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‘La Famille’. Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare. INTRODUCTION.
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‘La Famille’ Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare
INTRODUCTION • In line with one of the UN recommendations that Member States should set up appropriate mechanisms to implement policies and programmes in favour of families, this Ministry has set up a Family Welfare and Protection Unit (FWPU) since 2003. • The objectives of the FWPU are to implement appropriate policies and programmes to promote family welfare and to combat Gender-Based violence (GBV).
POLICY PAPER ON THE FAMILY • A Policy Paper on the Family was adopted by this Ministry in 2006. • The Policy Paper reflects the concern from the nation pertaining to the well-being of the family and the commitment to render the family as a strong and viable component of society that facilitates development and the overall well-being of its members.
NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON THE FAMILY • To operationalize the National Policy Paper on the family, the National Action Plan on the Family was launched in November 2009. • A holistic coordinated and multi-agency approach to address issues relating to families have been adopted for the formulation of the National Action Plan on the Family. • The objectives of the National Action Plan on the Family are: • To implement a series of programmes and activities for achieving the enhanced functioning of the family through development of partnerships with stakeholders; and (CONT’D)
NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON THE FAMILY(CONT’D) • To provide all stakeholders with guidelines to address family concerns in policy planning, decision making and programmes incorporating the following strategic objectives: • Creating strong foundations-strengthening marriage relationships for building stronger families; • Balancing work and family life; • Strengthening values for family life; • Enabling families to nurture the young in an environment conducive to their development; • Providing support services to sustain quality of life of families; and • Monitoring and evaluation mechanism for implementation of the National Action Plan on the Family.
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF FAMILY WELFARE • Inter-generation Relationship Programme: • National/Regional programmes conducted across the island with a view to promote bonding among the three generations and concurrently sensitise them on the importance of the intergeneration relationship programme. (CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D) • Pre-Marital Counselling Programme: • To prepare engaged couples for a stable conjugal and a healthy family life. • Marriage Enrichment Programme: • To prepare married couples for family responsibilities and stable conjugal life. • To strengthen and promote understanding and respect between couples. (CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D) • Strengthening Values for Family Life Programme: • To bring about a nation-wide transformation of attitude and mindset for responsible citizenship through inculcation of values for family life, thereby contributing to positive individual development, caring communities and a healthy nation. (CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D) • Balancing Work and Family Life: • The need for balancing work and family life is essential. Work and family life balance programme can benefit an organisation’s bottom line while at the same time, provide other indirect benefits to both employees and employers. A dissemination workshop with key stakeholders was conducted in in October 2016 to disseminate the findings of the survey carried out in regard to the programme. (CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D) • “Les Assises de La Famille”: • The purpose of “Les Assises de la Famille” was to hold a national consultation with stakeholders concerned for the implementation of policies, programmes, projects and activities for the welfare of families and reflect on the situation of the family in the Mauritian society, taking stock of present problems and challenges. • Costed National Action Plan to implement recommendations of “Les Assises de la Famille ”: • The action plan would be a roadmap for all relevant parties to adopt policy measures and identify funding for the implementation of policies, programmes, projects and activities for the welfare of families. (CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D) • Halfway Home: • The aim of setting up half-way home is to provide an intermediate residential centre to those young boys and girls who have no place to go after that discharge from institutions where they were committed up to their majority. (CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D) • Celebration of the International Day of Families: • Promotion of family welfare is sustained through a series of programmes and projects which are conducted all year round at both national and regional levels. • To mark the Celebration of the International Day of Families on 15 May, a series of activities is organized by the MGECD&FW each year.
FORTHCOMING PROJECTS • A ‘study to assess the wellbeing of families’ will be conducted, with the following objectives: • To provide indicators on how far families in the Republic of Mauritius have supportive intra-family relationships, ability to resolve conflicts effectively, possibility of promoting violence-free environment, quality of couples’ relationships, parent-child’s relationships, inter-generation solidarity, children’s protection and development and harmony in the family. • To collect qualitative and quantitative data.
PROTECTION FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT • The Protection from Domestic Violence Act (PDVA) exists since 1997 and has been subjected to several amendments, in 2004, 2007 and 2011. • In 2016, the PDVA was amended and makes provisions for the following: • Increasing the powers of Enforcement Officers • Widening the definition of the term “domestic violence” • Providing that a person - who does an act of domestic violence against his spouse, a child of his spouse or another person living under the same roof shall commit an offence; and • Empowering a police officer not below the rank of an Assistant Superintendent to arrest a person where, following an act of domestic violence, physical injury has ensued.
PROTECTION FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (AMENDMENT) ACT 2016 (CONT’D) • The penalty for willful non compliance with any order under the Act was amended as follows: • On 1st conviction, fine not exceeding Rs.50,000 and imprisonment not exceeding 1 year. • On 2nd conviction, fine not exceeding Rs.100,000 and imprisonment not exceeding 2 years. • On 3rd or subsequent conviction, imprisonment not exceeding 5 years.
EXISTING SERVICES The following services are available at the six Family Support Bureaux (FSBx):- (i) Family Counselling (ii) Psychological Counselling (iii) Legal Counselling (iv) Assistance to adult victims of gender-based violence Hotline 139 for cases of domestic violence (Operational on a 24 hr basis and free of charge) Hotline 119 for family problems (Operational on a 24 hr basis)