Physical Health Switzerland Project #19699

Give Childhood a Chance and Keep Youth Drug Free!

by International Blue Cross

Give Childhood a Chance and Keep Youth Drug Free!

Project Report | May 2, 2022
Involving parents into the fight against SGBV

By Bianca | Project Assistant

Parents sensitisation

IBC implements a gender transformative approach to its work on gender justice and prevention of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Data collection from our external evaluation of 2020 shows that among our beneficiaries' risk behaviours, gender-based violence is the most common, followed by other sexual risk behaviours, alcohol and drug use. Furthermore, substance use and increased levels of violence, mainly SGBV are deeply linked, which has been confirmed by various studies. Alcohol consumption increases violence in the public and private space. There exists a “growing recognition of the role of alcohol in violence against women, particularly in the family. The relation between all forms of aggression and alcohol use is enormous and unequivocal ».[1]

In order to transform gender relations and break gender stereotypes IBC runs life skills sessions on the topic of gender. In 2021 a total of 8040 youths benefitted from the sessions accros our three project countries Chad, Togo and Congo. One challenge that our local partners are facing, is that young girls face more restrictions and limitations to take part in the activities of IBC. It is difficult to involve girls in the activities on a regular basis, due to other commitments in the households and some of the parents don’t want them to participate:

“At first, I was hesitant to allow my teenage daughter to leave the house to go to the Generation 5S club from time to time. Today, I have been reassured that she has made the right choice of her extracurricular activities; after all I have seen, I am now reassured and convinced that her exemplary behaviors are partly due to the lessons she received at the Generation 5S project!" Parent of a peer educator in Congo.

More prevention activities with parents are needed to reinforce their knowledge and skills but also to reinforce their trust in the partner, for them to allow girls to take part in the activities, without any restriction. In order to reach sustainable change it is inevitable to involve parents. Once children and youths show positive behaviour change related to alcohol and other drugs and violence, it is difficult for them to fully adapt their behaviour if at home they are still stuck with "old" patterns such as being victims of violence, discrimination and neglect. IBC has therefore focused more on involving parents and has organized sessions about positive discipline (non-violent education), education based on dialogue, mutual trust and open communication.

In order to reach more parents and involve them in sustainable change, we need your help. Our Life Skills Sessions in Congo, Chad and Togo can only take place because of generous donors. Thank you so much for everything you give!

[1]p.12 Global status report on alcohol and health, 2018, World Health Organization

Community activity in Tanzania

Community activity in Congo

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Jan 7, 2022
Supporting youths in Togo

By Bianca | Project Assistant

IBC follows an active prevention approach with three pillars:

A) Pedagogic measures, which influence individual behavior of participants

B) Mobilisation of local communities

C) Creating better conditions and political framework for protection from alcohol and drug harm

In Togo, all these elements are followed in order to effect lasting change. Since many youths start to consume drugs and alcohol excessively at a young age, it is really important to raise awareness about the consequences early on. One way how IBC tackles this, is by organizing sports activities. These activities are part of the pedagogic measures (Point A from the prevention approach). Blue Cross Togo regularly organizes soccer tournaments for youths. Soccer tournaments are always fun and keep youth active. Besides the advantages of doing sports, these events are always a great opportunity to raise awareness of the consequences of drugs and alcohol. Youths get invited for the Life Skills Trainings, they receive leaflets with informations and most important, they get in touch with other students and Peer Educators.

Peer Educators are trained students, which multiply their knowledge among their friends and families. The concept is based on the idea of exemplary function of role models. Peer Educators can actively support other young people in developing leadership qualities. Peer Educators get trained in yearly training camps and can then deepen their social competencies in their local groups. The trained Peer Educators are responsible for creating and leading Life Skill clubs. They receive a small compensation for their weekly organisation and leading of these meetings. Group discussions and role plays are used as tools for raising awareness during the Life Skill club sessions. Additionally, Peer Educators also organize leisure activities like theatre or football tournaments, as well as music or poetry events.

In order to keep on educating Peer Educators and organizing events, we need your help. Thank you so much for everything you give to support youths in Togo!

Links:

Visit Blue Cross Togo on Facebook

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Oct 18, 2021
End Violence against Women & Children in Tanzania

By Bianca | Project Assistant

The Violence Against Children Survey of 2018 shows that violence against women and children (VAWC) is a burning issue in Tanzania. 27% of girls experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. 52% of girls told someone about experiencing sexual violence, but only 13 percent of girls received help. 60% of girls believe that it is acceptable for a husband to beat his wife under certain circumstances. In order to tackle this problem the National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children has been developed in 2017. The Plan intends to reinforce the commitment of the government to provide effective leadership in eliminating violence in Tanzania. The fight against VAWC requires strong partnerships between the government, development partners and the community. Blue Cross Tanzania cooperated with the City Council in Arusha and conducted a two-day training for gender focal points from four different wards. In total 69 participants took part in the training to learn more about the following points:

Promote positive parenting skills among parents, caregivers and community members.
Promote norms and values that empower women and support non-violent, respectful, positive, nurturing and gender-equitable relationships
Enforce laws relating to rights of women and children.
Train ward VAWC protection committees on their roles and responsibilities

During the training the committees form the different wards elaborated action plans to reduce violence in their wards. The action plans included a strategy, responsible actors and concrete action steps in order to reach their goal. For example the committee from Themi came up with the following strategy:

Strengthen the households by empowering men, women, girls and boys in pursuit of social economic opportunities
Voice norms and values that empower women and support non-violent, respectful, positive, nurturing and gender-equitable relationships
Create and sustain safe and accessible spaces for women and children throughout our communities
Promote positive parent-child relationships and reduce violent parenting practices
A Tanzanian society that understands and embraces the changes in laws that are proposed and implemented, which protect and respond to violence.
A comprehensive and integrated protection system delivering coordinated, quality and timely support to women, girls and boys affected by violence.

After the training, participants evaluated the training. The evaluation showed that almost all participants were strongly encouraged to utilize their newly gained knowledge in their work and promote the National Plan of Action to End Violence Against Women and Children in their community. They even wished for another training focusing on the topic of parenting styles and communication in parenting, since they saw poor parenting styles as a big source of violence against children and women.

We are really happy, that we got to cooperate with the government and train wards in the fight against violence towards women and children. Trainings like these are only possible by your support. Thank you so much for everything you give!

Blue Cross Tanzania at a school

Links:

Violence Against Children Survey 2018

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