hi
we can olso use th date: Saturday, 15 September 2007
Executive Committee Conclusions
Conclusion on Women and Girls at Risk
(No. 105 (LVII) - 2006)
The Executive Committee,
Recalling its Conclusions Nos. 39 (XXXVI), 54 (XXXIX), 60 (XL) and 64 (XLI) on refugee women; Nos. 47 (XXXVIII), 59 (XL) and 84 (XLVIII) on refugee children and/or adolescents; Nos. 73 (XLIV) and 98 (LIV) on refugee protection and sexual violence and protection from sexual abuse and exploitation respectively, and No. 94 (LIII) on the civilian and humanitarian character of asylum,
Recalling that Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security and the subsequent Action Plan (S/2005/636) provide an integrated framework for a consolidated international and UN-wide response to this challenge, that Security Council resolution 1261 (1999) and five subsequent resolutions on children and armed conflict, call on governments, parties to a conflict and other organizations, including UN bodies, to take wide-ranging action to protect children in armed conflict and afterwards, and that Security Council resolutions 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000) and 1674 (2006), similarly call on parties to armed conflict to ensure the protection of affected civilians, including women and children,
Acknowledging that, while forcibly displaced men and boys also face protection problems, women and girls can be exposed to particular protection problems related to their gender, their cultural and socio-economic position, and their legal status, which mean they may be less likely than men and boys to be able to exercise their rights and therefore that specific action in favour of women and girls may be necessary to ensure they can enjoy protection and assistance on an equal basis with men and boys,
Recalling that the protection of women and girls is primarily the responsibility of States, whose full and effective cooperation, action and political resolve are required to enable UNHCR to fulfil its mandated functions; and that all action on behalf of women and girls must be guided by obligations under relevant international law, including, as applicable, international refugee law, international human rights law and international humanitarian law,
Bearing in mind Conclusion No. 75 (XLV) on internally displaced persons and noting that the protection challenges for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees may differ, that the normative legal frameworks for their protection are different, that humanitarian access to internally displaced persons can be more difficult, that internally displaced women and girls are more likely to be caught in armed conflict and may face specific protection risks as a result and that the responses and solutions available to refugee and internally displaced women and girls may be different,
Recognizing that, while women and girls may be exposed to certain risks, such as trafficking, in any location, the different nature of camp and urban environments can expose women and girls to different protection risks and that in camps, for example, their freedom of movement and capacity to earn a livelihood may be more restricted and they may be more exposed there to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), whereas in urban situations, they may be less able to exercise their rights effectively, to access protection and services or reach UNHCR or implementing partner offices,
Acknowledging that the challenges involved in securing the protection of women and girls at risk must be addressed in a holistic manner and that protection partnerships with governments, UNHCR, other UN agencies, other international organizations and non-governmental organizations, together with displaced and host communities, are integral to effective identification, responses, monitoring and solutions,
Acknowledging that each community is different and that an in-depth understanding of religious and cultural beliefs and practices is required to address the protection risks women and girls face in a sensitive manner while bearing in mind obligations under international refugee, human rights and humanitarian law,
Reaffirming its call to the international community, in cooperation with UNHCR and other international organizations, to mobilize the financial and other resources necessary, including in support of host communities, to ensure the provision of protection and material assistance, and of durable solutions, based on international solidarity, cooperation, burden and responsibility sharing and the understanding that inadequate protection, or inadequate, inappropriate or poorly distributed assistance can increase the risks women and girls face,
Acknowledging that forced displacement tends to expose individuals to particular risks, recognizing the specific needs of women and girls, noting that this Conclusion applies to women and girls who are refugees, asylum-seekers or IDPs assisted and protected by UNHCR, who find themselves in situations of heightened risk, and further that it could also be applied, as appropriate, to returnees of concern to UNHCR,
(a) Adopts this Conclusion regarding the identification of women and girls at risk, prevention strategies and individual responses and solutions and recommends that UNHCR include a more detailed elaboration of these issues in the UNHCR Handbook on the Protection of Women and Girls.
Identification of women and girls at risk
(b) Forced displacement can expose women and girls to a range of factors which may put them at risk of further violations of their rights. These can be present in the wider protection environment and/or be the result of the individual's particular circumstances, as outlined below.
(c) Identification and analysis of the presence and severity of these different factors help determine which women and girls are at heightened risk and enable targeted responses to be devised and implemented. Identification can present particular challenges because women and girls are often less visible in displaced populations than men and boys, they may not be or feel able to report protection incidents, particularly if these occur in the private domain. It is therefore important to ensure an enabling environment which supports continuing identification and analysis of the situation.
(d) In certain cases, the presence of one factor or incident may alone be sufficient to require an urgent protection intervention. In others, the presence of a combination of individual and wider protection environment factors will expose women and girls to heightened risk. In still others, if women and girls have been subjected, for instance, to SGBV in the area of origin or during flight, this may leave them at heightened risk in the place of displacement. Continuing assessment is required to monitor threat levels, as they may change over time.
(e) Risk factors in the wider protection environment can arise as a result of and after flight for women and girls and may include problems resulting from insecurity and armed conflict threatening or exposing them to SGBV or other forms of violence; inadequate or unequal access to and enjoyment of assistance and services; lack of access to livelihoods; lack of understanding of women's and men's roles, responsibilities and needs in relation to reproductive healthcare, and lack of understanding of the consequences of SGBV on women's and girls' health; the position of women and girls in the displaced or host community which can result in their marginalization and in discrimination against them; legal systems, which do not adequately uphold the rights of women and girls under international human rights law, including those relating to property; those informal justice practices which violate the human rights of women and girls; asylum systems which are not sensitive to the needs and claims of female asylum-seekers; and mechanisms for delivering protection which do not adequately monitor and reinforce women's and girls' rights.
(f) These factors related to the wider protection environment may be combined with individual risk factors which increase the risks for these women and girls. Individual risk factors can be grouped non-exhaustively under factors relating to their individual civil status or situation in society; their having already been subject to SGBV and/or their risk of exposure to SGBV or other forms of violence; and their need for specific health and/or other support services, including in the case of women and girls with disabilities.
(g) Responding more effectively to protection problems faced by women and girls at risk requires a holistic approach that combines preventive strategies and individual responses and solutions. It involves collaboration between, and the involvement of, all relevant actors, including men and boys, to enhance understanding and promote respect for women's and girls' rights.
Preventive strategies
(h) Recommended preventive strategies to be adopted by States, UNHCR, other relevant agencies and partners may include the identification, assessment and monitoring of risks.
