Evaluating the "2016-2019 Action Plan for a Life Free of Gender Violence, with a generational perspective".
On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the EVALÚA project, financed by the EU within the framework of the ADELANTE programme, together with its Uruguayan partner, the Oficina de Planeamiento y Presupuesto (Office of Planning and Budget), presented the results of the Evaluation of the 2016-2019 Action Plan for a Life Free of Gender Violence with a Generational Perspective, against the backdrop of the Action called "Living without violence, a State commitment", organized by the Consejo Nacional Consultivo (National Advisory Council) and the Red Uruguaya contra la Violencia Sexual y Doméstica (Uruguayan Network against Sexual and Domestic Violence).
The event, which was attended by authorities from the Ministry of Social Development (Ministerio de Desarrollo Social), the Ministry of the Interior (Ministerio del Interior), the National Women's Institute (Instituto Nacional de la Mujeres) and the Uruguayan Institute for Children and Adolescents (Instituto del Niño y el Adolescente del Uruguay), also included the presentation of the website of the Observatory on Gender-Based Violence (Observatorio sobre Violencia Basada en Género) and the first results of the Second National Survey on the Prevalence of Gender-Based Violence.
The main conclusions and recommendations of the evaluation show that the Action Plan has brought unquestionable progress in incorporating public policies on gender-based violence, with significant development in the Response System through improved intra- and inter-institutional coordination, and with the approval in 2017 of Law 19.580 on Gender-Based Violence against Women, which is a major milestone, especially because of its comprehensive nature.
The Plan also helped raise social awareness on the role of the State as a responsible party, as well as the involvement of other social bodies in the fight against gender-based violence and in the very demand for accountability from the State: civil society, academy, media, etc. The Plan has strengthened public policy on the basis of the new regulatory frameworks and the strengthening of the various institutional spheres' response capacity.
The evaluation also identifies several areas for improvement, for which it is considered unavoidable that the Uruguayan public policy related to the Plan and the Law should have continuity. In this regard, international commitments in this area, Act No. 19.580 - which calls for a new plan, a body of public officials with knowledge and practice, and the second survey on the prevalence of gender-based violence may all be instruments to facilitate and guarantee the continuity of the Action Plan in order to keep on making progress and improving the lines of action that were established.
At the close of the event, the authorities of the above-mentioned institutions conducted a reflection and projection into the future, in which they invited to defend the advances made in public policies and in the regulatory framework, as well as to continue working to avoid any kind of setback in this area.
