Meeting the challenges of the moment
The COVID-19 global pandemic made 2020 an incomparable year. With national lockdowns and mobility restrictions, and health and support services closed or limited, violence against women and girls escalated at a staggering rate. On 5 April 2020, UN Secretary-General António Guterres sounded the alarm, and urged governments to ensure national COVID-19 response plans included the prevention and redress of gender-based violence. More than 140 countries responded to this call. Yet despite global concern and growing evidence of the situation’s severity, the crisis of male violence against women and girls deepened.
The Spotlight Initiative was equipped to act. In our third year of operations, our broad base of partnerships helped us quickly identify new ways of working to deliver results for women and girls. Our joint, coordinated efforts across different UN entities enabled us to adapt and respond swiftly and retool programmes as needed. We had the flexibility to shift funds to local and grassroots women’s organizations working on the front lines. We had the experience and relationships to influence national COVID-19 response and recovery plans and ensure violence against women and girls was being addressed.
But our work is far from complete. COVID-19 continues to devastate communities across the globe, and women’s rights have significantly regressed. Women have been the hardest hit by unemployment, forced into poverty, and widely bear the increased toll of unpaid care responsibilities – all of which increase vulnerabilities to greater violence and exploitation. In the past year, as life has shifted increasingly online, so too has violence, harassment and abuse. As the world continues to weather the worst economic crisis in a century, the rise in gender-based violence and harmful practices, like child marriage, should frighten us all. Girls who marry and stop going to school typically live with fewer opportunities and can face greater risks of domestic violence and health problems – including maternal mortality – feeding a dangerous cycle of oppression, harm and poverty for future generations.
Violence against women and girls may not be new but the opportunities and threats we face today are. 2020 served as a meaningful test of the Spotlight Initiative model and demonstrated that our approach to stemming violence works. We have the model. Now is the time to hasten the pace of change.
"impact" - Google News
November 20, 2021 at 11:00AM
https://ift.tt/3FBne7F
Spotlight Initiative: Rising to the challenge - Impact report 2020-2021 - World - ReliefWeb
"impact" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2RIFll8
https://ift.tt/3fk35XJ
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Spotlight Initiative: Rising to the challenge - Impact report 2020-2021 - World - ReliefWeb"
Post a Comment