(i) Identification, assessment and monitoring of risks faced by women and girls in the wider protection environment are to be strengthened by partnerships and actions to:
provide disaggregated data by sex and age; ensure registration on an individual and ongoing basis for refugees, recognizing the need to protect the confidential nature of personal data, and promote mechanisms to identify the internally displaced; strengthen protection monitoring of individuals by working with the community; monitor access to and enjoyment of protection, assistance and services by women and girls;
incorporate gender issues into early warning mechanisms, alerts and contingency plans, conduct a rapid situation analysis at the start of a new emergency and integrate gender-based risk analysis into inter-agency assessments;
mobilize women, men, girls and boys of all ages and diverse backgrounds as equal partners together with all relevant actors in participatory assessments to ensure their protection concerns, priorities, capacities and proposed solutions are understood and form the basis of protection strategies and solutions;
mainstream age, gender and diversity analysis into all programmes, policies and operations to ensure all can benefit equally from activities and inequality is not perpetuated;
promote gender balance in staff recruitment and take active measures to increase the number of female professionals working in the field;
identify and prevent SGBV and strengthen the capacity of national and local authorities to carry out their protection functions more effectively.
(j) Secure environments are to be established and strengthened, including by partnerships and actions to:
prevent and respond to SGBV in accordance with international standards set out in UNHCR and other relevant guidelines,1 including through provision of quality health services to address the specific needs of women and girls at risk;
maintain the civilian and humanitarian character of asylum, which is a primary responsibility of host States;
ensure the individual documentation of refugee women and separated and unaccompanied refugee girls and register births, marriages and divorces in a timely manner;
strengthen dispute resolution skills in the displaced community and take measures to assure confidentiality, so as to enable women and girls at risk to remain safely in their community and build relations between host and displaced communities to create a safe and non-exploitative environment;
strengthen justice systems to uphold the rights of women and girls and bring perpetrators of SGBV to justice, combat trafficking and protect victims; and
establish and/or implement codes of conduct, including on the elimination of sexual exploitation and abuse, for all humanitarian staff, including those working in the delivery of services and for other staff in authority, such as border guards, and ensure that confidential and accessible complaints systems are in place which include investigation and follow-up, so as to encourage the reporting of abuse and exploitation where codes of conduct are breached.
(k) The empowerment of displaced women and girls is to be enhanced including by partnerships and actions to:
strengthen women's leadership, including by enhancing their representation and meaningful participation in displaced community and camp management committees, in decision making, and in dispute resolution systems, by enhancing their access to and control over services and resources, promoting their rights and leadership skills and supporting implementation of UNHCR's Five Commitments to Refugee Women;
strengthen women's and girls' capacities, including by enabling their access to quality education, including secondary education, in safe school environments and by enhancing food security, livelihood opportunities, freedom of movement and economic independence, including where appropriate through access to labour markets; and
work with the displaced community, including men and boys, to rebuild family and community support systems undermined by conflict and flight and to raise awareness of the rights of women and girls and understanding of gender roles.
(l) Financial and other necessary resources should also be mobilized, as appropriate, including by action to ensure the provision of protection and material assistance and timely durable solutions based on international solidarity, cooperation and burden and responsibility sharing.
Individual responses and solutions
(m) Recommended actions by States, UNHCR, other relevant agencies and partners to respond to the situation of individual women and girls at risk are listed non-exhaustively below.
(n) Ensuring early identification and immediate response involves partnerships and actions to:
establish mechanisms, based on an analysis of the risk factors outlined above, to identify individual women and girls at risk, determine and implement appropriate immediate responses and subsequent solutions;
provide women and girls at risk with information, counselling, medical and psychosocial care, as well as access to safe houses if they face domestic violence and abuse or attack by other members of the community, especially where there are no mechanisms to remove perpetrators; provide emergency voluntary relocation, e.g. to another town or camp, or emergency resettlement;
determine the best interests of girls at risk, provide alternative accommodation, physical protection and interim foster care as required, as well as initiate family tracing and ensure family unity wherever possible and in their best interests; and
ensure that refugee status determination procedures provide female asylum-seekers with effective access to gender-sensitive procedures and recognize that gender-related forms of persecution in the context of Article 1A (2) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees may constitute grounds for refugee status.
(o) Developing medium-term responses for individuals includes partnerships and actions to:
monitor on an ongoing basis initiatives taken with regard to individual safety, well-being and needs and ensure accountability for actions taken;
help secure the access of women and girls at risk to justice and reduce impunity, including by advising, accompanying and supporting them through initiatives such as women's legal clinics, local women's associations, witness relocation programmes and mobile courts in remote areas; and
strengthen identified individuals' access to education, vocational training and recreational programmes with childcare and promote community-based livelihood strategies which target women and girls at risk, especially in prolonged displacement situations.
(p) Recommended longer-term responses and solutions include partnerships and actions to:
promote respect for women's and girls' equal rights to make a free and informed choice to return voluntarily and to their equal access to land and property in the country of origin, and incorporate measures to ensure adequate ongoing assistance and support in the country of origin for those at risk into tripartite voluntary repatriation agreements;
strengthen the use of resettlement as a protection and durable solutions tool for refugee women and girls at risk; enhance identification of refugee women and girls at risk for resettlement, including through training; streamline processing further, including by establishing measures to enable the speedier departure of refugee women at risk and their dependants;
consider using special evacuation programmes for internally displaced women and girls at risk, if necessary, given that resettlement is very rarely available to them;
establish mechanisms, where voluntary repatriation for individual refugee women and girls at risk is not a safe option and resettlement is not available, to enable them, where appropriate, to integrate locally and safely in the country of asylum, including by examining possibilities for voluntary relocation elsewhere in the country; for internally displaced women and girls at risk, examine possibilities for allowing them to relocate elsewhere in their own country if they wish and if their safety cannot be ensured where they are; and
ensure support, such as medical and psychosocial care, is available to women and girls at risk to facilitate their recovery and integration, whether this be in the context of local integration, return, resettlement or other humanitarian programmes.
(q) Efforts to ensure the progressive implementation of the above-mentioned mechanisms and standards can benefit greatly from partnerships and the development of relevant public policies, supported as appropriate by the international community.
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1 See for example UNHCR "Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Guidelines for Prevention and Response", 2003; Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) "Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings", 2005.
