Spotlight Initiative Podcast Highlights the Organisations Working to End Violence Against Women and Girls in PNG

The Spotlight Initiative in Papua New Guinea has launched a new podcast aimed at promoting the voices of the grassroots organisations working to end violence against women and girls.

‘Towards Zero’ is a deep dive into the organisations working towards a world with zero violence against women and girls in PNG. The podcast features interviews with civil society leaders and community members on the projects currently being implemented to prevent and respond to violence. The first episode, released Friday, features two provincial GBV Focal Points, Robin Yakumb and Mary Tol as they discuss the importance of connecting the different actors on-the-ground and the challenges in setting up a fully staffed and funded GBV secretariat in Western Highlands and Jiwaka.

Future episodes will look at how health care providers are connecting survivors to justice services and how youth outreach is breaking the cycle of violence and improving access to sexual and reproductive health services. The Spotlight Initiative is a programme that takes a comprehensive approach to ending violence against women and girls by addressing legislation, provincial institutions, and grassroots actions to both prevent and respond to violence. This series will look at how the different levels of action complement each other to bridge the gaps between the protections for women and girls that exist on paper and the attitudes and behaviours towards women and girls in families and communities.

This podcast series aims to put civil society and grassroots organisations at the centre of the conversation on ending violence against women and girls. Being available worldwide, this series is also an opportunity to show international audiences the real, complex challenges faced by civil society in PNG. It is also a series that shows the expertise of the individuals working in the GBV space, the extensive experience and insights of local CSOs, and why these organisations need to be supported in order to advance actions to end violence against women and girls in PNG.

The first season of Towards Zero will feature ten episodes. New episodes are released every Friday.

Towards Zero is available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts or online: https://anchor.fm/spotlightpng

The Spotlight Initiative is a multi-year programme of the United Nations which has received generous support from the European Union. In Papua New Guinea, the Spotlight Initiative is implemented by UN Women, UNICEF, UNDP, and UNFPA across 11 provinces.