signed an inter-institutional agreement to strengthen the Justice of Peace in facing cases of gender violence.
The project aims to benefit Peace Judges, victims of gender-based violence, local stakeholders (communal authorities, peasant patrols, police, and health centers) and local community networks, in the Andean areas of four (4) judicial districts where it will be carried out (Eastern Lima, Huancavelica, Cajamarca and Junin).
Furthermore, the project is expected to benefit personnel from the National Office of Justice of Peace and Indigenous Justice (ONAJUP) and the District Offices of Support for Justice of Peace (ODAJUP) of the Judiciary.
The main objective of this project is to contribute to the reduction of gender-based violence in Andean areas of Peru by improving the services provided by justices of peace, promoting access to justice for women victims of gender-based violence, and strengthening the institutional framework of the Justice of Peace, particularly to ensure adequate and prompt attention to cases of gender violence.
This project proposes activities for the justices of peace to deal with cases of violence against women and members of the family group from a gender and intercultural perspective; through the development of training programs for Justices of Peace, as well as holding meetings between Justices of Peace to share good practices and address measures to promote the participation of women in the Justice of Peace.
Likewise, activities are included to strengthen gender awareness and the response to gender violence in the community through the strengthening of local community networks and the implementation of trainings and meetings with communal authorities and peasant patrols, as well as with local actors to provide an articulated response to the problem of gender-based violence.
Additionally, actions will be proposed to improve the referral pathway of gender-based violence cases by articulating the Peace Justice with Ordinary Justice and Special Justice, designing and implementing actions plans for each judicial district covered by the project, as well as at central level of the Judiciary, and organizing meetings between Peace Judges with Ordinary Justice authorities (judges, prosecutors and police) and Special Justice authorities (communal and peasant patrol authorities).
Similarly, through the project, the technical capacities of officials from ONAJUP and ODAJUP will be strengthened through the design and implementation of training programs and materials on topics such as gender awareness, management and educational skills, to ensure they are capable of providing continuity and sustainability to the activities of the project.
Finally, if an initial analysis considers it viable, it is expected to develop an Information Application System that will aid in the management of Peace Justice by organizing information from Peace Judges and the data produced by them related to cases of gender-based violence.
Considering the importance of this project, the Judiciary, through its Gender Justice Commission and ONAJUP, has worked in close coordination with teams of professionals from Korea and the UNDP, since the initial stage of research planned by KOICA, for the development of the project planning stage.
During the closing meeting of the inter-institutional agreement review process, the Chairwoman of the Gender Justice Commission, Dr. Elvira Maria Alvarez Olazabal, expressed the commitment of the Judiciary to guarantee the right of access to justice for all victims of violence, with special emphasis on those who are in a situation of greater vulnerability, for which the implementation of this project is a priority.
Regarding the Korean Government's cooperation for the improvement of the response of Peace Justice to victims of gender-based violence, in articulation with community stakeholders and Ordinary Justice in Peru, Jung-Wook Lee, Director of the KOICA office in Peru, said "KOICA hopes to contribute to improving the care and attention that victims of gender-based violence receive, especially in the rural areas, as we acknowledge that the Peruvian State also places great importance on this issue."
"In this sense, we have called upon the UNDP to collaborate with us to support Peru by providing tools and capacity building to strengthen the activities of Peace Justice and help in their articulation with other very relevant actors in their areas of jurisdiction," he concluded.
The signing took place on July 30.
It must be noted that KOICA is the representative agency of the
Korean Government for development cooperation. Since its establishment in Peru in 2000, KOICA has contributed more than US$127 million implementing more than 25 projects in public health, public administration, digitalization, environment and others.