I have been reading through your discussions and plans. You have all been hard at work putting together the infrastructure for this project. I think you could receive excellent information from Solace International, Inc. about how they have structured the Vocational Training Schools that they have been building in both Asia and Africa. Nate York, the executive director, would be able to provide good insight into the process since he has built a good number of schools and vocational training centers already. Here is their home page:
Mr. York's email:
[email]nate@solaceinternational.org[/email]
As for training materials (and this may seem early in the game, but I like to think ahead to what else could be done), you can get some great ideas and curriculum guides from:
[url=http://opentraining.unesco-ci.org/cgi-bin/search.cgi]Open Training Platform[/url]
You simply go to the site above and type in the topic of your interest. UNESCO has put together some awesome materials and ideas to consider for education of both children and adults.
Please consider talking to Nate York. He is an energetic and goal oriented individual. You will get good information from him.
From September until December 2007 this Villages was featured amongst others. The purpose of featuring these Villages was to find out how Villages on NABUUR could get results quicker and more predictably.
[b]Results[/b]
Most of the Featured Villages experienced an influx of Neighbours by being featured. The majority of the Local Representatives was happy with the increased activity in their Village. Though in most cases the defined results were only partially achieved. Reasons for that were according to some Local Representatives that their goals were too ambitious, others found out their goals had to be redefined. Results that depend on finding (larger amounts of) funds are most difficult to achieve.
[b]Predictability[/b]
Based on the feedback of the Local Representatives, the following conditions seem to be good indicators for success:
- To achieve results a project should have a clear focus and small, concrete steps;
- There should be a local team in place;
- Specific activities attract more volunteers than planning issues;
- Finding funding or sponsors is still a difficult issue that many villages encounter;
- Being featured attracts Neighbours but visible community involvement is crucial;
- Regular discussions and updates are necessary to maintain an active group.
Because featuring of villages seem to be a useful tool, there will be another round. This time the focus will be on defining the project with a clear focus and small, concrete steps.
Follow the ''new'' Featured Villages [url=http://www.nabuur.com/modules/villages/featured_villages.php]here. [/url]
You say that the computers malfunctioned. What happened - is it possible for someone with some computer knowledge to fix them?
I am interested in what you are doing - those kids deserve a chance - but not sure I can come up with anything that I haven't suggested before. And I realise that some of this may already have been done, but current state is not really clear from reading posts. But as no one else has replied...
What do the people in Adyaka want to do - the current documents were written in early 2007, do the current plans still match their needs, or do they have new ideas and priorities?
The tools suggested in for the Featured Villages may help the community with project definition.
from Masaka Nabuur - http://www.nabuur.com/modules/newbb/viewforum.php?forum=499
[quote]Also, as part of this process, we have collected a series of tools that are aimed to support a community define projects in a way where the participation of the community is maximised in the process.
The three main tools that have been adapted for this process are:
- Community assessment tool. http://www.fv.nabuurtest.com/files/Community%20assesment%20tool%20-%202....
This tool is aimed to use some simple questions to get a better idea of the level of development of a community. It is very important that the steps and tasks are adjusted with the reality of the community.
- The “WE CAN DO IT” method. http://www.fv.nabuurtest.com/files/We%20can%20do%20it%20Method.pdf
This is an adaptation of what is also called appreciative enquire. This method looks to use the past positives experiences of the community as a starting point to define steps and tasks to work on.
I would say start small and simple. From section 1.8 of the Operational Plan document, it looks as though AODI has already had some success in doing this already. What can you do using local resources? How can the project be split into smaller simpler steps, and can some of this be done for very little money by the community doing a lot for themselves>
I am a little confused by the current plans as teh Operational Plan and Business Plan don't contain exactly the same info when it comes to plans and costs.
Instead of money, it may be easier to find sources of donated equipment, books etc especially those that don't charge for shipping.
When it comes to funding, are there options within Uganda which may be easier and faster than looking internationally? Emabssy grants schemes, local businesses, Rotary/Lions clubs, local/national government, international orgs already working in the area etc etc.
Do you have any international school, church etc links as they will often raise money.
Learn from others. e.g. have a look at the latest reports on Nyalebe Nabuur http://www.nabuur.com/modules/villages/mystory.php?villageid=351 The attachments to the latest news items (right hand side of that page) show details of their training programme, how actively involved the local community are, and how much it has cost them to get started.
And from others in your area - there will be a lot of groups doing similar things. Can you find out how they got funding, can you work together with them, can some of Adyaka's young people join existing training activities run by others?
A quick internet search led me to a few vocational training and other related projects in Lira (which you probably already know about!).
This talks about a project for disabled people, now complete, but may have some interesting ideas. In this case, trainees were matched with existing businesses who were prepared to provide on the job training http://www.norrag.org/wg/documents/Empowerment%20of%20Disabled.doc
I have been thinking for some time about the issues that we have sought to address relating to Adyaka village and our wish to help Enon Alex with his work to try to help the unfortunate young people there. I am sorry that i have been absent for some time but I have been very much tied up with some work here in the UK and in Italy.
In a very real sense we have achieved certain goals :
- trying to obtain funding for the training programme although I have to say this has not been at all successful
- trying to obtain some computers and tools, eqipment for the AODI - Adyaka Orphans Developmnet Institute - and the training institute . Enon Alex did get some but they mal functioned and are not now working
- identifying a list of potential donors
- drafting an outline Business Plan
- drafting an operational plan for AODI
- attracting a large number of neighbours via nabuur and their ideas , support etc
- Enon Alex met with a friend of mine who was visiting Uganda recently and had the opportunity to discuss issues on a face to face basis .
However I think that we have now reached a plateau in our actions in as much as there has been very little development for some months now. Thus I wanted to write and in addition of course to thanking everyone personally for your input and efforts to this work ,I also think that it is important to ask that we might now take stock, review what we have been trying to do and determine what efforts we should consiider to move forward , probbaly by small steps on an incremental basis .
I would like to ask all neighbours therefore to consider what you might feel realistically we should now try to do over say the next 18 months and what part you might feel able on an individual basis to play in this work. All you would have to would be to place a message in the next 4 weeks on the Adyaka website with your views and ideas and the help that you might offer and I will take it from there in discussion with Enon Alex.
Thanks for your concern aboout the situation in adyaka as i write now,well first i would like to appologies for note updating the web regularly for the last 4 months.I was in a place without internet[JUBA SOTHERN SUDAN]
The community of adyaka ,the facilitaor and neighbours too have tried to secure fund to start the training centre but in vain even the computers which was donated by crane bank limited got crushed up due to poor wiring and rendering it useless.
