SAFE IN THE CITY: A youth led response to the SGBV emergency in Sierra Leone

Project period:

01.01.2020 - 30.11.2022

Granted amount:

3,073,705,- DKK

Organization:

Dreamtown

Partners:

Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), Sierra Leone Youth Dream Centre Sierra Leone (YDC-SL)

Pool:

Civilsamfundspuljen

Grant type:

Udviklingsindsats

World goals:

Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being

Goal 4: Quality Education

Goal 5: Gender Equality

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Efforts take place in:

Sierra Leone

Overall targets

To increase the safety, inclusion and empowerment of vulnerable young women (15-35 years) dwelling in fragile urban areas across Freetown, Makeni and Kono, through the enhanced capacity, collaboration and engagement of non-formal education institutions, youth groups and government authorities.

Immediate targets

Specific objective 1: The partners have strengthened their understanding of the specific challenges and drivers of SGBV in the urban slums targeted within the project, and translated this knowledge into tailor-made capacity development resources for young people. Specific objective 2: Non-formal education institutions are safe spaces to learn for youth and play an active role in enhancing the safety and empowerment of young women within their communities. Specific objective 3: Youth groups are inclusive towards the participation of young women and actively engage in initiatives that increase the safety and empowerment of young women in slums. Specific objective 4: Government authorities collaborate with civil society stakeholders on reducing SGBV cases in fragile urban areas.

Target groups

Young women and men (attending NFEI and engaged in groups): The direct participation of young women is essential in terms of creating a safe and inclusive space from where they can participate in highlighting the main issues they face. However, it is also important to work with young men with regards to changing negative gender stereotypes and cultural norms. Based on experiences from previous actions, the design of the different activities is mindful of the different dynamics at play when working with vulnerable young women and men. Several of the trainings will be conducted in separate sessions for women and men respectively. While this intuitively goes against notions of equality and equal participation, it has been deemed necessary in order to ensure that young women feel free to participate. However, as the project progresses and the capacity of the participants increases, it will be assessed whether it is possible to undertake trainings in mixed groups. Dividing the trainings in gendered groups also allows us to tailor the content to specific needs. Male workshops will, for example, include aspects of transformative masculinity, and female workshops will include a focus on how to protect yourself and where to seek support in the case of abuse.

Resume

Sierra Leones regering har i 2019 erklæret ‘a state of emergency on sexual and gender based violence’ (SGBV). Vold mod unge kvinder er et stort problem i de slumområder, hvor Dreamtown og projektets partnere (Youth Dream Centre Sierra Leone, YMCA og Freetown Media Centre) arbejder. Med projektet vil vi bidrage til at forbedre sikkerhedssituationen for unge kvinder (15-35 år) på tværs af byerne Freetown, Makeni og Kono. Projektets strategi fokuserer på at styrke organiseringen og kapaciteten af lokale civilsamfundsaktører, samt etablere et produktivt samarbejde mellem civilsamfund og myndigheder omkring SGBV. Projektets omdrejningspunkt er lokale ungdomsgrupper og uformelle uddannelsesinstitutioner. Disse aktører har direkte adgang til de mest udsatte unge kvinder. Projektet mobiliserer 30 ungdomsgrupper og 10 uformelle uddannelsesinstitutioner, styrker kapaciteten af 1736 unge, samt engagerer 5 grupperinger af myndigheder omkring en fælles indsats i kampen mod SGV i Sierra Leone.