RSS
Protection and Empowerment
To promote a culture of peace that both protects and empowers those displaced by the January 2010 earthquake and currently living in tent camps, CEDDISEC, with support from Episcopal Relief & Development, has united a Youth Brigade of 18 university students to address the high incidence of gender-based and sexual violence in three urban camps.
The Youth Brigade’s objectives are:
- To influence and transform the perspectives of additional youth (ages 12-25) living in urban tent camps so that they might develop a greater respect for one another, as members of society that must rise up and move forward in solidarity.
- To facilitate these youth in recognizing their roles and responsibilities as men and women, and as equal people in a non-violent and respectful society.
- To facilitate these youth in identifying actions they can take to mobilize their friends and neighbors toward creating a non-violent and respectful society where the incidence of gender-based violence is remarkably decreased.
In CEDDISEC’s protection and empowerment program, a Youth Brigade that had first been mobilized during the 2010 cholera epidemic has been expanded to include 18 university students (nine men and nine women) with the aim of continuing community outreach and education in urban tent camps. With a new focus on addressing the high incidence of gender-based violence that the Cholera Brigade previously encountered in the tent camps, CEDDISEC’s Youth Brigade is using cultural tools such as drama, music, and debates to animate, educate, and mobilize additional youth living in the camps toward a greater understanding of the negative effects of gender-based violence. In turn, these youth will be encouraged to identify actions they can take to educate and mobilize their friends, other youth and camp neighbors in solidarity against violence in all its forms.
Phase III
Beginning in June 2011, CEDDISEC’s Youth Brigade of 18 university students received training in gender-based violence issues from prominent Haitian gender-rights advocates, lawyers, and Episcopal priests. Three urban tent camps situated in the greater Port-au-Prince area and previously served by the Cholera Brigade were selected for piloting: Camp Aloune in Delmas 19, Camp CR7 in Delmas 60, and Camp ENAF in Canape Verte. Working with camp leaders, the Youth Brigade then conducted baseline surveys on the nature and frequency of violence and gender-based violence incidences in the three camps. This included interviews with camp leaders, women residents and youth. In July 2011 the education program was officially launched through a series of camp presentations involving skits and music that the Youth Brigade members wrote themselves.
As of December 2011 over 120 youth (approximately 40 per camp) were actively participating in the Youth Brigade’s bi-weekly educational sessions. In addition, in December, the Youth Brigade launched Cash-for-Work (CFW) projects for these 120 youth, in cooperation with CEDDISEC’s CFW employment program. Initial youth-identified work projects include camp and community sanitation campaigns.
Phase III: 2012
In 2012 the Youth Brigade education program will continue by engaging youth in camp-based debates and cultural (singing/drama) competitions that promote solidarity against violence in all forms. At the same time, the CFW projects will be expanded to support the 120 youth in projects that seek to address important aspects of respect and protection, like the construction of secure public shower facilities and the mobilization of additional youth in other urban camps.
