‘La Famille’
Ministry of Gender Equality,
Child Development and
Family Welfare
INTRODUCTION
• In line with one of the UN recommendations that Member
States should set up appropriate mechanisms to
implement policies and programmes in favour of families,
this Ministry has set up a Family Welfare and Protection
Unit (FWPU) since 2003.
• The objectives of the FWPU are to implement
appropriate policies and programmes to promote family
welfare and to combat Gender-Based violence (GBV).
POLICY PAPER ON THE FAMILY
 A Policy Paper on the Family was adopted by this Ministry
in 2006.
• The Policy Paper reflects the concern from the nation
pertaining to the well-being of the family and the
commitment to render the family as a strong and viable
component of society that facilitates development and the
overall well-being of its members.
NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON THE FAMILY
 To operationalize the National Policy Paper on the family,
the National Action Plan on the Family was launched in
November 2009.
•
A holistic coordinated and multi-agency approach to
address issues relating to families have been adopted for
the formulation of the National Action Plan on the Family.
 The objectives of the National Action Plan
on the Family are:
• To implement a series of programmes
and activities for achieving the enhanced
functioning of the family through
development of partnerships with
stakeholders; and
(CONT’D)
NATIONAL ACTION PLAN
ON THE FAMILY(CONT’D)
• To provide all stakeholders with guidelines to address family
concerns in policy planning, decision making and
programmes incorporating the following strategic objectives:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
Creating strong foundations-strengthening marriage relationships
for building stronger families;
Balancing work and family life;
Strengthening values for family life;
Enabling families to nurture the young in an environment
conducive to their development;
Providing support services to sustain quality of life of families;
and
Monitoring and evaluation mechanism for
implementation
of the National Action Plan on the
Family.
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS
IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF
FAMILY WELFARE
 Inter-generation Relationship Programme:
• National/Regional programmes conducted across the island with a
view to promote bonding among the three generations and
concurrently sensitise them on the importance of the intergeneration
relationship programme.
(CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS
IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF
FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D)
 Pre-Marital Counselling Programme:
• To prepare engaged couples for a stable conjugal and a healthy
family life.
 Marriage Enrichment Programme:
• To prepare married couples for family responsibilities and stable
conjugal life.
• To strengthen and promote understanding and respect between
couples.
(CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS
IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF
FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D)
Strengthening Values for Family Life
Programme:
•To bring about a nation-wide
transformation of attitude and mindset
for responsible citizenship through
inculcation of values for family life,
thereby
contributing
to
positive
individual
development,
caring
communities and a healthy nation.
(CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS
IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF
FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D)
 Balancing Work and Family Life:
• The need for balancing work and family life
is essential. Work and family life balance
programme can benefit an organisation’s
bottom line while at the same time, provide
other indirect benefits to both employees
and employers. A dissemination workshop
with key stakeholders was conducted in in
October 2016 to disseminate the findings of
the survey carried out in regard to the
programme.
(CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS
IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF
FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D)
 “Les Assises de La Famille”:
• The purpose of “Les Assises de la Famille” was to hold a national
consultation with stakeholders concerned for the implementation of
policies, programmes, projects and activities for the welfare of families
and reflect on the situation of the family in the Mauritian society, taking
stock of present problems and challenges.
 Costed National Action Plan to implement
recommendations of “Les Assises de la Famille ”:
• The action plan would be a roadmap for all relevant parties
to adopt policy measures and identify funding for the
implementation of policies, programmes, projects and
activities for the welfare of families.
(CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS
IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF
FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D)
 Halfway Home:
• The aim of setting up half-way home is to provide an intermediate
residential centre to those young boys and girls who have no place to go
after that discharge from institutions where they were committed up to
their majority.
(CONT’D)
PROGRAMMES AND PROJECTS
IMPLEMENTED FOR PROMOTION OF
FAMILY WELFARE (CONT’D)
Celebration of the International Day of Families:
•Promotion of family welfare is sustained through a series of programmes
and projects which are conducted all year round at both national and
regional levels.
•To mark the Celebration of the International Day of Families on 15 May, a
series of activities is organized by the MGECD&FW each year.
FORTHCOMING PROJECTS
 A ‘study to assess the wellbeing of families’ will be
conducted, with the following objectives:
• To provide indicators on how far families in the Republic of Mauritius
have supportive intra-family relationships, ability to resolve conflicts
effectively, possibility of promoting violence-free environment,
quality of couples’ relationships, parent-child’s relationships, intergeneration solidarity, children’s protection and development and
harmony in the family.
• To collect qualitative and quantitative data.
EXISTING LEGISLATIONS
PROTECTION FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT
 The Protection from Domestic Violence Act (PDVA) exists
since 1997 and has been subjected to several amendments,
in 2004, 2007 and 2011.
 In 2016, the PDVA was amended and makes provisions for
the following:
• Increasing the powers of Enforcement Officers
• Widening the definition of the term “domestic violence”
• Providing that a person - who does an act of domestic violence
against his spouse, a child of his spouse or another person living
under the same roof shall commit an offence; and
• Empowering a police officer not below the rank of an Assistant
Superintendent to arrest a person where, following an act of
domestic violence, physical injury has ensued.
PROTECTION FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
(AMENDMENT) ACT 2016 (CONT’D)
The penalty for willful non compliance with any order under
the Act was amended as follows:
• On 1st conviction, fine not exceeding Rs.50,000 and
imprisonment not exceeding 1 year.
• On 2nd conviction, fine not exceeding Rs.100,000 and
imprisonment not exceeding 2 years.
• On 3rd or subsequent
exceeding 5 years.
conviction,
imprisonment
not
EXISTING SERVICES
The following services are available
at the six Family Support Bureaux
(FSBx):(i) Family Counselling
(ii) Psychological Counselling
(iii) Legal Counselling
(iv) Assistance to adult victims of
gender-based violence
Hotline 139 for cases of domestic violence
(Operational on a 24 hr basis and free of charge)
Hotline 119 for family problems
(Operational on a 24 hr basis)
Thank you for your attention