Gender

The overall goal of the project is to empower citizens to challenge actual and perceived threats to human security and personal safety experienced by vulnerable members of the community, especially women and girls in war-affected countries and communities of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The project focuses on the human security experienced by women and girls in the Mano River Union countries, taking into consideration the peace and harmony that has eluded these three countries for so long and offering an opportunity to promote dialogues and social interactions between and amongst the peoples of the remote border communities.

The nine target communities in which Alert works are located along the borders of the three countries, in areas where cross-border communities share linguistic and cultural groups. As one of the core elements of this project, community radio stations previously established by Alert, which are located in these border communities, have been fully engaged and serve as a tool for promulgating messages of hope, peace, respect for the rule of law and security and promoting regional integration, instead  of hatred and disharmony, and changing knowledge, attitudes and behaviour with regards to sexual and gender-based violence, both in terms of challenging impunity and in counteracting the stigma and ridicule often experienced by survivors.

In addition to helping to change attitudes towards sexual violence, Alert facilitates access to the use of redress mechanisms by victims by strengthening capacities among community activists to advocate so they are able to act as ‘animators’, providing assistance, guidance and support. We also contribute to more strategic and effective policies by local, national, regional and international institutions by providing training to the police and state and traditional justice personnel as well as engaging in advocacy with regional and international intergovernmental bodies.

In Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, women and young people face enormous challenges. Little or no access to education, prevailing poverty and high illiteracy levels all help to ensure that women and young people continue to be excluded from decision-making processes. Even when presented with opportunities to participate, women often shy away from these challenges, their lack of self-esteem driven by a strong sense of traditional roles for men and for women, and their lack of confidence to express their needs and interests means their views are often not taken into account. Similarly, young people have to contend with a culture which favours older men and, often isolated from decision making, find it difficult to express themselves and frequently resort to violence.  

This project builds on work previously carried out by Alert and its partners to increase the participation of women in peacebuilding processes. Alert contributes to effective political participation by women and young people in West Africa by enabling community activists to facilitate training and action planning in order to build skills and confidence and thereby a culture of voicing needs and negotiating for positive changes. At the same time, Alert, through community radio stations, encourages debate in communities on the role of women and young people in public decision-making processes and uses information gleaned as a result of the project to inform and influence national, regional and international policy reform around inclusive participation.