S/2017/249 declaration in October by the Director of Yazidi Affairs in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, 971 Yazidi women and girls have been freed from ISIL, while 1,882 remain enslaved in territories under its control in both Iraq and Syria. Another official note d that ISIL has forcibly transferred a number of Yazidis from Mosul to Raqqah (Syria). Such statements corroborate reports of trafficking, including the sale and trade of women and children, as well as the use of sexually enslaved women as human shields by ISIL during the Mosul operations. 40. Obtaining data on such crimes is complicated by ongoing military operations and social factors such as fear of stigmatization. New challenges have emerged, including the need to address the status of children born to rape survivors and to reintegrate survivors into their communities. Meeting these challenges will require both legislative action and engagement with religious and community leaders to encourage the acceptance of survivors and their children. This will be a critical component of broader intracommunity and intercommunity reconciliation. Addressing the consequences of conflict-related sexual violence will require a scaling-up of resources for psychosocial services and for the proper documentation of crimes, as the reign of terror by ISIL recedes and its impact on communities becomes clearer. 41. To this end, several United Nations agencies are supporting the authorities to address conflict-related sexual violence in three key areas, namely: building capacity for the delivery of multisectoral services; fostering community resilience to prevent and mitigate violence and harmful traditional practices; and strengthening coordination and advocacy. To complement these efforts, on 23 September, the United Nations signed a joint communiqué with the Government to prevent and address conflict-related sexual violence. The joint communiqué covers six priority areas: legislative and policy reform; accountability; services and reparations; engaging religious and tribal leaders, civil society and women’s groups; integrating gender considerations into counter-terrorism measures; and awareness-raising. My Special Representative visited Iraq in February 2017 to advance the implementation of those commitments. Recommendation 42. I call upon the Government of Iraq to ensure that allegations of sexual violence are investigated and prosecuted and that services are scaled up to meet the needs of survivors, including through the establishment of safe houses and shelters, operated in collaboration with women’s civil society groups. I further urge the authorities to integrate a gender perspective into counter-terrorism strategies. Libya 43. Sustained violence and conflict across Libya, in a context of acute political instability, continued to exacerbate the plight of civilians, with the situation of migrants raising particular concerns. Libya remains a country of transit, with 162,895 arrivals to Italy by sea recorded by UNHCR in 2016. In the course of their journey, women and girls are often exposed to sexual violence by some parties to the conflict, as well as by smugglers, traffickers and other criminal groups. They also face threats and incidents of sexual violence when held, sometimes for months, in detention centres under poor conditions. Groups pledging allegiance to ISIL have 17-05090 13/33