In the Pacific region up to two in every three women are impacted by domestic violence and gender-based violence – twice the global average based on national prevalence studies.
To respond to this challenging issue – and in a first for the Pacific – the European Union, Australian Government, United Nations and two Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP) are partnering to coordinate the region’s largest single project to date, to comprehensively end violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the Pacific.
Close to $47 million for the programme is funded primarily by the European Union with targeted support from the Australian Government and cost-sharing from UN Women.
The Pacific Partnership to End Violence Against Women and Girls (Pacific Partnership) brings together governments, civil society organisations, communities and other partners to promote gender equality, prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG), and increase access to quality response services for survivors.
The programme will build on the decades of work led in the region by civil society and governments to address this issue.
It is being jointly coordinated by the Pacific Community (SPC), the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (Forum Secretariat) and UN Women Fiji Multi-Country Office.
The programme’s official launch yesterday, at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, corresponds with the start of the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, from 25 November to 10 December, that raises awareness about violence against women and girls being a violation of human rights.
