By Basanda Nsimbyi Oswald

The English-speaking Community of Independent States (CIS) of the Commonwealth convened the CHOGM summit in Kigali, Rwanda on June 23, 2022 to discuss gender equality and the persistent barriers to gender equality between the girl and the women in their families.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is launching new guidelines to help reduce violence against women and girls in 54 Commonwealth member countries.

It was yesterday, June 23, 2022 during a special event coinciding with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), the Commonwealth Secretariat and the ''Le Non Plus'' Foundation rejoiced for the launch of new guidelines for the 54 Commonwealth countries to stop and prevent violence against women and girls.

The new 'Whole Systems Approach' strategy recommended by the Commonwealth and 'Le non plus' to help end gender inequality and improve gender equality calls for more cohesive and effective collaboration between governments, civil society and the private sector.

The effort builds on the Commonwealth Initiative first launched in 2019 and comes at a critical time following the dramatic increase in domestic and sexual violence during the Covid-19 pandemic.

End the violence

In addition to the keynote address by the Duchess of Cornwall, the event featured several high profile speakers such as UN Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed; HE Ms. Jeannette Kagame, First Lady of Rwanda; HE Dr. Fatima Maada Bio, First Lady of Sierra Leone; The Right Honorable Patricia Scotland QC, Secretary General of the Commonwealth; HE Abdulla Shahid, President of the United Nations General Assembly; and Pamela Zaballa, Global CEO of the “Le non plus” Foundation.

A panel, moderated by Ghanaian actress and activist Joselyne Dumas, addressed several topics related to Violence against Women and Girls including the impact on mental health and the importance of engaging men and boys to part of the solution.

The Commonwealth Facilitators' Guide to Assessing the Economic Costs of VAWG (Violence against Women and Girls) was also discussed.

Worldwide, one in three women and one in six men have experienced some form of domestic or sexual violence in their lifetime.

Additionally, domestic and sexual violence has increased and intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The impact of the pandemic on women and girls trapped in their homes is evident in the high number of calls to domestic violence help lines which has increased by up to 500% in Commonwealth countries during the pandemic .

Ultimately, the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 5 on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, cannot be achieved by 2030 without effectively tackling gender equality. Violence against women and girls.

Strength in Unity

In the opening address, Her Royal Highness (HRH) the Duchess of Cornwall said ''Strong in our unity, we, the women and men of the Commonwealth, stand with the victims and survivors who, despite the temptation to hide in silence, speak out so others know they are not alone, whether in Africa, Asia, Europe, Pacific or the Caribbean and the Americas.

By doing so, we have the opportunity to end gender-based violence and laws and practices that discriminate against women. And each of us must take personal responsibility not to miss this opportunity.

Commonwealth Secretary General, The Right Honorable Patricia Scotland (QC) spoke of the devastating effects VAWG can have on survivors and their families:

“It has a profoundly negative impact on the participation of women and girls in education, employment and civic life and undermines poverty reduction. It results in lost jobs and productivity and drains resources from social services, the justice system, health care organizations and employers.

These are just some of the reasons why I have made the fight against violence against women central to my life.

Speaking about the work of Le Non Plus Foundation, CEO Pamella Zaballa said, “The culture change needed to end violence against women and girls is so vast that no agency or organization alone cannot make enough progress. We urgently need leaders to invest in long-term prevention strategies and commit to working collaboratively on them, involving every government agency, NGOs and the private sector.”

That's why the Commonwealth Secretariat has urged all Commonwealth member countries to take a "whole systems approach" using the toolkit we are launching today.

Together, we have the collective power to make a real and lasting difference and achieve SDG5 (The fifth goal is specifically dedicated to empowering girls and women. It is about gender equality and aims to put end all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls worldwide).

Collaborative partnership

Since 2019, the Commonwealth Secretariat has partnered with the Foundation (Le Non Plus) to create and build effective and collaborative pathways to address VAWG.

Commonwealth's goal is to implement initiatives that work on the prevention of domestic violence and sexual abuse as part of broader efforts to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, in particular to address VAWG .

The partnership is designed to help member countries record accurate data on the prevalence of violence, deliver local projects, train community leaders, educate bystander responses, and provide free outreach resources.