LocationsSpotlight Initiative Grenada and UNDP Launch Data System to Help Fight Violence Against Women and Girls
June 28, 2023
Saint George’s, GRENADA – The Government of Grenada has taken a significant step towards eliminating violence against women and girls (VAWG) with the launch of a breakthrough online data system.
The GrenadaInfoSAFE digital platform is a collaborative effort between the Spotlight Initiative Grenada, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Central Statistical Office, and the National Data Centre of Grenada, and the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF), the Ministry of Health and civil society organisations. It was established to effectively collect and analyse crucial data on gender-based violence.
The launch was held on 16 June 2023 at the Radisson Grenada Beach Resort.
Recognising the ongoing challenge of generating and analysing national data on the trends of gender-based violence, not only in Grenada but also in the wider Caribbean region, GrenadaInfoSAFE has been developed to provide a targeted response. Its primary objective is to digitize the data collection process and provide a comprehensive understanding of the nature and incidence of gender-based violence in Grenada. By doing so, it aims to support the design and implementation of effective evidence-based policies to combat gender-based violence.
In delivering the feature address, the Minister of State with responsibility for Social Development and Gender Affairs, Senator the Honourable Gloria Ann Thomas, shared that “the Data System, which will collect and disseminate data on Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and Family Violence (FV) is a timely intervention in the ongoing efforts to address the scourge of violence our society faces. The adoption of a data collection system that produces harmonized statistics that informs policy directives and evidence-based programming is a strategic action to advance the ending VAWG and FV agenda.”
The capacity to collect comprehensive, reliable, comparable, and up-to-date data on VAWG is essential to the development of effective solutions towards ending gender-based violence.
The Central Statistical Office is the hub for GrenadaInfoSAFE, while the Royal Grenada Police Force and the Ministry of Social and Community Development, Housing and Gender Affairs are the initial data producing agencies.
Speaking on the launch of the data system, UNDP Resident Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Limya Eltayeb pointed out that over the past two years, UNDP through the Spotlight Initiative worked with counterparts in the Central Statistical Office, the National Data Centre, the Royal Grenada Police Force, the Ministry of Social and Community Development and Gender Affairs, the Ministry of Health, and civil society organisations to develop a system for the collection of administrative data on violence against women, intimate partner violence and sexual violence in Grenada. These efforts strengthen evidence-based policies and programming on gender-based violence, as well as raise awareness about the issue.
She affirmed "The UNDP continues to ensure that national institutions have robust data, standards and systems that are coordinated and efficient in serving survivors of violence. We hope that our efforts will show how we can work together towards a common goal, with targeted investments for ending violence against women and girls and family violence in Grenada and the Caribbean."
Earlier this week, members of staff from the National Data Centre in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, the Central Statistical Office, the Royal Grenada Police Force, the Ministry of Gender Affairs, the Ministry of Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs, and civil society organisations were trained on how to use GrenadaInfoSAFE. The training sessions were aimed at enhancing participants’ knowledge and skills for data management and processing, data safety and security, and understanding the layout and functionalities of the web-based data system.
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