While urbanization ushers in economic growth and prosperity, it also presents challenges. Cities often confront numerous crime- and violence-related problems. The “Evidence-based policies for improved community safety in Latin American and African cities” project (1617R) supported the efforts of Member States to improve community safety by enhancing the capacity of city administrations to collect and analyse crime data, formulate safety policies through a participatory approach, and measure progress towards achieving safety-related development targets to enable a better understanding of local crime trends and risk factors affecting specific areas and population groups.

Based on participatory local safety audits, the three project beneficiary cities set priorities for action, revised local government-led urban safety and crime prevention policies and prepared an indicator framework designed to monitor progress in the areas of urban safety and crime prevention. The capacity of policymakers and local stakeholders was strengthened through community safety-related workshops focused on such subjects as geo-referencing of crime data, drug control and public policies, transversal management of safety, public space assessment and social diagnosis.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak and the Secretary-General’s call for all Governments to make the prevention and redress of violence against women a key part of their national response plans for COVID-19, the project, in its final stage, directed attention towards strengthening city officials’ capacity to prevent and respond to domestic violence and gender based violence during the crisis. Activities focused on awareness raising and capacity-building to ensure the provision of essential services to victims, building on the Essential Services Package for Women and Girls Subject to Violence.

The project initiated a dedicated information campaign in one Latin American city to promote the role of the local community in prevention and better reporting of gender-based violence in cooperation with family police stations and to alert victims to the availability of support mechanisms. City officials received training aimed at increasing their knowledge and skills in the area of gathering and analysing data on domestic violence and violence against women. The project assisted victims of gender-based violence by providing shelters together with support and care packages.

The project also offered technical support to another Latin American city in its efforts to improve data collection and monitoring of violence against women in the COVID-19 context. It supported the development of targeted advocacy materials such as videos and infographics to keep communities informed about COVID-19 health measures, crime and violence concerns and channels through which victims can secure assistance. Dedicated material was produced to raise awareness of violence and abuse as it affects women, girls and the elderly.

In one city in Africa, the project addressed mental health issues affecting the inner-city homeless population which are increasing the risk of violence against women. Through use of a resilience barometer, municipal safer cities facilitators were trained to handle emerging challenges in their day-to-day interactions with the homeless community and provide psychosocial support. The municipality established a homeless social protection fund to enable continuation of support beyond the project cycle, and project interventions are being built into the safety monitoring framework developed during the earlier phase of the project.