Showing posts with label EU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EU. Show all posts

Monday, September 11, 2023

European Union (EU) Flagship Programme To End Violence Against Women Worldwide Shows Limited Impact So Far

 

PRESS RELEASE

European Union (EU) Flagship Programme To End Violence Against Women Worldwide Shows Limited Impact So Far

The €500 million Spotlight Initiative has been an ambitious attempt by the European Commission, together with the UN, to ensure that women and girls around the world live free from violence and harmful practices

LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg, September 11, 2023/ -- Almost one third of the €500 million in EU funding for the “Spotlight Initiative” went to its management by the United Nations; The initiative did not achieve its objective of attracting additional funding from new donors; Auditors call for better value for money and note risks to the sustainability of the activities.

The €500 million Spotlight Initiative has been an ambitious attempt by the European Commission, together with the UN, to ensure that women and girls around the world live free from violence and harmful practices. However, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors, this flagship EU programme for combating sexual and gender-based violence has shown little impact to date in terms of improving the situation of those it is intended to help. Despite positive achievements, the auditors found that the initiative could be managed more efficiently and could provide better value for money, as well as increasing the share of funding that reaches final beneficiaries to help more women and girls.

The Spotlight Initiative is a global strategic partnership between the EU and the UN to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls in partner countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Pacific and the Caribbean. Initially launched in 2017 for a period of four years, it was extended to the end of 2023 due to delays.

“Violence against women and girls has no place in the world, and no woman or girl should be left behind,” said Bettina Jakobsen, the ECA member in charge of the report. “Through the Spotlight Initiative, the EU has put more money than ever into ending such abuse, but more should reach final beneficiaries and we still need to see more impact.”

The auditors acknowledge that the initiative has benefited women and girls globally and helped to address violence. For instance, it has supported activities to prevent violence against women and girls, such as training and awareness campaigns, and services to victims of violence in all African and Latin American countries, albeit to different degrees and with varying levels of success. However, the initiative’s set-up only allows for a limited assessment of performance. Moreover, given its short time span and the fact that data are incomplete, it has not yet been possible to measure the improvement for beneficiaries, such as victims of violence or participants in training courses, and it is difficult to assess the extent to which it has achieved its intended results. There is no evidence that violence against women and girls has fallen in the countries covered.

External and internal factors led to challenges and delays in implementation. These included not only the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and domestic political changes, but also complex governance arrangements due to the number of UN organisations involved. The Commission’s choice of the UN as its implementing partner was a political decision in support of multilateralism. However, the UN’s costs of administering the initiative totalled $155 million (i.e. 31 % of the initiative’s total budget), leaving $351 million for the implementing partners and beneficiaries. Although the EU’s executive was aware that UN involvement entailed higher costs, it did not thoroughly compare the alternatives.

Despite being the sole funder, the EU has not always been given sufficient credit for funding visibility. Moreover, although the EU’s contribution was intended as seed funding to attract additional investors, no new donors have been found, and so results may not be sustained. The auditors also stress that the programme is not long enough to create lasting change on a complex issue which requires long-term actions and additional resources.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of European Court of Auditors (ECA).

Note to Editors:

The purpose of this press release is to convey the main messages of the European Court of Auditors’ special report. The full report is available at ECA.Europa.eu.

Press contact:

ECA press office:

press@eca.europa.eu

Damijan Fišer:

damijan.fiser@eca.europa.eu

M: (+352) 621 552 224

Claudia Spiti:

claudia.spiti@eca.europa.eu

M: (+352) 691 553 547

Vincent Bourgeais:

vincent.bourgeais@eca.europa.eu

M: (+352) 691 551 502

Background:

The Spotlight Initiative is founded on the ‘Theory of Change’ and its six pillars supporting policies and legislation, institutions, prevention, services, data, and women’s movements. This approach is complemented by the “leaving no one behind” principle, including measures to focus on marginalised populations. The initiative receives EU funding of €497 million (€250 million for Africa alone), €465 million of which is managed by the UN in more than 26 countries on four continents. The remaining €32 million is managed by the EU through civil society organisations; other donors have committed only symbolic amounts. An estimated one in three women have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once since the age of 15. According to data from the Initiative, in some countries the share of people who think it is justifiable for a man to beat his partner fell in 2021, but the figure actually went up in some Latin American and African countries. In Latin America, none of the supported programmes recorded a fall in cases of femicide.

