In Grenada, donors and partners review progress and recommit to ending violence against women and girls

ST GEORGE'S, Grenada - On May 6, 2021, partners and donors of the Spotlight Initiative to End Violence Against Women and Girls held a global consultation to review achievements to date, and to explore next steps for accelerating meaningful implementation of the Grenada programme. To this end, the theme adopted for 2021 implementation is “Move Money Meaningfully”.

The consultation included wide participation from key government representatives, development partners, regional institutions and civil society organizations, highlighting achivements from the the 2020 annual report.

2020 achievements include:

• The Ministry of Legal Affairs conducted an assessment of the gaps in the legal and policy framework for ending violence against women and girls and identified the main changes needed to improve them.
   
• The Ministry of Social Development, Housing and Community Empowerment conducted a campaign aimed at promoting positive parenting through social media messaging and bus wraps, as well as a campaign for 16 Days of Activism. It was estimated that 50,000 persons received messages aimed at preventing gender-based violence and family violence.
   
• Improvements were made to increase access to quality essential services: a rapid assessment was done which led to the drafting of new standard operating procedures for the social, health, policing and justice sectors; the Home for Abused Women was retrofitted, a number of guidelines and forms for the social response sector were updated and the services at the Gender-based Violence Unit were strengthened.
   
• The Central Statistical Office facilitated a comprehensive baseline assessment and capacity gap analysis as the basis to establish a system for collection, analysis, and dissemination of national administrative data on Violence Against Women and Girls.
   
• Six Civil Society Organizations received grants in 2020. Of these, three embarked on capacity development activities and small projects. GrenCHAP’s focus is on marginalized groups who are often overlooked or excluded within critical support mechanisms, including the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQI+) community; sex workers and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). GRENED addresses violence in the home during the pandemic through advocacy and media engagement, and The Beaton, Laura, La Femme, Ballies Bacolet Community Organization is rolling out a child protection programme through the Community Library. In addition, the Legal Aid and Counselling Clinic, the Grenada Ladypreneurs – Our Women Succeed, and the Sweetwater Foundation were engaged to scale up services to victims and survivors.
   

To ensure transformative and sustainable programme outcomes, that result in significant improvements in the prevention and response to gender-based violence in Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, the Spotlight Secretariat aims to provide wide-ranging technical assistance and outreach to improve service delivery and increase public awareness.

“During the next few months, our activities will increase relative to training service providers; strengthening government’s capacity for service delivery, supporting the women’s movement and civil society organizations; conducting public awareness campaigns and retrofitting additional facilities that serve survivors of abuse,” said Programme Coordinator, Elaine Henry-McQueen.

The Grenada Spotlight Initiative will also be embarking on consultations with stakeholders and the public regarding amendments to the laws, and completing work started in 2020 including finalizing a critical draft policy to ensure victims and survivors rights to access timely, high-quality and relevant services, that prioritize their safety, health, and well-being.

Participants in the Global Consultation included Hon. Delma Thomas, Minister for Social Development, Housing and Community Empowerment; Mr. Luis Maia, Head of Development Cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States, the OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM; representatives from the United Nations; Civil Society Organizations; Civil Society National Reference Group; government partners; Inter-ministerial Council of Gender Focal Points; and the Project Coordination and Implementation Unit.
 
Background Information:

The Spotlight Initiative Grenada programme focuses on ending family violence and all forms of violence against women and girls in Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. It is designed to focus attention, coordinate human effort and strategically apply resources to the implementation of a well-conceived, comprehensive, national programme. The programme was officially launched on 5 March 2020.
 
For media enquiries, please contact:

Anika Davis, Communications Consultant Grenada Spotlight Initiative
Email: anika.davis@one.un.org
Phone: 1 473 405 5994.