Interagency Council Finalizes Draft National Action Plan to Combat Violence against Women
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On 18-19 January, 2016, UN Women Country office in Georgia, in cooperation with a technical expert from the UN Women ECA Regional Office, organized a workshop on Results Based Management (RBM) for members of the Interagency Council Implementing Measures to Eliminate Domestic Violence.
The workshop was aimed at finalizing the “National Action Plan (NAP) on the Measures to be Implemented for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims/Survivors (for 2016-2017)”. Members of the Interagency Council, i.e. representatives of government agencies and NGOs operating in the field of combating and preventing violence against women and girls / domestic violence (VAWG/DV), strengthened theoretical knowledge on RBM. In addition, Interagency Council members jointly worked on development of indicators for efficient monitoring of the implementation of VAWG/DV NAP 2016-2017.
Previous National Action Plans adopted in Georgia have focused solely on domestic violence. The VAWG/DV NAP 2016-2017 will cover violence against women more broadly, including both, domestic and sexual violence issues.
Sopo Japaridze, Interagency Council Chair and Assistant to the Prime Minister on Human Rights and Gender Equality Issues, stated, “The expansion of the scope of the National Action Plan will significantly broaden the obligations undertaken by Georgia, as well as ensure increased protection of DV victims/survivors and the establishment of the first ever specialized services for victims/survivors of sexual violence in Georgia”.
The VAWG/DV NAP 2016-2017 will be results oriented and costed to ensure transparency and greater accountability for its implementation. The Plan takes into account key international commitments of the government of Georgia concerning VAWG: the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention (signed in 2014), CEDAW Committee recommendations (2014), as well as UN Sustainable Development Goal 5, where one of the key targets is to eliminate all forms of VAWG by 2030.
The new NAP is expected to be approved by the Government of Georgia in February 2016.