The children are getting bigger and now with the help of APT Enterprise in the uk we are planing to place some of them to some institution on Apprentice training whch we are calling it Business Development support[BDS]
We are also waiting for Feedde minds uk who have promise us some good start in the comming month of August.
We have got our generator which was donated to us together with the computers and its still on good running condition ,we are requesting some good samaritan to help us get computers so we can use it for traininmg here in adyaka using our mud blck building.
As alocal Representative am working round the clock to ensure that i acheive some thing for adyaka .Mary could you help search for the computyers
That sounds promising with APT. How many of the young people will they be able to assist i.e. will this solve all the needs for vocational skills training? Didn't realise you were still hoping for support from Feed The Minds - I thought I had read on here or in a newsletter that the application was not successful.
Am still a little confused about what happened to those computers.
On the subject of computer training, is that one of the skills that is most likely to get the young people into employment, or will they be better off learning practical skills like sewing, construction, farming etc?
How close to Lira town are you? I am wondering if there is any way you can link up with Acoke computer centre, and some of your people can get training there? I don't know if thats practical - you would need to talk to them about that. You will also discover from them that running such a place is not always easy...
If you hope to provide training yourselves, do you have people with computer skills who could do it, and is your building suitable? It is going to cost you money to run the place - will the centre have any sources of income?
I have a list of other computer centres, and IT-related networks in Uganda which I put together for Acoke and Jinja projects, and it is attached. My hope being that they could learn from what others have done. I don't know if they have contacted any of them yet. It may be worth you talking to Sabbath/Fred (Acoke) or Paul (Jinja) to see if they have. You may be able to learn from them too, find out how successful training has been, how they make money to keep running, and whether it has led to employment.
From what I know of other villages, finding computers is not that hard. But if they are coming from outside the country you will probably have to pay some or all of the shipping costs. I don't know how that will be done, unless that is part of the application to Feed the Minds?
Am wondering if there is any possibility of finding some within Uganda? There are organisations who provide them to schools and training centres, although I don't know whether you would fit any of their criteria.
These are taken from that big doc I posted on here the other day:
Works to set up computer labs in schools and other education institutions http://www.computers4africa.org/impact/index.htm
Currently only accepting applications from Lira and Gulu districts. Not free, but low cost and give a lot of assistance as well as providing computers
"The mission of Computers for Africa (CFA) is promoting sustainable Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development in rural African communities. Ours is a comprehensive program, developed by our African and USA personnel.
...
Our approach to promoting African ICT development can be summarized in four key goals: send quality hardware, educate for sustainability, maximize positive impact, and strengthen community relationships."
CFA is currently working ONLY in the northern Ugandan regions of Gulu and Lira. If your school or institution is NOT located in one of these districts, we cannot help you.
If you ARE located in one of these districts, you may contact Herbert Busiku (put "Herbert" in the email subject line.) You will not receive a reply unless you supply the following basic information: Name and district of school or institution; Number and gender of students; Contact person and reliable Email address; Current number of computers."
I had the chance recently to discuss in detail our plans for Adyaka viilage with Enon Alex and we both thought that it was sensible to try and inform all neighbours of the changes proposed in th elight of our experiences to date.
The key issues are :
- we have not been successful with regard to trying to secure funding support for a Vocational Training Institute as a stand alone development and we are not confident of this approach for the future particularly with the downturn in the world economic situation
- the computers that were delived suffered severe malfunctions such as to make them unuseable . I do not know what happened to them or where thay are now but it might be helpful if Alex could let us all know the position
- it is suggested that we should move from the previous model as described above to to that of one whereby we seek develop a Business Support model whereby the young people would be attached to existing businesses and centres for learning on the job and to acquire practical skills in a real time work environment and even better if this could be combined with some studies as appropriate
- it is envisaged that AODI would continue to be the organisation managing this development
- subsequently it would be hoped that the young people could have acquired skills so as to help them to set up their own micro businesses
- the skill sets planned would probably ,and subject to confirmation , be the same as envisaged under the earlier model
- Alex is contacting some businesses and organisations based in Uganda to see if they can help with this approach
- DENIVA -the local Ugandan based NGO support group of which Adyaka is a member supports this course of action
- this plan would be developed in conjunction with Fred Obala - a colleague from a neighbouring village which is a member of nabuur an dprovide support for Alex
There are of course still a lot of questions remaining to be determined such as : which local businesses might offer practical support, how these "apprenticeships " might be funded and how will the host businesses concerned cover their costs .
So there is much to think about and to suppport Alex - any commnents ,information, ideas , contacts etc will all be gratefully welcomed and if you know of any other villages where these ideas above have been taken forward successfully then please do let Alex know the details
Following from my recent posting on the website I have been in touch with Enon Alex further and
I wanted to add a few more comments - Alex has confirmed that :
- AODI will indeed continue to be the lead organisation in Uganda to deliver the services
- all the local people are very much in support of these changes
- training centres and local businesses to attach the children for training have been and continue to be identifed
- these businesses will need financial support to pilot this concept of Business Development Support within their organisations and finacial / fund raising will continue to be very important to support everything . The costs are still to be worked out but the need is there !! I have asked Alex to advise us as to these costs.
- the emphasis will still be on the the developmnet of same range of skills / entrepreneurial training
- the idea is to try to pilot this approach with say 10 young people to see how successful it is and hopefully then to roll it out further for more young people
- Alex is putting together a submission to the organisation - GLOBAL GIVING - so let us see how this works out .
Please do contact Alex with regard to help and assistance in fund raising .
