This Handbook has been produced by the global Gender-based Violence (GBV) Area of Responsibility Working Group as a quick reference tool for all individuals and agencies involved in GBV programming and coordination in humanitarian/ emergency settings. The handbook contains practical guidance on leadership roles, key responsibilities and specific actions to be taken when establishing and maintaining a GBV coordination mechanisms in a humanitarian setting. The focus in primarily on work that should be done to scale up coordination from the onset of an emergency (both conflict and natural disasters) but is also relevant to contingency planning and post-emergency stabilization phases. The goal of the handbook is to improve coordination capacity at the field level in order to facilitate accessible, prompt, confidential and appropriate services for survivors according to a basic set of principles and to put in place mechanisms to prevent GBV. The handbook can also be used as an advocacy tool to educate non-GBV programmers--including UN personnel, government officials, NGO staff and donors--about basic protection responsibilities related to GBV coordination, prevention and response.