Areas of Implementation: Arua, Maracha, Terego
Community knowledge, experiences and actions that happen organically are important in bringing to light the understanding and experience from knowledgeable community members including adolescent girls, on addressing female adolescent sexuality as it relates to ending child marriage. This will also draw out the implications of this knowledge for the design, implementation and advocacy of child marriage programs.
Joy For Children Uganda and Amani Initiatiave under the project Harnessing the Potential of Female Adolescent sexuality to end End Child Marriage is conducting a three months community skyrocketing learning exchange to address the learning question: How adolescents and female sexuality advocacy interventions contribute to changing norms, attitudes and beliefs on ending child marriages?
Purpose of the Learning Exchange
Through a learning exchange, the project seeks to bring different knowledges together. We see learning exchanges as a space where professionals from different organizations and people from different communities, come together to share and listen to what communities do and know. This is the foundation from which they can jointly reflect on the implications of community knowledge and experiences for improving child marriage programs: their design, implementation and advocacy.
The Learning Spark Fund is designed to capture and elevate practical and experience-based knowledge and insights on the links between sexuality and child marriage, rather than that generated from research studies. Within this focus, the Community Skyrocket project is interested in multiple knowledges. Instead of prioritizing or giving favor to any one source of knowledge we seek to hear and learn from different voices and perspectives.
Specifically, this project is designed to shed light on community knowledge, experiences and actions that happen organically. That is, they are not prompted by an external intervention/ development programs rather reflect “how things are done” – indigenous knowledge, community strategies for influence and local ways of leveraging formal and informal power, etc. This can include knowledge on the use of positive deviance and role models as well as experience related to norm change.
The Community Skyrocket project is a solicited project under the Learning Spark Fund commissioned by Simavi under the Making the Most of What We Know Program (MMWWK) by More than Brides Alliance.
Through this Fund, we are able capture and elevate practical and experience based knowledge and insight on the links between social norms, adolescent sexuality and improving child Marriage programing, rather than what is generated from research studies.
Ultimately, we are reflecting on’ how things are done through indigeneous knowledge, community strategies for influence and local ways of leveraging formal and informal power.
Project purpose:
The purpose of this project is to create a platform where adolescents can speak up on their sexuality as a safeguard against child marriages in local communities and generate knowledge and information on ending child marriages and other child violations.
Objectives:
Learning and documenting community perspective on social norms attitudes and how they influence adolescents sexuality and child marriages.
Facilitating adolescent girls to lead community learning events for them to see, share, learn and be inspired to work hard at school and in the community to achieve their dreams.
Raise awareness among parents, community and traditional leaders and district government officials on girls’ participation and their role in addressing barriers to a girl’s education in the communities.
Enable adolescent boys and girls share and acquire information and skills on sexual reproductive health from the learning exchange events and to take action to reduce risky behaviours.
Identify Adolescent Friendly Safe Spaces at community level for information gathering, dissemination and empowerment of adolescents for them to challenge the norms and the attitudes preventing girls from accessing their rights.
Expected Outcome:
Community ownership of generated knowledge harvested from the community at the local level.
Putting adolescent sexuality and child marriages at the centre of programming
Increased number of adolescent girls who feel confident, listened to and respected by community members.
Increased number of adolescent girls engaged and participating in decision making at local levels including school management committees
Increased access to services for adolescent girls and married girls as well. All prospective children will be engaged in the learning exchange event shall be with their parents in the identified safe places.
Activities:
Community Learning Exchange events address the learning question: “How adolescents and female sexuality advocacy interventions contribute to changing norms, attitudes and beliefs on ending Child Marriages?”
We are working to create a platform where adolescents can speak up about their sexuality as a safeguard against child marriages in local communities while generating knowledge.
On 28th Sept 2020, JFCU and Amani kick started a three day activity in the communities Aii-vu sub county with an intention to provide safe spaces for teenage girls and boys, community leaders including religious, cultural and sub country leaders to learn how positive social norms, attitudes and beliefs address adolescent sexuality to end child marriage and harness programming.
