In the wake of a fruitful multisectoral analysis, mediated by the University of Las Tunas, a working meeting was held in the territory with the main coordinators of the project Support for the National Response to Gender-Based Violence in Cuba, who have set out to ascertain the operational status of the municipalities that are part of this effort in the country.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- Mayra Díaz García, representing the National Secretariat of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC in Spanish), explained to 26 that this international cooperation project led by the FMC seeks to support the implementation of the Comprehensive Strategy for Attention and Prevention of Gender Violence, approved in the country, as well as the implementation of the National Program for the Advancement of Women (PAM in Spanish), two public policies that needed technical and economic support.

By taking a closer look at local processes, the project aims to take action in the area of services, strengthening existing ones such as the work of the National Revolutionary Police (PNR in Spanish) and the Ministry of Public Health; the performance of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security; and the research centers that provide statistical data. Above all, it aims to work on the coordination of these institutions.

“We cover four municipalities in the province: Amancio, Jobabo, Jesús Menéndez, and Las Tunas. We also promote the generation of data and information that we do not have, capacity building, and an effective communication strategy that highlights the reality of each territory,” explained Díaz García.

For her part, Lisandra Esquivel Cabezas, an associate of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), emphasized that the aim is "not only to improve the care provided on a sectoral basis, but also to coordinate these different actors so that victims of gender-based violence can be provided with comprehensive and integrated care."

"Right now, we are immersed in one of the first actions related to this area of work: conducting municipal assessments that will help us understand the current situation in the 40 municipalities where the project will be implemented in relation to gender-based violence."

"From this assessment, carried out by the workforce established in each locality, we will learn about the popular beliefs, stereotypes, and myths that are currently fueling sexist and discriminatory practices in communities, but we will also look at the services themselves. To what extent are the sectoral services we have today able to respond to the situation of gender-based violence in the territories?"

The UNFPA coordinator pointed out the importance of applying methodological tools to identify trained, specialized, and sensitized human resources on the issue of gender-based violence and the real scope of coordination between institutions to provide a comprehensive and effective response.

"One of the objectives of the project is to achieve a comprehensive and integrated service in the 40 municipalities, but the country decides that these can then be replicated in the rest of the territories. We are talking about a center where victims of violence can go and receive the care they need in the same space."

"We will create a work team that is not voluntary and that will be permanently based in a specific location. From there, it will map out which municipal services need to be activated when a situation of violence arises and ensure constant coordination with each of the institutions, so that care flows more smoothly and victims are accompanied from the beginning until they are rehabilitated."

“The optimal result when this service is consolidated will be to have more trained human resources, so that both police reports and medical care are located in the same place. We are gradually moving forward with this line of work, which will continue until 2029.”

The project, which is already a reality in Las Tunas, is receiving technical and financial support from UNFPA, with funds mobilized by the Government of Canada. An important part of the project is the active participation of the Center for Demographic Studies at the University of Havana (Cedem in Spanish).