In May 2014, the World Health Assembly adopted the historic resolution (WHA 67.15) "Strengthening the role of the health systems in addressing violence, in particular against women and girls and against children". The resolution requests the WHO Director-General to develop a global plan of action to strengthen the role of health systems in addressing interpersonal violence, in particular against women and girls and against children. The global plan of action will be finalized for consideration by the 69th World Health Assembly in May 2016.
The contributions made at the Americas regional consultation held in Washington DC in February were instrumental in shaping the latest draft. PAHO's Healthy Life Course Unit is now reaching out to ask stakeholders to review the current version of the plan of action via an online consultation.
In addition to comments on this draft, the Healthy Life Course Unit is seeking a wide range of inputs and would be grateful if individuals and organizations could share this widely. Responses from individuals, organizations and/or consolidated responses from constituency groups are welcome. You can access the revised draft of the plan of action from the following link:
http://www.who.int/topics/violence/interpersonal-violence-against-women-children/en/
The deadline for responses is 4 June 2015.
The first ever WHO global plan of action on addressing violence, in particular against women and girls and against children, provides an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen the capacity of health systems to: provide comprehensive health services to survivors; support the implementation of prevention programmes; generate better evidence; and advocate for a stronger multisectoral response based on the public health evidence.
Your inputs are vital in ensuring a strong plan that can help countries to better deliver for women and children who are affected by and experiencing violence.
For further information please contact: Claudia Garcia Moreno (garciamorenoc@who.int) or Avni Amin (amina@who.int) at WHO headquarters.