ECA special report 21/2023 “The Spotlight Initiative to end violence against women and girls – ambitious but so far with limited impact” is available on the ECA’s website (ECA.Europa.eu).

SOURCE

European Court of Auditors (ECA)



Friday, March 19, 2010

ACP-EU / Second revision of the Cotonou Agreement

19 Mar 2010 05:31 Africa/Lagos


ACP-EU / Second revision of the Cotonou Agreement


BRUSSELS, March 18, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- A ministerial meeting on the revision of the ACP-EU partnership agreement will take place on Friday 19 March in Brussels at 11.00, chaired by Ms. Soraya Rodríguez, Spanish secretary of state for international cooperation and by Mr. Paul Bunduku-Latha, deputy minister for economy, trade, industry and tourism of Gabon. Representatives of 27 EU member states and 78 ACP states are due to participate, alongside the European Commission and the secretariat of the ACP group.


The meeting will finalise the second revision of the Cotonou Agreement, launched on 29 May 2009. The accord constitutes the foundation for the special relationship between the EU and 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. The formal adoption of the revised accord is planned for the next ACP-EU ministerial Council in Ougadougou, Burkina Faso, in June.


The partnership agreement is aimed at reducing and eventually eradicating poverty as well as at sustainable development and the gradual integration of ACP countries into the world economy. The partnership is based on three pillars: development cooperation, economic and trade cooperation and the political dimension.


The European Development Fund (EDF) is the main instrument for development aid to ACP states, with the 10th EDF providing for EUR 22.7bn in the period 2008-2013. In addition, ACP countries benefit from interventions of the European Investment Bank and of the EU development cooperation instrument. The agreement also provides for a political dialogue between the EU and ACP states on the basis of human rights, democratic principles and respect for the rule of law.


The second revision of the Cotonou Agreement is due to reinforce provisions against the proliferation of small arms and light weapons and against new security threats, such as organised crime and trafficking of people, drugs and weapons.

As part of the review, cooperation in the area of migration could be strengthened. This includes work on issues like remittances and brain drain as well as on legal and illegal migration, e.g. smuggling and trafficking of human beings, border management and readmission. Negotiations for a relevant appendix to the accord will continue and could be concluded in autumn.

In addition, the review will:


− strengthen possibilities to support the development of aquaculture and fisheries sectors in ACP states;


− promote support to ACP countries for scaling up the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic;


− improve opportunities to assist ACP states in adapting to global warming and in integrating climate change into their development strategies;


− accelerate work towards mutual recognition of higher education qualifications;


− reinforce regional cooperation within the ACP group.

A joint declaration on development assistance after the expiry of the 10th EDF is also due to be adopted.

The ACP-EU partnership agreement was signed on 23 June 2000 in Cotonou, Benin. It was concluded for a period of 20 years and provides for reviews every five years; the first revision was signed in Luxembourg in 2005. The accord replaced four successive Lomé conventions that had constituted the basis of trade relations with and development aid to ACP states since 1975.


The ACP group comprises 48 countries from sub-Saharan Africa, 15 from the Caribbean and 15 from the Pacific:

Angola - Antigua and Barbuda - Belize - Cape Verde - Comoros - Bahamas - Barbados - Benin - Botswana - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cameroon - Central African Republic - Chad - Congo(Brazzaville) - Congo (Kinshasa) - Cook Islands - Ivory Coast - Cuba - Djibouti - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Eritrea - Ethiopia - Fiji - Gabon - Gambia - Ghana - Grenada - Republic of Guinea - Guinea-Bissau - Equatorial Guinea - Guyana - Haiti - Jamaica - Kenya - Kiribati - Lesotho - Liberia - Madagascar - Malawi - Mali - Marshall Islands - Mauritania - Mauritius - Micronesia - Mozambique - Namibia - Nauru - Niger - Nigeria - Niue - Palau - Papua New Guinea - Rwanda - St. Kitts and Nevis - St. Lucia - St. Vincent and the Grenadines - Solomon Islands - Samoa - Sao Tome and Principe - Senegal - Seychelles - Sierra Leone - Somalia - South Africa - Sudan - Suriname - Swaziland - Tanzania - Timor Leste - Togo - Tonga - Trinidad and Tobago - Tuvalu - Uganda - Vanuatu - Zambia - Zimbabwe.


Press conference: +/- 13.30

Initialling of the agreement (TV/Photo opportunity): +/- 12.45

Source: European Council