E46.8m needed to fight GBV
MBABANE – It may cost the country about E46 808 200 to reduce gender-based violence (GBV) by half by 2027.
This is if anything is to go by the five-year national strategy cost to end GBV from 2023 to 2027.
The strategy carries with it numerous thought-out efforts.
“The goal of this strategy is to reduce all forms of violence in Eswatini by 50 per cent by 2027. This is premised on the belief that it can be possible to research the motivators for violence and, as such, develop appropriate strategies to prevent and respond to violence,” the document reads in part.
The national document was compiled after consultations and focus groups with various stakeholders.
The strategy is housed in the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (DPM) under the Department of Gender and Family Issues.
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The former DPM, Themba Masuku, acknowledged in his foreword the various groups’ representatives participation in the process.
He also said the country produced a strategy that was aligned with regional and international frameworks on GBV prevention and response, including the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Regional Strategy, the Framework for Action for Addressing GBV 2018, and the SADC GBV Prevention Handbook 2022.
“Furthermore, instrumental commitments that have set the tone of the global response to GBV include the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1981); the Convention on the Rights of Children (CRC, 1990); and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA, 1995),” the strategy states in part. Anchoring his words, the Principal Secretary in the DPM’s Office, Melusi Masuku, said institutions, constituencies and Multisectoral Team on Violence (MTTV) pioneered the development of the strategy.
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The DPM’s Office said collaborators included civil society organisations, community-based organisations (CBO), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), persons with disabilities (PWD), key populations, donor agency partners, development partners, and the government.
There were various ministries that also contributed.
There were also the security agencies, the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) and His
Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS), along with technical partners.
To highlight a few of the activities, it is included in the activities to develop three further violence prevention plans. This exercise is projected to cost E735 000 and would meet the first objective.
Another activity is the development of comprehensive interventions for traditional and religious leaders, which is projected to cost E1 585 000.
Taxpayers are expected to also pay E480 000, which would be for their own benefit through the creation and flooding of awareness activities on crucial legislation, including the Computer Crime and Cyber Crime Act of 2020.
Overall, there are 48 planned activities for the five-year period, all of which cost money.
Each of these activities feeds into 16 objectives and five pillars.
The first pillar of the strategy is the prevention of violence.
It has five objectives: To develop societal attitudes that support a reduction in violence; to prevent violence on children and young people; to prevent violence among underserved populations (PWD, OVC, asylum seekers and refugees, persons on the move, and key populations); to create equal, safe, and inclusive work places that are free of violence; and to restorative justice and rehabilitation of perpetrators in communities.
Pillar two is support given to survivors and their families.
Its objectives are: Community systems strengthening (CSS) implementation to respond to violence; and health systems strengthening (HSS) to respond to violence.
Pillar three is promoting responsive legal and justice systems.
Its objectives are: To strengthen and review laws and policies governing the response to violence; to promote equity and fairness in the justice system; and to strengthen the rehabilitation of offenders.
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Pillar four is promoting partnerships and coordination for effective violence prevention and response.
The objectives there are: Multisectoral coordination of the response to end violence and to promote mental health wellness for first responders to violence.
The last pillar, pillar five, is sustaining a violence knowledge centre (monitoring, evaluation, and research).
Its objectives are to: Promote the generation, collection, and use of data and research to enhance violence prevention and response efforts; strengthen monitoring, surveillance, and surveys on violence; identify and share promising practices and lessons learned; and report on the strategy’s progress and results.