CARICOM Secretariat goes orange for 16 days of activism against gender-based violence

The Spotlight Initiative Caribbean Regional programme joined forces with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat to mark 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence (GBV) with a lighting ceremony on 29 November 2022.

16 Days of Activism Against GBV is the international campaign that is used around the world to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls (VAWG). It commences on 25 November (International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women) and ends on 10 December (International Human Rights Day).

This year the United Nations’ theme “UNiTE! Activism to End Violence Against Women & Girls!” aligns perfectly with the goal of the Spotlight Initiative to eliminate all forms of VAWG.

A team from the Caribbean Regional programme travelled to Guyana to the headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat, a key partner for the regional programme, for a week of activities to shine a light on the Spotlight Initiative and VAWG and Family Violence, one of the most pervasive breaches of human rights worldwide.

The main highlight of the week of activities was the Lighting Ceremony, which brought together the executive and senior management and staff of the CARICOM Secretariat, the United Nations Guyana, the European Union, and members of civil society.  

Yeşim Oruç, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Guyana delivered remarks during the ceremony and thanked the staff of the CARICOM Secretariat for highlighting 16 Days of Activism Against GBV as well as for collaborating with the Spotlight Initiative on the event.     

“The investments in gender equality and ending violence against women and girls by development partners, notably the European Union and the United Nations, along with Member States, is a pathway to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region,” she said.

Oruç also shared that gender-based violence is a scourge and stressed that the rates of violence against women in the Caribbean are above global averages. She highlighted that one in every two women in CARICOM Member States experienced intimate partner violence or domestic violence in their lifetime. She went on to to share that she was proud of the fact that CARICOM Member States are implementing programmes to eliminate violence against women.   

The UN Resident Coordinator stated that “Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago are implementing very successful Spotlight initiatives.”

“What we are recognising with this observance is that addressing issues of GBV, gender equality and women’s empowerment require a regional approach, and it is a testimony to the commitment of our international development partners, including the EU, to regional solutions for regionally shared problems and working through regional institutions, such as CARICOM, with whom we are very proud to be collaborating on the regional programme for Spotlight."

During the ceremony, the United Nations Development Programme, the Recipient United Nations Organisations (RUNO) implementing Pillar 2 (Institutions) of the Spotlight Caribbean Regional programme previewed a video highlighting the Guidelines on the Integration of Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), including Family Violence (FV), in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in the Caribbean. This body of work is being implemented in collaboration with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the University of West Indies (UWI).

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), another RUNO implementing Pillar 3 (Prevention) of the Regional Spotlight will be launching a social behavioural change campaign early in 2023 and used the Lighting Ceremony as an opportunity to showcase one of the products of the campaign – a song performed by St. Lucian soca artiste, Tennyson John; Jamaican reggae artiste, Nadine Sutherland and St. Lucian Mix/Spoken Word artiste Curmiah Lissette.

Dr. Carla Barnett, Secretary-General, CARICOM Secretariat, delivered the feature address and stated that the 16 Days of Activism Against GBV campaign’s “focus is to challenge harmful gender norms and end the impunity, silence, and stigma that have allowed violence against women and girls to escalate and/or remain normalised in far too many countries."

She went on to explain that the campaign colour of orange was particularly significant as it symbolises a brighter future “in which all women and girls can live free of violence."  

The Secretary-General had the honour of flipping the switch to illuminate the Secretariat’s building in orange and noted the organisation’s commitment to ending VAWG.

“The Secretariat is pleased to light up our building as a beacon of our promise to stand by women and girls and advocate for their protection,” she said.