Initiative: Situation of violence prevention in the Americas Region
Understand the current situation of violence prevention in the Americas Region in order to promote people-centered, context-specific, comprehensive, and preventive programs that incorporate a protection-empowerment framework (the human security approach).

Activities:
1) Document the current situation of violence prevention in the Americas Region.
2) Promote inter-institutional and multi-sectoral discussions in the countries based on the results of the document above.
3) Enhance the capacity of the countries in the incorporation of the human security approach in the components of the country violence prevention programs that relate to health.
4) Analyze the components of the country violence prevention programs that relate to health using a human security lens.
5) Advocate for incorporating the human security approach in the components of the country violence prevention programs that relate to health.
6) Document and promote evidence-based violence prevention interventions in the whole spectrum of the socio-ecological model.

Beneficiaries: All Central American Countries and the Dominican Republic.
Partnerships and Financing: Japan Center for International Exchange, PAHO

Global Status Report on Violence Prevention
This is the preparation of the first global status report on violence prevention that will follow up on the world report on violence and health, which was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General in 2002. This status report will evaluate the extent to which countries have been implementing the recommendations of the world report on violence and health, as called for in World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolution 56.24, "Implementing the recommendations of the world report on violence and health". The report will focus on interpersonal violence that includes child maltreatment; youth violence; intimate partner violence; sexual violence, and elder maltreatment.
The global status report on violence prevention aims to strengthen Member States' capacity to prevent violence by providing a benchmark for countries to assess their violence prevention efforts; identifying gaps in national responses to violence that need to be addressed, and catalyzing further prevention action. It will examine existing policies, legislation, programs, and data collection and information exchange mechanisms.

Activities:
Data were collected in each country by a National Data Coordinator (NDC) nominated by the government. This person was tasked with coordinating a consensus meeting of multi-sectoral stakeholders, or "respondents". In general, these respondents represented the health, justice, police, interior, and education government sectors at the national level; the national government institutions responsible for gender and women and for children and social development; academics, and, if possible, any nongovernmental organizations involved in violence prevention in the country.

To ensure that the data collection process carried out in each country has been based upon the same methodology, PAHO/WHO conducted an internet-based training of all NDCs in the region. NDCs were contracted to collect data, working with up to 10 identified respondents with expertise in each country. Draft completed questionnaires have been validated by PAHO/WHO. NDCs have obtained government sign-off on finalized questionnaires and enter the data online.

Each respondent was sent a respondent questionnaire to fill in (the NDC will also act as a respondent). Respondents were invited to attend a consensus meeting, bringing their completed questionnaires with them. The NDC and the respondents went through the questionnaire, question by question, and try to come to a consensus on each response. As a result of the meeting, the NDC will fill in one final country questionnaire.

Data has been entered electronically and has been validated by PAHO/WHO. The NDC has facilitated clearance of the final data.

Beneficiaries:
Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America.

Partners and financing: PAHO/WHO

Preventing violence against women (VAW) in the LAC region
In the Americas, one out of every three women will experience violence at the hands of a partner or sexual violence by someone other than a partner during her lifetime. Globally, 38% of all murders of women are perpetrated by a partner or ex-partner. The consequences of such violence are widespread and long-lasting and affect not just women themselves, but also their children. Consequences can range from broken bones to pregnancy-related complications, mental problems, impaired social functioning and death. The costs of such violence are also staggering with Governments spending large sums in caring for survivors and prosecuting perpetrators. The good news is that such violence can be prevented and its consequences can be mitigated. Preventing and responding to violence against women requires a multisectoral approach; however, the health sector plays an essential, often primary, role in the prevention of and response to violence women and children. In order to prevent violence against women, PAHO works in 4 areas of priority: 1) Evidence - Improving the quality, access, dissemination and use of data on violence against women and children for evidence-based policy and programming 2) Prevention - Strengthening capacity for primary prevention of violence against women and children 3) Services - Strengthening the health sector’s response to violence against women and children 4) National Plans – Supporting Member States in the development of national plans and policies on violence prevention.

Activities:
PAHO has spearheaded multiple activities in each of its four priority areas. Below is a list of select activities implemented in 2013. Improving availability and use of evidence: -Published (alongside CDC) of the first ever comparative report of national representative data on violence against women in the region “Violence against women in Latin America and the Caribbean – a comparative analysis of population-based data for 12 countries” -Situational analysis and strengthening of violence and injuries surveillance systems in Trinidad & Tobago (with CDC) -Published a series of information sheets summarizing the evidence on various manifestations of violence against women: “Understanding and addressing violence against women” -Implementation of a capacity building workshop for researchers in Peru -Provided technical support for the implementation of a national survey on VAW in El Salvador -Published an analysis of data about the perpetration of violence against women by men in Brazil, Chile and México: “Comprendiendo el ejercicio de violencia de los hombres hacia las mujeres” (with Promundo) Strengthening capacity for primary prevention: -Implemented a capacity building workshops on primary prevention of violence against children and violence against women for key stakeholders in Central America -Provided technical and financial support for primary prevention initiatives in three countries in Central America Improving the provision of services for survivors of violence against women: -Carried out a situational analysis of national health sector protocols for survivors of VAW - Supported the development and publication of WHO’s “Responding to intimate partner and sexual violence against women: WHO policy and clinical guidelines” Supporting the development of national plans on violence and injuries prevention -Provided support for the development / revision of national plans on violence prevention in Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago.

www.paho.org/violence

Beneficiaries:
Women and children are the ultimate beneficiaries of the above mentioned efforts. Immediate beneficiaries include various Government and Civil Society stakeholders active in preventing violence against women and children in multiple countries in the region.

Partners and financing:
PAHO collaborates with multiple organizations as part of its violence against women portfolio, including, but not limited to: CDC, World Bank, IDB, UN Women, UNFPA, etc. Funding for the work on prevention of violence was awarded by Open Society Foundations. Funding was also received from AECID.