increased emphasis on confidentiality.
What will change, if you already use the GBVIMS?
If you’re already using the paper-based GBVIMS for incident monitoring, not a lot will change!
You will still use the Classification Tool (1), and then instead of entering data into the paper intake form and consent forms (2), you’ll enter it straight into the digital versions of these forms in the GBVIMS+ platform (4) using a mobile device or a computer. GBVIMS+ contains digital versions of the case management forms found in the Inter-Agency GBV Case Management Guidelines (3), so you will also enter case management information directly into the GBVIMS+ platform (4), and access different features for case management. You can perform a basic level of data analysis inside the GBVIMS+ platform. For inter-agency data sharing, and to perform more in-depth analysis, you can export the Incident Monitoring data to the Excel-based Incident Recorder, (5) which will automatically generate aggregate statatistics report that you can share with others. Lastly, the Information Sharing Protocol template (6) will ensure that inter-agency data sharing is safe, ethical and useful for improving programming and advovacy.
For more, check out these short videos on GBVIMS+: