Alola Foundation"Strong Women Strong Nation"
Alola FoundationThrough the Women’s Resources Center sub-program, several activities were implemented, and the results are as follows:
In 2023, the WRC sub program implemented A Spotlight project on gender-based violence prevention at the school level to address the global challenges of VAWG. The project was funded by European Union (EU) through UN Women with aims of supporting transformative change on the ground to end violence against women and girls. The overall vision of the Spotlight Initiative in Timor-Leste is to ensure women and girls enjoy their right to a life free of violence within an inclusive and gender-equitable Timor-Leste. This program is aligned with Timor-Leste’s “National Action Plan on Gender-Based Violence” and the National SDG Roadmap, particularly focusing on SDGs 5 and 16.
In early 2023, the team hold a CWR program consultation meeting with stakeholders and local authorities from Ermera, Bobonaro and Viqueque, totalling to 32 people attending. Despite of the consultation meeting, a reference group meeting and training was also carried out at the national and municipal level to support the project monitoring and its sustainability.
As the result of the project implementations in the three municipalities, the Alola Foundation and MHVF have implemented Connect With Respect (CWR) activities in 15 schools across 3 targeted municipalities (Bobonaro, Ermera, and Viqueque). The project took several actions, including creating and distributing prevention campaign materials to schools, providing training on prevention to 321 (F:128 & M:193) teachers and 45 (F:18 & M:27) school directors and to 398 (F:222 & M:176) students across 15 schools. In addition, it had established a male support group in each of those schools with the total of 225 school boys. At the end of the project, a successful closing workshop was held in Dili, attended by 110 (F: 67 & M:43) representative from donors, key ministries, school leaders, partners, stakeholders, and the beneficiaries. This workshop resulted in recommendations for future initiatives.
The Connect With Respect program is extremely important as it offers numerous benefits for schools. Personally, as a teacher, I have grown in my ability to prevent and respond to violence at the school level through the training provided by Fundasaun Alola. Prior to this training, I had a limited understanding of gender-based violence and often resorted to violent actions such as shouting at students, using physical force, and imposing sanctions like kneeling, believing that these actions were justified. However, the training helped me realize the violence in my actions and prompted me to adopt better practices when handling student misbehavior, such as addressing them calmly and speaking respectfully. Furthermore, the program has deepened my understanding of the duties and responsibilities of a teacher, particularly in my role as a deputy director. It has also contributed to the establishment of a gender-friendly school policy in the target school, encompassing the development of a code of conduct, the establishment of a school structure and referral network, and the implementation of prevention messages within the school environment
I am proud to share that, as a male student, I am part of a program that has established a male engagement group to prevent violence against women at our school. From what I have observed, most of the perpetrators of violence are men. Having a men’s group in place is an effective strategy to raise awareness among other men about the importance of avoiding violence. Before participating in the training, I used to believe that tasks like sweeping the classroom, cleaning the school yard, or watering the flowers were meant for women. However, after the training, I realized that as a man, I have the same rights to perform these tasks. Consequently, I have started participating in these activities at school and even at home.
