Spotlight Initiative partner agency PAHO helps strengthen services for victims of family violence in the heath sector

As a key implementing partner of the Spotlight Initiative, on Wednesday, January 27th, 2021, the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) Trinidad and Tobago Country Office, handed over a package of gender-based violence communication products to the Ministry of Health. The products are targeted to policymakers and health-workers and comprise notebooks, posters, and desk calendars. They were designed to communicate data related to the high incidence of GBV, its impact on the physical and mental health of women and girls, and how policymakers and health workers could help survivors, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Spotlight Initiative is a global multi-year partnership between the European Union and the United Nations to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls by 2030. Its work is centered on six pillars: (1) Policies and Legislation; (2)Institutional capacity building; (3) Prevention; (4) Strengthened service delivery to survivors; (5) Quality and accessible data to inform policymaking and (6) Empowerment of women’s movement and civil society. 

 In Trinidad and Tobago, one in three women in intimate partnerships report having experienced intimate partner violence and child abuse is prevalent. This Initiative is the first of several Spotlight communication initiatives that the United Nations will undertake to strengthen the country's institutional response, including within the health sector, to family violence.