Piloting the Essential Services Package (ESP) for Women and Girls Subject to Violence in Asia & the Pacific

The Essential Services Package (ESP) for Women and Girls Subject to Violence was developed through a joint partnership involving UN Women, UNFPA, WHO, UNDP, and UNODC. The package provides guidance on how to develop and implement global norms and standards on multi-sectoral services and responses, for women and girls who have experienced violence, which can be adapted to the local context.

The programme identifies different essential actions to be taken across the health, social services, police, and justice sectors, and the coordination of these services. The ESP was launched at the end of 2015 and is currently being implemented alongside other tools on response in over 60 countries worldwide.

In August-September 2022, UN Women and UNFPA's Regional Offices for Asia and the Pacific co-facilitated a series of online sessions with country offices from Cambodia, Pakistan, and Vietnam. These sessions marked the culmination of the piloting phase of the Essential Services Package (ESP) programme, an initiative aimed at providing greater access to a coordinated set of essential and quality multi-sectoral services for all women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence.

During these sessions, UNFPA and UN Women's country offices shared their experiences and insights into implementing the ESP at both national and subnational levels, focusing on how services were being received and experienced by women and girls survivors of gender-based violence. This brief reflects the insights gathered from these sessions. Beginning with relevant background information, it highlights how the ESP has contributed to progress in Ending Violence Against Women and describes the lessons learned from each country's experience.