A more coordinated approach to the provision of services for survivors of gender-based
violence (GBV) is expected in the region with the establishment of an Essential Services
Package (ESP) Community of Practice (CoP) initiative.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) hosted a regional launch of the programme on Tuesday 24 May in Trinidad and
Tobago.
The ESP/CoP is the first GBV coordinated mechanism of its kind in the Caribbean, and
aims to provide greater access to essential service providers such as health care workers
and police with adequate training and resources, to survivors of GBV.
In her remarks at the opening, Alison Drayton, Director of the UNFPA Sub-Regional Office
of the Caribbean (SROC), highlighted that GBV disproportionately affects women and
girls. She said that “while prevention lies mainly at the perpetrator’s hands, a number of
these incidents (including deaths) can be prevented by service providers, who, with the
proper training and resources, will be able to mitigate risks, protect survivors, and hold
perpetrators accountable for their crimes.”
She highlighted the need for collaborative efforts to brainstorm ideas, develop effective
solutions, exchange good practices, adopt global standards and facilitate south-south
cooperation in the prevention and response to GBV and noted that the ESP CoP would
provide an avenue for that.
Dr. Douglas Slater, Assistant Secretary General for Human and Social Development at
the CARICOM Secretariat in his opening remarks commended the Spotlight Initiative’s
