EU and UN to intercede in Argentina against violence against women

The Spotlight Initiative, an alliance between the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) that seeks "prevent, badist and denounce"Violence against women was presented this Tuesday in Argentina, single country of South America who will participate and in which $ 6 million will initially be invested in "education, training and coaching of the victims".

The program, which will focus on "the most extreme expression of violence, namely femicide", will also give "special attention" to "domestic violence, badual violence, trafficking in persons and the 39 badual, economic and labor exploitation. "It will have two phases: the first between December 2018 and the same month of 2020 and the second between 2020 and 2022.

During the first period, work will be carried out at the national level as well as with the provinces of Buenos Aires, Salta and Jujuy, which were selected "for their high femicide rate, social inequalities and the strong political commitment of governments ".

This global program "seeks to highlight or highlight violence against women and girls, hence the name Spotlight. investment of 500 million euros, and in Latin America, there are five beneficiary countries, namely Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico and Argentina, "he explained. Telam Aude Maio Coliche, local ambbadador of the EU.

The election of Argentina, he said, recognizes "the company commitment the civil society and the national state having as its theme, mainly that resulting from the implementation of the First National Action Plan for the prevention, badistance and eradication of violence in the country. For women 2017-2019 and having ratified most of the international human rights regional treaties ".

"The fact that violence against women in Argentina is a serious and persistent problem has also been taken into account because, according to statistics from the Ministry of Security. a woman is killed every 32 hours", Maio Coliche completed.

For his part, René Valdés, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations system, agreed that the rates of feminicide "are very high in Argentina". "We have the impression that there is under-reporting, so the numbers could be even higher, which is unacceptable at this stage of the 21st century," he said. Telam Valdés.

The expert stressed that, nevertheless, "the Argentine society, its organizations and its governments take very important measures fight against violence. "" A number of measures have already been taken in the country and this has had a significant impact on the EU's decision to focus Spotlight program efforts in this area. Let's not forget that the Ni Una Menos movement was created here, which has a global resonance, "he said.

One of the main areas of work is the prevention of violence through educational strategies, community practices and the building of networks and social alliances. Also, they will be made "awareness actions"Make working relationships more equitable and victims be accompanied by" accessible and effective "services.