Research on aid agency responses to violence against women
A research report published by the Central America Women's Network (CAWN), “The response of international aid agencies to violence against women in Central America - the case of Honduras”, analyses the implementation and effectiveness of seven different approaches adopted by agencies in tackling violence against women (VAW) in Honduras: gender equality, laws and criminal justice, rights-based approaches, men and masculinities, HIV, sexual and reproductive rights, the health approach and the economic approach. International humanitarian and development agencies have increased their support for programmes dealing with VAW since it gained international attention as a development concern in the 1990s, especially with the 1993 UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. Since then, efforts to tackle VAW have progressed in different ways around the world according to the region, types of funding available and aid priorities relating to poverty reduction, health, political participation and human rights.
Yet despite international commitments to eliminate VAW, accessing resources for this work has becoming a challenge, as the donor agenda has been influenced by thematic areas and geographical priorities under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. This has raised obstacles to VAW’s inclusion as a priority in national development strategies. In Central America, there is growing concern that the international focus on poverty alleviation is diverting donor attention and funding away from the region’s “lower middle-income” countries, where gender discrimination, inequalities of power and wealth, and VAW are very significant. While governments in the region continue to implement poverty reduction strategies, donors are shifting their focus to Africa.
It is difficult to ascertain the level of funding for VAW-related programmes because many budgets are not disaggregated along the lines of gender-related programming, let alone gender equality, women’s projects or programmes combating VAW. This makes it hard to hold governments accountable. Although the MDGs promote rights-based approaches and gender equality is included as the third goal, VAW is not directly addressed and so gets lost in formal development frameworks, instruments, indicators and reporting mechanisms. CAWN’s report highlights the need for donors to adopt international VAW commitments and responsibilities as a tool for successful development; and for governments, aid agencies and women’s organisations to scale up effective programmes, taking a long-term, sustainable and multi-sector approach.
