CDB and UN partner to measure gender-based violence

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and UN Women have signed an agreement to support a common approach to measuring Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in the Caribbean.

Although GBV, in particular violence against women and girls, affects much of the region, many countries do not generate or have access to comprehensive data on the frequency, nature and response to this issue.

The agreement was signed at CDB’s headquarters in Barbados. It makes provisions for both agencies to work together to close the data gap, ensuring regional policy measures are put in place to address the problem more effectively.

Monica La Bennett, acting vice-president of operations at the CDB, said: “This agreement aims to support the CARICOM Secretariat in building regional knowledge transfer and sustainability in systematic collection, analysis and dissemination of comparable prevalence data on GBV in the Caribbean.

“This intervention is part of a broader project in which CDB and UN Women will cooperate in the production of data on gender-based violence in the Region and the building of regional capacities in this regard.”

CDB and UN Women will work in tandem to support the deepening of the CARICOM region’s expertise in data collection and analysis on GBV, through the implementation and formal adoption of the CARICOM model.

The CARICOM survey model collects data on the frequency of GBV against women, and also highlights the consequences for women, their children and families, and risk and protective factors for violence. This information can directly inform service provision and prevention strategies.

First step

“Within UN Women’s broader support to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) implementation there is significant focus on supporting enhanced data gathering and disaggregation,” said M Alison McLean, Caribbean representative of the UN Women Multi-Country Offices.

“As CARICOM governments work towards realising their implementation priorities for Agenda 2030 and the SDGs, such data is invaluable.

“We therefore laud this new area of partnership between UN Women MCO Caribbean and the Caribbean Development Bank towards closing the data gap, and in particular supporting direct work to improve human security and the safety and security and women and girls in both the domestic and public spheres, towards ensuring every woman and girl can live a life free of violence.”

The signing was the first step in operationalising a cooperation agreement signed recently between both partners, which sees the agencies partnering to support the achievement of SDGs in the Caribbean.