TRAINING AND INFORMATION CAMPAIGN ON THE ... - Fokus

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Acronymes AEO AIDS CBF CBO CPA CRR FGM/C FLE FOKUS GAMCOTRAP GAMYAG HIV HTP IAC IEC IGA NGO NKTF PLWHA RH SHR SRH STI TBA TP UNCRC URR VAW VDC WR Alternative Employment Opportunity Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Community Based Facilitators Community Based Organization Child Protection Alliance Central River Region Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Family Life Education Forum for Kvinner og Utviklingsspørsmål (Forum for Women and Development) Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children GAMCOTRAP Youth Advocacy Group Human Immunodeficiency Virus Harmful Traditional Practice Inter Africa Committee Information, Education, Communication Income Generating Activities Non Governmental Organization Norsk Kvinnelig Teologforening (Norway Women’s Theological Association) People Living with HIV and AIDS Reproductive Health Sexual and Human Rights Sexual and Reproductive Health Sexually Transmitted Infection Tradititional Birth Attendant Traditional Practice United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Upper River Region Violence against Women Village Development Committee Western Region
Executive Summary In The Gambia, a majority of women struggle with poverty, lack of education, and constraints on their decision-making power regarding their own reproductive and sexual health. The Gambian chapter of the Inter Africa Committee (IAC), the non-governmental organization (NGO) Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP), has for over two decades been engaged in a campaign of education, sensitization, and activism aimed at eliminating harmful traditional practices, focusing in particular on abolishing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and early marriage, as well as promoting education and empowerment for women and girls. The main purpose of this external evaluation was to focus on the implementation and outcome of the three-year project “Training and Information Campaign on FGM,” funded by NKTF/FOKUS, Norway. This summative end-of-project evaluation seeks to provide information on the extent to which project objectives were achieved, on challenges, lessons learned from the experiences, use of resources, and organizational capacity and needs. Lessons learned about best practices are to be shared for others to replicate and, while it has been made explicit that no further funding is available from NKTF/ FOKUS for the continuation of these project activities, it is hoped that the findings of the evaluation will form a basis for securing additional support for GAMCOTRAP’s ongoing efforts. The evaluation was participatory and designed in close collaboration with the funders and beneficiaries, and included document review, group meetings with beneficiaries from all the target groups in each of the project regions, as well as in-depth interviews with GAMCOTRAP staff, beneficiaries, board members, and partners. Results According to GAMCOTRAP’s reports, the information project was carried out in each of the proposed regions a total of 117 communities. The project directly reached an estimated 2,193 beneficiaries. GAMCOTRAP estimates that an additional 10,965 indirect beneficiaries were reached (using a multiplier effect of 5; see Appendix 2). Representatives were trained from all the proposed target groups, which in the proposal were identified as (primary beneficiaries): women and girls, and (secondary beneficiaries): women group leaders, village heads, district chiefs, religious scholars, traditionalists, circumcisers, TBAs, traditional healers, and people living with HIV/AIDS. The broader aim of GAMCOTRAP is to sensitize communities with the ultimate goal being a reduction in FGM prevalence and increased empowerment of women and girls, while the specific focus of this project was to: train traditional birth attendants, circumcisers, and traditional healers in order to upgrade their skills and awareness regarding the harmful effects of FGM; establish networks of people living with HIV/AIDS; partner with traditional communicators and train youth drama groups; intensify Family Life Education and HIV counseling; enlist the support of traditional decision-makers; and enhance the IEC capacity of community health-providers and traditional healers. While all stakeholders realize that it is near impossible – especially in the short term – to apply objective metrics to assess actual reductions in prevalence rates of harmful traditional practices, this 5
Page 1: Gambia Committee on Traditional Pra
Page 6 and 7: evaluation found that all the secon
Page 8 and 9: findings were discussed, along with
Page 10 and 11: the Situation of Women and Children
Page 12 and 13: concern for women’s sexuality. A
Page 14 and 15: In the absence of anti-FGM legislat
Page 16 and 17: appropriate strategy to specific co
Page 18 and 19: effective public speakers with flue
Page 20 and 21: to upgrade their skills and awarene
Page 22 and 23: he could instead sit down and discu
Page 24 and 25: of practising FGM, especially in th
Page 26 and 27: while calling for improved dialogue
Page 28 and 29: The specific goal of this project w
Page 30 and 31: Participatory observation of projec
Page 32 and 33: 14. [December 3] Meeting in Mansaya
Page 34 and 35: 46. [December 7] Interview with Ami
Page 36 and 37: After the group meeting in Mannekun
Page 38 and 39: The Gambia River between Basse and
Page 40 and 41: Makka Masireh meeting in alkalo’s
Page 42 and 43: Suduwol meeting, young former circu
Page 44 and 45: Tambasangsang kanyelengs. Fanta wen
Page 46 and 47: Mabally Kuta (a Mandinka/Jahanka co
Page 48 and 49: Kerewan Samba Sirreh in the
Page 50 and 51: February 24-26, 2009: Dissemination
Page 52 and 53: Appendix 4 Activities completed fro
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Appendix 6: Contributions from othe
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