WUNRN
NIGERIA - GENDER & AIDS
PROGRAM EMPOWERS VULNERABLE CHILDREN & FEMALE CAREGIVERS
Sarah Mkeryi Amahson - May 28, 2013
Photo credit: Gilbert Ojiakor/MSH.The Head of the Community Development
Department led a group of participants during the International Women’s Day
rally in
In
Fortunately, since 2009, the PEPFAR-funded, USAID project, Community Based
Support for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CUBS), has been addressing these
challenges by working with orphaned or vulnerable girls and female caregivers,
as well as key stakeholders at national, state, and community levels. In 2012,
for example, the MSH-led CUBS conducted gender training for 260 service
providers, law enforcement agents, and state and local government
representatives. The training helped participants to: understand gender
concepts; identify gender-related needs; design interventions to meet gender-related
needs; and provide legal protection and other social services to support women
and girls.
Since this training, many of CUBS’ local partners have reported positive
changes in their communities. In Rivers state, for example, a recently widowed
woman reported that a male relative had seized all of her family’s assets. The
child protection committee (CPC), newly empowered and informed by the CUBS
training, resolved this issue in favor of the widow and restored the assets to
her. Similarly, in Bayelsa state, a CPC chairman who had attended the CUBS
training was inspired to initiate police action against a man suspected to be
sexually abusing his daughter.
A CUBS
facilitator discusses household economic strengthening with a group of
trainees.Photo
credit: Emily Bunde/MSH.
In addition to
the stakeholder training, CUBS has reached over 4,500 female caregivers through
community-based trainings on reproductive health, psychosocial support, and
nutrition. In the past year, CUBS also trained 1,059 female caregivers in
household economic skills and gave over 150 of these women seed grants to start
or expand a small business.
“[CUBS] trained us how to manage our businesses, calculate profit and loss, and
make our businesses viable,” said one caregiver beneficiary.
“CUBS helped me to minimize useless spending and I now have savings,” said
another caregiver.
“The training showed me how to manage my home and monitor my children,
especially the girls. I now interact with my children better,” said a caregiver
from Delta state.
To support
vulnerable children themselves, CUBS and its partners have established two or
more “Girl Groups” in each of the project-supported states. Through peer
interaction and mentoring, these groups help girls build life skills and learn
ways to protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
Project staff and beneficiaries celebrated these gender interventions last
month during
·
“Stop all forms of violence against women,”
·
“Give women a chance,”
·
“Stop female genital mutilation,”
·
“Promote girl child education,”
·
“Say no to wife battering,”
·
“Stop girl child early marriage,”
·
“Educate the girl child,” and
·
“Empower women.”
CUBS staff
participated in the International Women’s Day rally in
In three other Niger Delta states, CUBS made community-based presentations on
topics entitled:
·
Women as Agents of Change and Development,
·
Identifying Harmful Social Norms and
Practices that Increase Vulnerability of Women,
·
Legal Protection for Women and Girls, and
·
Having an HIV & AIDS Free World.
CUBS’ work with
stakeholders, caregivers, and vulnerable girls is empowering