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Data shows that children in Papua New Guinea commonly experience physical and/or verbal abuse and/or neglect from their parents/caregivers. The levels of abuse are higher for disabled and adopted children. In addition, many children witness violence between their parents and among other family members. The Spotlight Initiative (led by UNICEF), in partnership with faith-based organisations (FBOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs), launched the Parenting for Childhood Development (P4CD) programme in six provinces of Papua New Guinea. This programme consisted of a series of training…
In 2019, Spotlight Initiative programmes conducted a contextual analysis across the Pacific region to better understand the policy and legal context that contributed to high rates of VAWG. This analysis showed that domestic violence legal frameworks exist in the form of Family Protection Acts in countries such as Samoa and Fiji. However, sexual and reproductive coercion was not criminalised as a form of domestic violence. In some countries, there were also discrepancies between different laws and policies, due in part to a lack of coordination between government ministries when developing new…
In Uganda, following the delivery of capacity strengthening sessions with government stakeholders, host and refugee communities advocating for EVAWG and the safety of women, new commitments were made in Yumbe District, which had a high prevalence rate of teenage pregnancies. Local authorities advocated for police to adequately investigate and bring perpetrators of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) to justice. In Adjumani District, a GBV ordinance is being pushed for by district women councillors (women caucus) and has received support by the local chairperson.
Additionally, through ‘security…
In Papua New Guinea, Spotlight Initiative has collaborated with parliamentarians to address gender-based violence (GBV). Following widespread public outcry against high-profile cases of domestic violence, the Coalition of Parliamentarians to End GBV in Papua New Guinea was formed in 2020. The coalition consists of governors and ministries across different provinces.
“Being part of the public hearing… women who were accused of sorcery stand up to the mic and talk about the issues of what actually happens when women are accused of sorcery… and there are leaders who will be held accountable…
When the COVID-19 pandemic started, many Spotlight Initiative programmes were already being implemented and teams had to quickly adapt implementation to changing realities. Overall, Spotlight Initiative rapidly accelerated and redirected more than USD 21 million across programmes to address VAWG in the context of COVID-19. For example:
Mobile and remote services were developed and reinforced to address the acute needs of women and girls. For example, the Zimbabwe programme scaled up mobile one-stop centre service provision, exceeding the set target by 300% and bringing women with…
Grantees of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women used core institutional funds for a variety of purposes which have contributed to the sustainability of WROs and CSOs, including:
Self-care and staff resilience: In Argentina, Fundación Andhes, an organisation that trains cis, trans and lesbian women to become legal advisors for survivors of violence, used its core funding to hire a psychologist to support staff responding to reports of violence. In Nigeria, the HACEY Health Initiative also engaged a therapist to support their staff. Staff in the HACEY Health Initiative reported…