District stakeholders in Balaka have vowed to continue with capacity building of local leaders and community members in an effort to eradicate Gender Based Violence (GBV) among women and girls beyond the 16 days of activism period.
Speaking during a Community Dialogue Session organized by Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO) on Wednesday, Assistant Community Development Officer for Balaka District Council, Jafali Chisale, highlighted the need for continued interventions which are aimed at sensitizing communities and reminding them of their roles when it comes to reporting issues of GBV among others.
Chisale said his office is working with stakeholders from social welfare and gender in reaching out to the communities with GBV messages and they believe that the district is on the right path in as far as the fighting against the malpractice is concerned.
“We want the communities to appreciate their roles when it comes to reporting issues of GBV with relevant offices and stakeholders and the dialogue sessions we are conducting are giving the rural masses and duty bearers a platform to discuss the steps to be taken in order to fast track the reporting and follow up processes,” Chisale said.
YONECO District Coordinator for Balaka, Patrick Makonde, says the interaction with community members has not only provided them an opportunity to remind people on how they can report and follow up GBV cases but also to identify and address the gaps that exist in the fight against violence.
“We have observed that some of the perpetrators of GBV are also related to those abused and it comes hard to report them to relevant authorities fearing that they might be arrested.
“So we are trying to make the community members understand their role, the benefits of reporting such cases and the dangers if GBV cases are not reported,” He said.
The Community Dialogue Sessions brought together community members, local leaders and representatives from Police, Socials Welfare, Community Development, Court and Gender offices.
The interventions are a supplementary to the 16 days of activism which were observed from 25 November to 10 December and YONECO is conducting the dialogue sessions with funding from Trocaire in the districts of Balaka, Machinga Dedza and Ntcheu.
