Government Resolution No. 31/2022 approving the National Action Plan Against Gender-Based Violence 2022-2032.

This Government Resolution approves the National Action Plan Against Gender-Based Violence (PAN-GBV) as an essential mechanism to accelerate the elimination of violence against women and girls and people who identify with the female gender. This multi-sectoral Plan covers several sectors, such as: Health, Education, Insurance, Finance, Agriculture. The PAN-GBV is based on the country's important commitments with regard to the elimination of gender-based violence and intimate partner violence, so the effective implementation of this Plan will serve as a fundamental basis for the implementation of the national legal regime and internationally in this field. Violence against women and girls constitutes a significant barrier to the country's development, to a more prosperous Timor-Leste, as indicated in the 2019 National Voluntary Review on the Sustainable Development Goals. The Plan is the third plan of this nature and, in its preparation, the successes achieved in Timor-Leste in the fight against gender-based violence, the gaps and challenges that still exist and, also, the lessons learned in the most 15 years of implementing plans in this area. In this sense, this new PAN-VBG was preceded by a process of evaluating the current plan and also by extensive consultation, at national and municipal level, with interviews, meetings and seminars with the main stakeholders from the sectors of education, health, social solidarity , security and development partners. The PAN-VBG 2022-2032 establishes three pillars or strategic priority areas, namely: (i) prevention of violence against women and girls, (ii) provisions of essential services to women and girls who have suffered violence, and (iii) legal support and access to justice.