Spotlight Initiative prepares for next phase.
The government and civil society organisations in Samoa have been in the forefront to realize the vision behind the EU-UN Spotlight Initiative programme.
The United Nations Resident Coordinators Office organized consultations with government and civil society partners to prepare the Spotlight Initiative Samoa programme for its next phase.
The first phase of the Spotlight Initiative started in 2020 and was completed by December 2021.However due to internal and unforeseen external challenges including the covid 19 pandemic and the general elections of 2021, the implementation period for the first phase was extended to be completed by June 2022.
The next phase is from July 2022 to December 2023.
The planning of relevant activities, resources and results aspired to be achieved by December 2023 was the gist of the conversations with key government ministries and civil society organizations who have mandates and capacity to work in the gender based violence space on Wednesday 27th and Thursday 28th April, 2022 at the Taumeasina Island Resort.
In a spiritual encouragement offered by Paulo Sepuloni, violence is not a way of God and in the Spotlight Initiative programme, we must not divert away from our religious values to trust in the ways of God, but not of our own.
The Resident Representative for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Mr. Jorn Sorensen reminded the civil society organisations of the essential and crucial role they play to achieve the vision of the European Union and the United Nations behind the Spotlight Initiative, which is to end all forms of violence against women and girls.
The new Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Women Community and Social Development Dr. Mema Motusaga reaffirmed the support of the Ministry to ensure, that if the direction in phase was blur then way forward for significant results in phase 2 will be more cleared.
The Resident Coordinator Simona Marinescu emphasised the importance of collective efforts to ensure that the Spotlight Initiative contributes to achieving smaller numbers of women and girls who become victims of domestic and intimate partner violence.
For more information on the consultations.
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