MAPUTO, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The Spotlight Initiative, a joint multi-year initiative by the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) to eliminate violence against women and girls, was launched here on Friday.
Mozambique became the first country on the African continent to benefit from the initiative.
The initiative was to remove all barriers that hinder the development of women and girls in the country, and 40 million U.S. dollars will be injected for a four-year program to benefit 6 million people in the provinces of Gaza, Nampula and Manica, said Cidalia Chauque, Mozambican Minister of Gender, Children and Social Welfare, at the launching ceremony.
"The recently approved policy on gender and its implementation strategy, the national plan for women's empowerment, prevention against gender-based violence, are tools that must be guidelines of all actions for private and public institutions, civil society, church leaders and actors of the society," said the minister.
In 2018, Mozambican authorities reported 25,000 cases of domestic violence, and they suspected that the number might be much higher because many victims tend not to report abuses.
The African country will commit to working with different players to eliminate violence against women and girls, and promote gender equality and empowerment, Chauque said.
According to Stefano Manservisi, director-general for International Cooperation and Development at the EU, the initiative is his organization's largest investment to eradicate all forms of violence against women and girls.
"An open dialogue is necessary with the largest number of women and men, boys and girls in large cities and small villages, to pass on a simple message that violence against women and girls is not normal and is not acceptable," said Manservisi.
The Spotlight Initiative was so named to bring focused attention to the gender issue, moving it into the spotlight and placing it at the center of efforts to achieve gender equality and women's empowerment, the UN wrote on its official website.