hi
we can olso use th date: Saturday, 15 September 2007
Executive Committee Conclusions
Conclusion on Women and Girls at Risk
(No. 105 (LVII) - 2006)
The Executive Committee,
Recalling its Conclusions Nos. 39 (XXXVI), 54 (XXXIX), 60 (XL) and 64 (XLI) on refugee women; Nos. 47 (XXXVIII), 59 (XL) and 84 (XLVIII) on refugee children and/or adolescents; Nos. 73 (XLIV) and 98 (LIV) on refugee protection and sexual violence and protection from sexual abuse and exploitation respectively, and No. 94 (LIII) on the civilian and humanitarian character of asylum,
Recalling that Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on women and peace and security and the subsequent Action Plan (S/2005/636) provide an integrated framework for a consolidated international and UN-wide response to this challenge, that Security Council resolution 1261 (1999) and five subsequent resolutions on children and armed conflict, call on governments, parties to a conflict and other organizations, including UN bodies, to take wide-ranging action to protect children in armed conflict and afterwards, and that Security Council resolutions 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000) and 1674 (2006), similarly call on parties to armed conflict to ensure the protection of affected civilians, including women and children,
Acknowledging that, while forcibly displaced men and boys also face protection problems, women and girls can be exposed to particular protection problems related to their gender, their cultural and socio-economic position, and their legal status, which mean they may be less likely than men and boys to be able to exercise their rights and therefore that specific action in favour of women and girls may be necessary to ensure they can enjoy protection and assistance on an equal basis with men and boys,
Recalling that the protection of women and girls is primarily the responsibility of States, whose full and effective cooperation, action and political resolve are required to enable UNHCR to fulfil its mandated functions; and that all action on behalf of women and girls must be guided by obligations under relevant international law, including, as applicable, international refugee law, international human rights law and international humanitarian law,
Bearing in mind Conclusion No. 75 (XLV) on internally displaced persons and noting that the protection challenges for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees may differ, that the normative legal frameworks for their protection are different, that humanitarian access to internally displaced persons can be more difficult, that internally displaced women and girls are more likely to be caught in armed conflict and may face specific protection risks as a result and that the responses and solutions available to refugee and internally displaced women and girls may be different,
Recognizing that, while women and girls may be exposed to certain risks, such as trafficking, in any location, the different nature of camp and urban environments can expose women and girls to different protection risks and that in camps, for example, their freedom of movement and capacity to earn a livelihood may be more restricted and they may be more exposed there to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), whereas in urban situations, they may be less able to exercise their rights effectively, to access protection and services or reach UNHCR or implementing partner offices,
Acknowledging that the challenges involved in securing the protection of women and girls at risk must be addressed in a holistic manner and that protection partnerships with governments, UNHCR, other UN agencies, other international organizations and non-governmental organizations, together with displaced and host communities, are integral to effective identification, responses, monitoring and solutions,
Acknowledging that each community is different and that an in-depth understanding of religious and cultural beliefs and practices is required to address the protection risks women and girls face in a sensitive manner while bearing in mind obligations under international refugee, human rights and humanitarian law,
Reaffirming its call to the international community, in cooperation with UNHCR and other international organizations, to mobilize the financial and other resources necessary, including in support of host communities, to ensure the provision of protection and material assistance, and of durable solutions, based on international solidarity, cooperation, burden and responsibility sharing and the understanding that inadequate protection, or inadequate, inappropriate or poorly distributed assistance can increase the risks women and girls face,
Acknowledging that forced displacement tends to expose individuals to particular risks, recognizing the specific needs of women and girls, noting that this Conclusion applies to women and girls who are refugees, asylum-seekers or IDPs assisted and protected by UNHCR, who find themselves in situations of heightened risk, and further that it could also be applied, as appropriate, to returnees of concern to UNHCR,
(a) Adopts this Conclusion regarding the identification of women and girls at risk, prevention strategies and individual responses and solutions and recommends that UNHCR include a more detailed elaboration of these issues in the UNHCR Handbook on the Protection of Women and Girls.
Identification of women and girls at risk
(b) Forced displacement can expose women and girls to a range of factors which may put them at risk of further violations of their rights. These can be present in the wider protection environment and/or be the result of the individual's particular circumstances, as outlined below.
(c) Identification and analysis of the presence and severity of these different factors help determine which women and girls are at heightened risk and enable targeted responses to be devised and implemented. Identification can present particular challenges because women and girls are often less visible in displaced populations than men and boys, they may not be or feel able to report protection incidents, particularly if these occur in the private domain. It is therefore important to ensure an enabling environment which supports continuing identification and analysis of the situation.
(d) In certain cases, the presence of one factor or incident may alone be sufficient to require an urgent protection intervention. In others, the presence of a combination of individual and wider protection environment factors will expose women and girls to heightened risk. In still others, if women and girls have been subjected, for instance, to SGBV in the area of origin or during flight, this may leave them at heightened risk in the place of displacement. Continuing assessment is required to monitor threat levels, as they may change over time.
(e) Risk factors in the wider protection environment can arise as a result of and after flight for women and girls and may include problems resulting from insecurity and armed conflict threatening or exposing them to SGBV or other forms of violence; inadequate or unequal access to and enjoyment of assistance and services; lack of access to livelihoods; lack of understanding of women's and men's roles, responsibilities and needs in relation to reproductive healthcare, and lack of understanding of the consequences of SGBV on women's and girls' health; the position of women and girls in the displaced or host community which can result in their marginalization and in discrimination against them; legal systems, which do not adequately uphold the rights of women and girls under international human rights law, including those relating to property; those informal justice practices which violate the human rights of women and girls; asylum systems which are not sensitive to the needs and claims of female asylum-seekers; and mechanisms for delivering protection which do not adequately monitor and reinforce women's and girls' rights.
(f) These factors related to the wider protection environment may be combined with individual risk factors which increase the risks for these women and girls. Individual risk factors can be grouped non-exhaustively under factors relating to their individual civil status or situation in society; their having already been subject to SGBV and/or their risk of exposure to SGBV or other forms of violence; and their need for specific health and/or other support services, including in the case of women and girls with disabilities.
(g) Responding more effectively to protection problems faced by women and girls at risk requires a holistic approach that combines preventive strategies and individual responses and solutions. It involves collaboration between, and the involvement of, all relevant actors, including men and boys, to enhance understanding and promote respect for women's and girls' rights.
Preventive strategies
(h) Recommended preventive strategies to be adopted by States, UNHCR, other relevant agencies and partners may include the identification, assessment and monitoring of risks.
(i) Identification, assessment and monitoring of risks faced by women and girls in the wider protection environment are to be strengthened by partnerships and actions to:
provide disaggregated data by sex and age; ensure registration on an individual and ongoing basis for refugees, recognizing the need to protect the confidential nature of personal data, and promote mechanisms to identify the internally displaced; strengthen protection monitoring of individuals by working with the community; monitor access to and enjoyment of protection, assistance and services by women and girls;
incorporate gender issues into early warning mechanisms, alerts and contingency plans, conduct a rapid situation analysis at the start of a new emergency and integrate gender-based risk analysis into inter-agency assessments;
mobilize women, men, girls and boys of all ages and diverse backgrounds as equal partners together with all relevant actors in participatory assessments to ensure their protection concerns, priorities, capacities and proposed solutions are understood and form the basis of protection strategies and solutions;
mainstream age, gender and diversity analysis into all programmes, policies and operations to ensure all can benefit equally from activities and inequality is not perpetuated;
promote gender balance in staff recruitment and take active measures to increase the number of female professionals working in the field;
identify and prevent SGBV and strengthen the capacity of national and local authorities to carry out their protection functions more effectively.
