– Guyana to receive 4.5M Euros to address root causes
The European Union (EU), in conjunction with the United Nations (UN) and the Government of Guyana on Saturday launched a National Spotlight Initiative to end violence against Women and Girls.
To guarantee the programme’s success here, the EU announced that it will be contributing 4.5M Euros or approximately G$1B over the next three years to invest in strategic and catalytic interventions to address the root causes and holistically address gender-based violence and family violence.
The 4.5M Euros forms part of a seed funding commitment of 500M Euros made by the EU during the launch of the initiative in 2017. The initiative represents an unprecedented global effort to invest in gender equality and women’s empowerment as a precondition and driver for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Guyana is among six Caribbean countries to benefit from the initiative.
During the virtual launch, broadcast live on the National Communications Network (NCN) on Saturday, President Irfaan Ali said the initiative is a demonstration of the global resolve to stem incidents of gender based violence. He posited that the initiative renews the world’s focus verbal, physical and emotional violence against women and girls.
“Guyana is committed to the advancement of gender equality and the empowerment of girls and women. We are determined to make progress on eliminating all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls,” the Head of State told the national, and global community.
However, the President acknowledged that detecting and responding to violence against women and girls present challenges, key among which is the fact that much of the violence committed is done within private settings such as homes, and often remains unrecognized and ends tragically.
Referencing to the Guyana’s Women, Health and Life Experiences Report of 2019, President Ali said, while painting a distressing picture, the survey found that 55 per cent of women experience interpersonal violence; 38 per cent experience at least one act of physical or sexual violence and 40 per cent had been subjected to emotional violence.
“Guyana’s approach to addressing violence against women is deeply embedded in ensuring compliance with our domestic laws, such as the Domestic Violence Act, and the Sexual Offences Act, and fulfilling our international obligation under agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women; the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women,” the President detailed.
He added that a National Task Force on Gender Based Violence has been resuscitated to ensure comprehensive, multifaceted and multi-levels strategic interventions to all forms of Gender Based Violence. Additionally, a National Plan of Action for Domestic and Sexual Violence will also be implemented together with a Survivors’ Advocate Programme, which will offer emotional support and crisis counseling to victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Marjeta Jager, the EU’s Deputy Director-General for the Director for International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), in her virtual presentation, said the COVID-19 pandemic, which has taken a significant toll on the world, has worsened the situation. It was explained that since the inception of the pandemic, there has been an alarming increase in the number of reported cases of violence against women and girls.
Describing violence against women and girls as one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violation today, Jager said the Spotlight Initiative is intended to stop this injustice not only in the EU but in partner countries.
According to her, the EU is currently working in 25 countries within six different regions. The situation in Guyana, she said, is worrying with studies showing that more than half of all partnered women have experienced one form of intimate partner violence. She said it is as a result of the worrying situation that the EU decided to invest 4.5M Euros in Guyana for dedicated programmes.
“We will work on legislation and institutional strengthening. We will boost the prevention efforts and then increase and adopt support to victims, improve data collection, and support women organizations,” Jager detailed.
Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina Mohammed; Ambassador of the EU Delegation, Fernando Ponz Cantó; and the UN Resident Coordinator, Mikiko Tanaka were among the key officials that delivered.
“The Spotlight Initiative is for the millions of abused women and girls around the world who seek nothing more than to enjoy their human right to participate equally in society, unleash their potential and live lives of dignity,” the Deputy UN Secretary-General has said.
Global statistics show that 1 in 3 women worldwide has experienced physical or sexual violence; 1 in 2 women killed worldwide in 2012 was killed by her partner or a family member; and 1 in 5 women and girls has experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner within the last 12 months. The global leaders, during the virtual launch, renewed their commitment to join forces to eliminate violence against women.
