The National Council for Women (NCW), in partnership with UNFPA organized a workshop on activating the referral pathway among civil society and entities concerned with combating violence against women on November 30.

Representatives from NGOs that offer services to women subjected to violence, personnel in charge of managing the Safe Women Units and professors of medicine and forensic medicine were among the attendees of the workshop.

The National Council for Women officially adopted the referral pathway in 2019, marking the establishment of the first national process to develop and ensure the quality and efficiency of services for women and girls subjected to violence.

The first of its kind, the referral pathway was developed under the Essential Services Package (ESP) joint-program in Egypt, coordinated by UNFPA. The ESP modules were adapted to national context and endorsed by relevant ministries and key UN agencies to coordinate between relevant stakeholders on protection, prevention and care of gender-based violence cases in the legal, social and medical sectors.

The Safe Women clinics are medical response clinics offering comprehensive services for women subjected to violence.

Amal Philip, health advisor to the Anti-Violence against Women Unit at NCW, underlined the importance of activating the referral system with civil society, noting that the workshop is an opportunity to exchange experiences and evaluate the performance of all service providers for women subjected to violence.