(j) Secure environments are to be established and strengthened, including by partnerships and actions to:
prevent and respond to SGBV in accordance with international standards set out in UNHCR and other relevant guidelines,1 including through provision of quality health services to address the specific needs of women and girls at risk;
maintain the civilian and humanitarian character of asylum, which is a primary responsibility of host States;
ensure the individual documentation of refugee women and separated and unaccompanied refugee girls and register births, marriages and divorces in a timely manner;
strengthen dispute resolution skills in the displaced community and take measures to assure confidentiality, so as to enable women and girls at risk to remain safely in their community and build relations between host and displaced communities to create a safe and non-exploitative environment;
strengthen justice systems to uphold the rights of women and girls and bring perpetrators of SGBV to justice, combat trafficking and protect victims; and
establish and/or implement codes of conduct, including on the elimination of sexual exploitation and abuse, for all humanitarian staff, including those working in the delivery of services and for other staff in authority, such as border guards, and ensure that confidential and accessible complaints systems are in place which include investigation and follow-up, so as to encourage the reporting of abuse and exploitation where codes of conduct are breached.
(k) The empowerment of displaced women and girls is to be enhanced including by partnerships and actions to:
strengthen women's leadership, including by enhancing their representation and meaningful participation in displaced community and camp management committees, in decision making, and in dispute resolution systems, by enhancing their access to and control over services and resources, promoting their rights and leadership skills and supporting implementation of UNHCR's Five Commitments to Refugee Women;
strengthen women's and girls' capacities, including by enabling their access to quality education, including secondary education, in safe school environments and by enhancing food security, livelihood opportunities, freedom of movement and economic independence, including where appropriate through access to labour markets; and
work with the displaced community, including men and boys, to rebuild family and community support systems undermined by conflict and flight and to raise awareness of the rights of women and girls and understanding of gender roles.
(l) Financial and other necessary resources should also be mobilized, as appropriate, including by action to ensure the provision of protection and material assistance and timely durable solutions based on international solidarity, cooperation and burden and responsibility sharing.
Individual responses and solutions
(m) Recommended actions by States, UNHCR, other relevant agencies and partners to respond to the situation of individual women and girls at risk are listed non-exhaustively below.
(n) Ensuring early identification and immediate response involves partnerships and actions to:
establish mechanisms, based on an analysis of the risk factors outlined above, to identify individual women and girls at risk, determine and implement appropriate immediate responses and subsequent solutions;
provide women and girls at risk with information, counselling, medical and psychosocial care, as well as access to safe houses if they face domestic violence and abuse or attack by other members of the community, especially where there are no mechanisms to remove perpetrators; provide emergency voluntary relocation, e.g. to another town or camp, or emergency resettlement;
determine the best interests of girls at risk, provide alternative accommodation, physical protection and interim foster care as required, as well as initiate family tracing and ensure family unity wherever possible and in their best interests; and
ensure that refugee status determination procedures provide female asylum-seekers with effective access to gender-sensitive procedures and recognize that gender-related forms of persecution in the context of Article 1A (2) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees may constitute grounds for refugee status.
(o) Developing medium-term responses for individuals includes partnerships and actions to:
monitor on an ongoing basis initiatives taken with regard to individual safety, well-being and needs and ensure accountability for actions taken;
help secure the access of women and girls at risk to justice and reduce impunity, including by advising, accompanying and supporting them through initiatives such as women's legal clinics, local women's associations, witness relocation programmes and mobile courts in remote areas; and
strengthen identified individuals' access to education, vocational training and recreational programmes with childcare and promote community-based livelihood strategies which target women and girls at risk, especially in prolonged displacement situations.
(p) Recommended longer-term responses and solutions include partnerships and actions to:
promote respect for women's and girls' equal rights to make a free and informed choice to return voluntarily and to their equal access to land and property in the country of origin, and incorporate measures to ensure adequate ongoing assistance and support in the country of origin for those at risk into tripartite voluntary repatriation agreements;
strengthen the use of resettlement as a protection and durable solutions tool for refugee women and girls at risk; enhance identification of refugee women and girls at risk for resettlement, including through training; streamline processing further, including by establishing measures to enable the speedier departure of refugee women at risk and their dependants;
consider using special evacuation programmes for internally displaced women and girls at risk, if necessary, given that resettlement is very rarely available to them;
establish mechanisms, where voluntary repatriation for individual refugee women and girls at risk is not a safe option and resettlement is not available, to enable them, where appropriate, to integrate locally and safely in the country of asylum, including by examining possibilities for voluntary relocation elsewhere in the country; for internally displaced women and girls at risk, examine possibilities for allowing them to relocate elsewhere in their own country if they wish and if their safety cannot be ensured where they are; and
ensure support, such as medical and psychosocial care, is available to women and girls at risk to facilitate their recovery and integration, whether this be in the context of local integration, return, resettlement or other humanitarian programmes.
(q) Efforts to ensure the progressive implementation of the above-mentioned mechanisms and standards can benefit greatly from partnerships and the development of relevant public policies, supported as appropriate by the international community.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 See for example UNHCR "Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Guidelines for Prevention and Response", 2003; Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) "Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings", 2005.
e
e following to ask for funding
Has there been any contact between Adyaka and Nyalebe http://www.nabuur.com/modules/newbb/viewforum.php?forum=351 ?
They are working on a similar project to set up a training centre, starting small and growing, and you may be able to learn from each other.
Mary
Hello,
I have been reading through your discussions and plans. You have all been hard at work putting together the infrastructure for this project. I think you could receive excellent information from Solace International, Inc. about how they have structured the Vocational Training Schools that they have been building in both Asia and Africa. Nate York, the executive director, would be able to provide good insight into the process since he has built a good number of schools and vocational training centers already. Here is their home page:
[url=http://www.solaceinternational.org/]Solace International, Inc.[/url]
Mr. York's email:
[email]nate@solaceinternational.org[/email]
As for training materials (and this may seem early in the game, but I like to think ahead to what else could be done), you can get some great ideas and curriculum guides from:
[url=http://opentraining.unesco-ci.org/cgi-bin/search.cgi]Open Training Platform[/url]
You simply go to the site above and type in the topic of your interest. UNESCO has put together some awesome materials and ideas to consider for education of both children and adults.
