The COSARAF Foundation is supporting the rollout of a Voices Against Violence curriculum, targeted at young women and girls to help them identify key areas where abuse often happens, and how to avoid them in the future.

The COSARAF Foundation has implemented national training on violence against women and girls in Kenya, including funding venue hire, travel, and subsistence costs for trainers and participants. The Foundation has also tailored country specific resources to support the training, ensuring that the WAGGGS Voices Against Violence curriculum is suited to the local context. Women and girls continue to be empowered by this programme to create their own projects and campaigns, which are monitored and supported by the Foundation.

Young leaders who participated in the programme praised the curriculum as eye-opening, as many realised they face one or more forms of violence in their lives, and/or described experiences they had gone through in schools, at home, or in their personal relationships. Schools were set a target of training 30 girls per school in the Voices Against Violence curriculum. Most were incredibly receptive, and a number surpassed this target.

A questionnaire was carried out among the young leaders and national trainers who attended the training pre- and post-curriculum, and an analysis of the results showed that after completing the programme:
– 98% demonstrated a very strong understand of gender-based violence (GBV)
– 93% felt comfortable delivering the Voices against Violence curriculum to the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.
– 97% felt they could comfortably articulate what GBV is and why it occurs.
– 93% felt they could challenge beliefs which perpetuate violence against girls and women.

The COSARAF Foundation will continue to support the programme through the upcoming national exams which may reduce the amount of time the young leaders have to devote to their community projects. The WAGGGS representatives in Kenya are also working hard to mitigate the impact of Covid-19, and any further lockdowns which may occur as a result of the Omicron variant.