Monitoring and Evaluation of the first Local Safety Audit in Mexico and launch of the campaign to assist vulnerable groups in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

On August 14, the Center of Excellence in Statistical Information on Government, Crime, Victimization and Justice (CdE) presented the results of the last two phases of the Local Safety Audit in the municipality of Queretaro (ALS), through a report on Monitoring and Evaluation of the actions related to the recommendations of the Audit that have been carried out by the municipality authorities between May 2019 and June 2020, in the framework of the project Evidence-based policies for the improvement of community safety in Latin American and African cities.

As part of the Local Safety Audit, 141 recommendations were generated and addressed to the Queretaro municipal government with the aim of strengthening public policies on security and crime prevention and thereby improve the quality of life of Queretaro’s citizens from the Sustainable Development Goals perspective:

– 3- Good health and well-being

– 5 – Gender equality

– 11 – Sustainable cities and communities and

– 16 – Peace, justice and strong institutions

In May 2019, 141 recommendations were presented that focused on strengthening actions to address family and gender-based violence, crime prevention, information systems for institutional management, strategies to reduce the incidence of crime, and organizational changes, among others. Since the publication of the Report of Findings, the CoE has monitored the municipality’s actions and documented its progress and results, where 77% have been fully addressed.

Among the main results, the Municipality strengthened its family violence care area, attending to 180% more victims between 2018 and 2019. In addition, between March 2019 and March 2010 an increase was registered in the sense of security in several public spaces such as ATMs on the streets and transportation, according to the National Urban Public Safety Survey (ENSU). Also there was a significant increase in perceptions of effectiveness and confidence in the municipal police, according to data from the same INEGI survey.

Finally, 3 of 22 videos of the Campaign for attention to vulnerable groups in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic in the municipality of Querétaro were released to support and raise awareness among the population about family and gender violence related to the confinement. The materials were designed jointly by UNODC and the Querétaro Municipal Public Security Secretariat.