Please consider talking to Nate York. He is an energetic and goal oriented individual. You will get good information from him.
Be well,
Brenda
Dear Neighbours,
From September until December 2007 this Villages was featured amongst others. The purpose of featuring these Villages was to find out how Villages on NABUUR could get results quicker and more predictably.
[b]Results[/b]
Most of the Featured Villages experienced an influx of Neighbours by being featured. The majority of the Local Representatives was happy with the increased activity in their Village. Though in most cases the defined results were only partially achieved. Reasons for that were according to some Local Representatives that their goals were too ambitious, others found out their goals had to be redefined. Results that depend on finding (larger amounts of) funds are most difficult to achieve.
[b]Predictability[/b]
Based on the feedback of the Local Representatives, the following conditions seem to be good indicators for success:
- To achieve results a project should have a clear focus and small, concrete steps;
- There should be a local team in place;
- Specific activities attract more volunteers than planning issues;
- Finding funding or sponsors is still a difficult issue that many villages encounter;
- Being featured attracts Neighbours but visible community involvement is crucial;
- Regular discussions and updates are necessary to maintain an active group.
Because featuring of villages seem to be a useful tool, there will be another round. This time the focus will be on defining the project with a clear focus and small, concrete steps.
Follow the ''new'' Featured Villages [url=http://www.nabuur.com/modules/villages/featured_villages.php]here. [/url]
Warm regards,
Gerdie Schreuders
NABUUR staff
Hi Richard
Saw your newsletter.
You say that the computers malfunctioned. What happened - is it possible for someone with some computer knowledge to fix them?
I am interested in what you are doing - those kids deserve a chance - but not sure I can come up with anything that I haven't suggested before. And I realise that some of this may already have been done, but current state is not really clear from reading posts. But as no one else has replied...
What do the people in Adyaka want to do - the current documents were written in early 2007, do the current plans still match their needs, or do they have new ideas and priorities?
The tools suggested in for the Featured Villages may help the community with project definition.
from Masaka Nabuur - http://www.nabuur.com/modules/newbb/viewforum.php?forum=499
[quote]Also, as part of this process, we have collected a series of tools that are aimed to support a community define projects in a way where the participation of the community is maximised in the process.
The three main tools that have been adapted for this process are:
- Community assessment tool.
http://www.fv.nabuurtest.com/files/Community%20assesment%20tool%20-%202....
This tool is aimed to use some simple questions to get a better idea of the level of development of a community. It is very important that the steps and tasks are adjusted with the reality of the community.
- The “WE CAN DO IT” method.
http://www.fv.nabuurtest.com/files/We%20can%20do%20it%20Method.pdf
This is an adaptation of what is also called appreciative enquire. This method looks to use the past positives experiences of the community as a starting point to define steps and tasks to work on.
- The “POWER IN OUR HANDS" method.
http://www.fv.nabuurtest.com/files/The%20power%20in%20our%20hands%20Meth...
This is an adaptation of a method called the empowering enquire and is based in the fact that the sole act of questioning can be empowering.[/quote]
I would say start small and simple. From section 1.8 of the Operational Plan document, it looks as though AODI has already had some success in doing this already. What can you do using local resources? How can the project be split into smaller simpler steps, and can some of this be done for very little money by the community doing a lot for themselves>
I am a little confused by the current plans as teh Operational Plan and Business Plan don't contain exactly the same info when it comes to plans and costs.
Instead of money, it may be easier to find sources of donated equipment, books etc especially those that don't charge for shipping.
List of orgs I know of that provide funding and equipment is at http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dgs9fnp6_0g5zp8p3n
When it comes to funding, are there options within Uganda which may be easier and faster than looking internationally? Emabssy grants schemes, local businesses, Rotary/Lions clubs, local/national government, international orgs already working in the area etc etc.
Do you have any international school, church etc links as they will often raise money.
Learn from others. e.g. have a look at the latest reports on Nyalebe Nabuur http://www.nabuur.com/modules/villages/mystory.php?villageid=351 The attachments to the latest news items (right hand side of that page) show details of their training programme, how actively involved the local community are, and how much it has cost them to get started.
And from others in your area - there will be a lot of groups doing similar things. Can you find out how they got funding, can you work together with them, can some of Adyaka's young people join existing training activities run by others?
A quick internet search led me to a few vocational training and other related projects in Lira (which you probably already know about!).
A local group doing things similar to AODI
http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/GFSR.asp?NodeID=179116
Mentions vocational training for former abductees in Lira but does not give much detail of the project
http://www.hopehiv.org/page/144/lira-vocational-training.html
This talks about a project for disabled people, now complete, but may have some interesting ideas. In this case, trainees were matched with existing businesses who were prepared to provide on the job training
http://www.norrag.org/wg/documents/Empowerment%20of%20Disabled.doc
CRO focuses on street children, among other things provides vocational training by placing kids with local businesses. Says they are opening a centre in Lira but does not give details
http://www.crouganda.org/
http://www.crouganda.org/Childrens%20Activities.htm
Mary
[quote]Dear Neighbours
I have been thinking for some time about the issues that we have sought to address relating to Adyaka village and our wish to help Enon Alex with his work to try to help the unfortunate young people there. I am sorry that i have been absent for some time but I have been very much tied up with some work here in the UK and in Italy.
In a very real sense we have achieved certain goals :
- trying to obtain funding for the training programme although I have to say this has not been at all successful
- trying to obtain some computers and tools, eqipment for the AODI - Adyaka Orphans Developmnet Institute - and the training institute . Enon Alex did get some but they mal functioned and are not now working
- identifying a list of potential donors
- drafting an outline Business Plan
- drafting an operational plan for AODI
- attracting a large number of neighbours via nabuur and their ideas , support etc
- Enon Alex met with a friend of mine who was visiting Uganda recently and had the opportunity to discuss issues on a face to face basis .
However I think that we have now reached a plateau in our actions in as much as there has been very little development for some months now. Thus I wanted to write and in addition of course to thanking everyone personally for your input and efforts to this work ,I also think that it is important to ask that we might now take stock, review what we have been trying to do and determine what efforts we should consiider to move forward , probbaly by small steps on an incremental basis .
I would like to ask all neighbours therefore to consider what you might feel realistically we should now try to do over say the next 18 months and what part you might feel able on an individual basis to play in this work. All you would have to would be to place a message in the next 4 weeks on the Adyaka website with your views and ideas and the help that you might offer and I will take it from there in discussion with Enon Alex.
