By Nelson Manneh
Kombo East Youths and Children Development Alliance (KEYCDA) over the weekend concluded a multi-stakeholder forum on the impacts of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in three communities in Kombo East District.
It includes Talakoto, Faraba-Sutu, and Pirang Village.
The campaign aimed to raise wider public awareness and stakeholders on the impacts of SGBV at the community level and how to remedy them or put an end to Gender Based Violence. Through in-depth discussions, participants shared their expertise, insights, and recommendations. The specific sectors for these discussions were collaboratively defined and agreed upon at the program.
Kombo East has thirty-two communities, and all the participants were drawn from the communities. The communities were clustered into three groups, and in each of the clusters, a village was chosen to serve as the host of the other communities within the cluster.
The targeted participants for the event include community leaders (Alkalos), religious leaders, chairpersons of Village Development Committees, chairpersons of youth committees, chairpersons of women groups, health workers, and officers from the child welfare unit of the Gambia Police Force among others.
Mrs Binta Gibba, the project focal person for KEYCDA explained the objective of the community engagement, emphasizing that it is a crucial step in shaping the minds of participants towards the effects of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence.
“We stand united in addressing a critical cultural issue that affects our very well-being and communities, especially our girls,” she said.
She added that the event will serve as a platform to discuss gaps, the effects of sexual and gender-based violence, possible strategies, and plans that support policy dialogue and advocacy to better strengthen political commitment to address and integrate SGBV.
“SGBV is not only a violation of rights on women, but some men are also living within our communities who are going through some of this violence, they may not want to talk about it while they are going through it,” she said.
She urged the participants to speak their minds and express their views on sexual and gender-based violence and how it can be solved.
Mr Alieu Sanyang, the Alkalo of Faraba-Sutu Village said the community’s engagement will not only help individuals to address SGBV at their families’ level, but it will also help them to know some of the root causes of SGBV.
“As a village head, I usually received complaints that are related to SGBV, and most of the time we encourage those involved to address it at their own level. This may not be the best way of addressing such, but our cultures sometimes restrict us to take legal actions,” he said.
The Alkalo of Faraba-Sutu Village said FGM is a persisting issue and to address it requires collective efforts. “It is very difficult to talk about FGM in some of our settlements because they are deep-rooted cultural activities, so it is good that we have experts who understand SGBV to come and discuss with us.”
Mr Modou Lamin Jaiteh, a representative of the Pirang Village Development Committee commended KEYCDA for selecting Pirang to host the other villages during the community engagement.
“Sexual and Gender-Based Violence are issues of great concern, especially female genetical mutilation. It has a lot of misconception and causes a lot of confusion as to whether it is totally banned or otherwise,” he said.
Mr Jaiteh urged his fellow participants to express their concerns and clear all the misconceptions surrounding FGM.
