[Assignment- First Two Year Batch-MEd. 2015-17
- Govt. College of Teacher Education, Thiruvananthapuram]
Engaging
youth and communities to combat gender-based violence
It is Wednesday morning in the Haifa School Collective Centre,
an UNRWA shelter located in Damascus which currently houses 212 displaced
Palestine refugee families, comprising 325 individuals (as of October 2016). A
group of young Palestine refugee boys and girls gather in a corner of the schoolyard.
Mohammad, a 32-year-old UNRWA volunteer, greets everyone who has come to attend
the support group that is about to start.
The group discussions are one way to engage youth in identifying
risks and concerns about gender-based violence (GBV) in their community and
reflect on strategies to address them.
Gender based violence is an umbrella
term for any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will and that
is based on socially ascribed differences between males and females. Youth can
creates the space for developing community based protection strategies, which
means working with community members to identify challenges and problems around
safety and explore ways to address them. This approach recognizes that some G B
V related problems such as domestic violence and child marriage are rooted in
social norms that can only be transformed from within the community.
Institutions and informal groups including religious organizations, schools and
local authorities all influence the roles and responsibilities of young people
and their access to sexual and reproductive health information and services.
Suggestion
*The group discussions are the one way
to engage youth in identifying risks and concerns about gender based violence
in their community.
*Working with community members to
identify challenges and problems around safety and explore ways to address
them.
*The group discussions provide an opportunity
for communities to critically reflect on these issues and their role in
preventing such violence.
*By having an open dialogue with the
community we get awareness on the effects and consequences of gender based
violence.
Solutions
*Engaging boys to stop violence
*To engage with boys and mobilize
communities to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and discrimination.
*To engage men and boys as champions of
change and to mobilize community action against gender based violence.
Reference
www.un.org .youthenvoy.2016/11
Submitted by Ms. Beena Mol
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