Violence against women and girls in Paraguay: improving prevention and attention services The Action ¿Violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Paraguay: improving prevention and attention services¿ will help Paraguayan women and girls live a life free of violence. The Action will contribute to the country¿s efforts in this area, supporting the implementation of Law 5777/2016 for Comprehensive Protection for Women against all types of Violence.The Action takes a holistic approach that addresses VAWG as a multidimensional problem that deserves a multi-actor solution involving non-traditional actors (private sector, religious organisations, etc.) together with traditional actors (public institutions, and civil society women¿s organisations). The Action aims at tackling the root causes of VAWG to gradually change discriminatory patterns that legitimize and exacerbate violence. The Action will be national in scope, with a regional focus on the Departments of Alto Paraná, Asunción Metropolitan Area and Central, where violence against women and girls is most prevalent according to the available data. It will have 2 (two) Specific Objectives (SOs).The main focus of the Action will be on prevention and awareness-raising (Specific Objective 1). To that end, a Social Covenant/Pact against violence will be promoted, involving a variety of government and non-governmental actors. The Action will also support evidence-based and quality information and awareness campaigns. It will include specific work with men and youth, through reflections and debates on new masculinities, in order to modify violent behaviour towards women and girls. Lastly, it will strengthen civil society organizations, especially women's and grassroots organizations (in rural, indigenous, and marginalized areas of cities), given the greater impact of VAWG on specific population groups due to multi-dimensional discrimination.The Action¿s second objective (Specific Objective 2) focuses on improving response and attention services for women and girls who are victims of violence. To that end, it is key to strengthen the Ministry of Women, which is the mandated Institution. It will also strengthen public services in the targeted Departments and support CSO's that provide services, especially psychological and legal assistance. The programme will also facilitate the financial independence of women survivors by improving their employability.The programme will involve the following stakeholders: i) government actors at the national and departmental levels, with special emphasis on the Ministry of Women;  ii) non-governmental actors organizations (i.e. women's organizations, NGOs, peasant organizations, indigenous organizations, etc.); (iii) non-traditional actors that have been less involved in this issue, such as artists' organizations, journalists, youth associations, religious organizations and private companies. The Programme is part of the Team Europe initiative to reduce inequalities in Paraguay and thereby contributes to the second priority area (fight against inequalities) of the EU's Multiannual Indicative Programme 2021-2027. It therefore addresses the high inequalities persisting in Paraguay, with particular focus on the most vulnerable groups of women and girls such as indigenous women and girls and those from marginalised groups. They will be specifically targeted under one of the Action¿s specific objectives. The programme contributes to the human development chapter of the Global Gateway.