On 25 November 2013, in the Bolivar Province of Ecuador, started its campaign “16 Days of Activism for Fundamental Rights”. This year, the campaign, which adopted the phrase “Welcome Good Treatment” as its motto, is fostered by the Bolivar Pro-Rights Networks existing in every canton within the Province and comprising all institutions, public and private, whose main mission is to guarantee fundamental rights for all.
These 16 days, starting on 25 November and ending on 10 December, coincide with important dates: 25 November, the International Day for Elimination of the Violence against Women; 1 December, World IHV/AIDS Day; 10 December, the International Human Rights Day. The campaign calls on individuals and groups to take action, in a decisive and courageous manner, in order to put an end to all forms of violence, aiming at creating individual and collective consciousness regarding a Bolivarian severe problem: i.e. violence against women, children and adolescents, and the most vulnerable people in general. A number of activities are being hosted in each of the 7 cantons.
This campaign is undertaken within the framework of our project “Increasing Active and Protective Capacities in Women Suffering from Violence, Discrimination and Social Vulnerability, and Promoting their Access to Sexual and Reproductive Rights” whose aim is to contribute to the building of a more fair, equitable and inclusive society, which respects, integrates and promotes women’s, children’s and adolescents’ individual and collective rights.
One of the Project’s main results is, indeed, the construction of those Bolivarian Pro-Rights Networks in the seven cantons by encouraging people and institutions not to take action individually, but in an articulated and simultaneous manner, through networking, thus enabling to offer a real integrated assistance to the victims and their families as well as achieving the restoration of their violated rights. All institutions have been integrated to the canton’s Network in order to offer all facilities, services and opportunities to the victims of violence until they are able to overcome the situation and recover from the problems related to it.
The Project is promoted by medicusmundi Catalunya, together with the Provincial Health Directorate, the four Bolivar Health Districts and the Women’s Provincial Forum, with the support of the Barcelona City Council through its Solidarity Programme (Barcelona Solidària).
Welcome Good Treatment
Ecuador’s medicusmundi Catalunya Team
Translated from Spanish by Sílvia Aymerich