On 7 June 2022, UNFPA in collaboration with UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO, UNDP, UNODC, and UN women concluded a 3-week virtual workshop on the United Nations Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence. The overall objective of the workshop was to strengthen participants’ capacity to implement a quality multisectoral approach to GBV and apply this within their national contexts.
In his opening remarks, UNFPA Regional Director ad interim, Dr. Bannet Ndyanabangi reiterated the need to safeguard women and girls in the region. " The safety of women and girls in the region can be achieved through sustained and collaborative actions and targeted interventions that are well coordinated to ensure accelerated gains and increased risk mitigation against GBV," he said.
This pilot workshop was organized for government officials, CSO and UN personnel from Tanzania, Eswatini, Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan. The workshop was well attended, on average there were 40-45 participants present per session, who actively engaged in the discussions and group exercises. The evaluation showed that participants were happy with the training too.
The overall learning experience was rated 4.2/5 and the overall course content received a 4.5/5.
During the workshop the countries' teams worked on an action plan, highlighting the most important actions to achieve a quality multisectoral approach to gender-based violence and ensuring that survivors can receive quality care. We wish the country team all the best with the rollout and are looking forward to receiving an update toward the end of this year.
What is the Essential Service Package?
The United Nations Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence, a partnership by UN Women, UNFPA, WHO, UNDP and UNODC, aims to provide greater access to a coordinated set of essential and quality multi-sectoral services for all women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence.
The Programme identifies the essential services to be provided by the health, social services, police and justice sectors as well as guidelines for the coordination of essential services and the governance of coordination processes and mechanisms. Service delivery guidelines for the core elements of each essential service have been identified to ensure the delivery of high-quality services, particularly for low- and middle-income countries, for women and girls experiencing violence. Taken together, these elements comprise the “Essential Services package” (Unwomen, 2015).