I'll look forward to hearing from you
Many thanks
Richard[/quote]
Hello Mary,
Thanks for your concern aboout the situation in adyaka as i write now,well first i would like to appologies for note updating the web regularly for the last 4 months.I was in a place without internet[JUBA SOTHERN SUDAN]
The community of adyaka ,the facilitaor and neighbours too have tried to secure fund to start the training centre but in vain even the computers which was donated by crane bank limited got crushed up due to poor wiring and rendering it useless.
The children are getting bigger and now with the help of APT Enterprise in the uk we are planing to place some of them to some institution on Apprentice training whch we are calling it Business Development support[BDS]
We are also waiting for Feedde minds uk who have promise us some good start in the comming month of August.
We have got our generator which was donated to us together with the computers and its still on good running condition ,we are requesting some good samaritan to help us get computers so we can use it for traininmg here in adyaka using our mud blck building.
As alocal Representative am working round the clock to ensure that i acheive some thing for adyaka .Mary could you help search for the computyers
Blessings
Enon Alex
Hi Alex
That sounds promising with APT. How many of the young people will they be able to assist i.e. will this solve all the needs for vocational skills training? Didn't realise you were still hoping for support from Feed The Minds - I thought I had read on here or in a newsletter that the application was not successful.
Am still a little confused about what happened to those computers.
On the subject of computer training, is that one of the skills that is most likely to get the young people into employment, or will they be better off learning practical skills like sewing, construction, farming etc?
How close to Lira town are you? I am wondering if there is any way you can link up with Acoke computer centre, and some of your people can get training there? I don't know if thats practical - you would need to talk to them about that. You will also discover from them that running such a place is not always easy...
If you hope to provide training yourselves, do you have people with computer skills who could do it, and is your building suitable? It is going to cost you money to run the place - will the centre have any sources of income?
I have a list of other computer centres, and IT-related networks in Uganda which I put together for Acoke and Jinja projects, and it is attached. My hope being that they could learn from what others have done. I don't know if they have contacted any of them yet. It may be worth you talking to Sabbath/Fred (Acoke) or Paul (Jinja) to see if they have. You may be able to learn from them too, find out how successful training has been, how they make money to keep running, and whether it has led to employment.
From what I know of other villages, finding computers is not that hard. But if they are coming from outside the country you will probably have to pay some or all of the shipping costs. I don't know how that will be done, unless that is part of the application to Feed the Minds?
Am wondering if there is any possibility of finding some within Uganda? There are organisations who provide them to schools and training centres, although I don't know whether you would fit any of their criteria.
These are taken from that big doc I posted on here the other day:
Computers for Africa
http://www.computers4africa.org/index.htm
Works to set up computer labs in schools and other education institutions
http://www.computers4africa.org/impact/index.htm
Currently only accepting applications from Lira and Gulu districts. Not free, but low cost and give a lot of assistance as well as providing computers
"The mission of Computers for Africa (CFA) is promoting sustainable Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development in rural African communities. Ours is a comprehensive program, developed by our African and USA personnel.
...
Our approach to promoting African ICT development can be summarized in four key goals: send quality hardware, educate for sustainability, maximize positive impact, and strengthen community relationships."
http://www.computers4africa.org/contact.htm
"Inquiring about applying for computers?
CFA is currently working ONLY in the northern Ugandan regions of Gulu and Lira. If your school or institution is NOT located in one of these districts, we cannot help you.
If you ARE located in one of these districts, you may contact Herbert Busiku (put "Herbert" in the email subject line.) You will not receive a reply unless you supply the following basic information: Name and district of school or institution; Number and gender of students; Contact person and reliable Email address; Current number of computers."
Also SchoolNet Uganda http://schoolnetuganda.sc.ug/
Uconnect http://www.uconnect.org/
provide computers, and associated knowledge, to Ugandan schools.
Mary
Dear N eighbours
I had the chance recently to discuss in detail our plans for Adyaka viilage with Enon Alex and we both thought that it was sensible to try and inform all neighbours of the changes proposed in th elight of our experiences to date.
The key issues are :
- we have not been successful with regard to trying to secure funding support for a Vocational Training Institute as a stand alone development and we are not confident of this approach for the future particularly with the downturn in the world economic situation
- the computers that were delived suffered severe malfunctions such as to make them unuseable . I do not know what happened to them or where thay are now but it might be helpful if Alex could let us all know the position
- it is suggested that we should move from the previous model as described above to to that of one whereby we seek develop a Business Support model whereby the young people would be attached to existing businesses and centres for learning on the job and to acquire practical skills in a real time work environment and even better if this could be combined with some studies as appropriate
- it is envisaged that AODI would continue to be the organisation managing this development
- subsequently it would be hoped that the young people could have acquired skills so as to help them to set up their own micro businesses
- the skill sets planned would probably ,and subject to confirmation , be the same as envisaged under the earlier model
- Alex is contacting some businesses and organisations based in Uganda to see if they can help with this approach
- DENIVA -the local Ugandan based NGO support group of which Adyaka is a member supports this course of action
- this plan would be developed in conjunction with Fred Obala - a colleague from a neighbouring village which is a member of nabuur an dprovide support for Alex
There are of course still a lot of questions remaining to be determined such as : which local businesses might offer practical support, how these "apprenticeships " might be funded and how will the host businesses concerned cover their costs .
So there is much to think about and to suppport Alex - any commnents ,information, ideas , contacts etc will all be gratefully welcomed and if you know of any other villages where these ideas above have been taken forward successfully then please do let Alex know the details
with best wishes
--
Richard Priestley - facilitator Adyaka village
Dear neighbours
Following from my recent posting on the website I have been in touch with Enon Alex further and
I wanted to add a few more comments - Alex has confirmed that :
- AODI will indeed continue to be the lead organisation in Uganda to deliver the services
- all the local people are very much in support of these changes
- training centres and local businesses to attach the children for training have been and continue to be identifed
- these businesses will need financial support to pilot this concept of Business Development Support within their organisations and finacial / fund raising will continue to be very important to support everything . The costs are still to be worked out but the need is there !! I have asked Alex to advise us as to these costs.
- the emphasis will still be on the the developmnet of same range of skills / entrepreneurial training
- the idea is to try to pilot this approach with say 10 young people to see how successful it is and hopefully then to roll it out further for more young people
- Alex is putting together a submission to the organisation - GLOBAL GIVING - so let us see how this works out .
Please do contact Alex with regard to help and assistance in fund raising .
Best wishes
Richard Priestley
--
Richard Priestley