US Department of State. (Photo: Courtesy).

The United States said Monday it will take real action to prevent and respond to Conflict-Related Sexual Violence and forms of gender-based violence across the world, as Norway calls on the South Sudan government to take concrete steps to end the vice in the country.

The statement comes as the world marked the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict on June 19.

“We send the following message to perpetrators of sexual violence: the world is watching, we stand unequivocally with survivors, and the international community will take real action to prevent and respond to CRSV, and all forms of gender-based violence, across the globe,” the statement partially read.

The US  says it does not accept conflict-related sexual violence s an inevitable cost of armed conflict,

It says “Despite global and national commitments to prevent and respond to gender-based violence,” they “must do more to bolster the rights and empowerment of survivors; promote survivors’ access to services and justice; and hold perpetrators accountable for their heinous crimes.”

The United States went on to say, it “remains committed to supporting survivor-centered and trauma-informed approaches to helping survivors access the services needed to help them recover and secure the justice they deserve.”

Norway echoes the US position saying: “For this International Day of the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, Norway stands with all survivors of sexual violence.”

However, it urged the government of South Sudan to take what it describes as “concrete steps to put an end to sexual violence and crime against women and girls by addressing the drivers of conflict and bringing the perpetrators to account.”

A week ago, South Sudan’s Foreign Affairs Minister told a conference in Oslo, Norway, the government would conduct a national conference in September on conflict-related sexual offenses and take concrete steps to end the vice in the country.

“We made clear steps to make sure that the offenders are prosecuted and know that these practices are eliminated,

“My government is convening the second national conference on conflict-related sexual violence in September this year, and the conference will develop concrete steps to end sexual violence against women and children,’ he said.

Dau told the participants that the government was working to address the prevalence of rape and all forms of sexual violence by armed forces against women and children in South Sudan.

According to the South Sudan diplomat, the government already committed through the comprehensive 2020 action plan to, he said: ” first criminalize rape and social abuses against children by the armed forces.”

Deng was invited to the conference by the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, among other foreign ministers, and was accompanied by a Director of European Affairs in Juba.