By Mohamed M. Sesay
In a press statement dated the 11th of April 2024, the European Union Ambassador Manuel Muller expressed elation to be part of the signature of the Financing Agreement on the EU-UN Spotlight, which marks the support of the European Union to the initiatives of the Government of Sierra Leone in the fight against violence against women and girls through close cooperation with the United Nations.
With over 15 million EUR of funds from the EU and a global partnership between the EU and the UN, he disclosed that the Spotlight Initiative aims to address SGBV and relieve women in society.
He furthered that it is clear to everyone that gender equality could not be achieved without ending violence against women, which makes gender violence not just a women’s issue but everyone’s issue.
Ambassador Muller alluded that the quantification of SGBV is also important and the Spotlight Initiative would contribute to this, too. He added that data are key to having informed policies and decisions and to raising awareness. He said the attention to data would be done keeping in mind that behind every statistic on violence against women, there is a human story, a story of pain, fear, and injustice. By signing this Financing Agreement, he said they all agree and commit to empowerment, equality, and justice.
Ambassador Muller continued that the implementation of this ambitious programme would be a common effort that lies in a multi-stakeholders approach. He assured that the initiative brings together: the Ministry of Finance, as the signatory and main actor in setting budgetary priority, but also the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs in the lead on violence against women, the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, providing respectively, psychosocial support and medical services for survivors, Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, implementing a radical education policy inclusive of Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHRs), Ministry of Justice and the Sierra Leone Police.
He acknowledged that the Government of Sierra Leone had already adopted a multi-sectorial response approach to SGBV, with services delivered jointly by medical practitioners, social welfare, and police staff in One-Stop Centers. He reaffirmed that such moves offer a comprehensive response to survivors and would be reinforced by the Spotlight Initiative to ensure that the increase in awareness of women’s rights would correspond to a service delivered to them all over the country.
Ambassador Muller also alluded that the Spotlight Initiative aligns with Sierra Leone’s Medium Term National Development Plan 2019-2023, supporting the country in achieving a drastic reduction “by more than 50% of the number of women experiencing Gender-Based Violence (GBV) compared to 2018”, hence contributing to reaching significant results, particularly toward SDG5. He said the overall objective of the Spotlight Initiative is that “All women and girls in Sierra Leone, particularly the most vulnerable, live a life free of violence and harmful practices, collectively described as violence against women and girls (VAWG)”. He added that this is undoubtedly a very ambitious objective and expressed optimism that with coordinated action, strong commitment, and efforts, they could all make a difference for the women of Sierra Leone.
“The Financing Agreement, signed today, needs to undergo Parliamentary scrutiny and approval. I am confident that the Parliamentary sitting will share our commitment to making the Spotlight Initiative a reality for the country. I would like to thank the Government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations for their continuous and precious collaboration”, Ambassador Muller concluded.
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