Oral

Since 1961, Peace Corps Volunteers have received specific training in how to integrate into their communities. In addition, they are trained on how to conduct a participatory community assessment that helps them learn about their communities. This technique provides the opportunity for female and male, young and old community members to share their perspectives (sometimes for the first time) around a data issue that is often about gender. Volunteers act as co-facilitators in this process to address topics and to eventually find solutions in the community. Because Peace Corps’ approach to development is centered on building capacity to help people use their own skills and resources, some of Peace Corps best work has emerged from supporting people, particularly youth and women, to address their needs on their own terms. Examples of the following long term programs, conducted with local partners, are the focus of this session. 1) Girls’ empowerment camps called GLOW (girls leading our world) in which girls receive life skills training and leadership development. 2) Boys’ camps (BE Camp) follow a similar agenda and include positive masculinities and alternatives to violence. 3) Gender based violence (GBV) within the school community is another issue that is being addressed through gender aware strategies. Because schools replicate and reproduce gender attitudes, and teachers often reinforce negative gender norms unintentionally, this training targets members of the education community in a thoughtful and culturally appropriate way to engage participants in how to prevent and respond to GBV.

Session Objectives: Identify at least three tools of gender-sensitive, participatory community analysis that Peace Corps Volunteers are trained to conduct upon their entry in new communities. Describe at least 3 interventions or sample activities that Volunteers and their community partners conduct with girls in Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) that allow campers to understand the impact of gender roles and to empower them to improve their own lives and their communities. Identify at least 3 context-specific adaptations to the Camp GLOW model to make the interventions or camp activities more responsive to the health needs, cultural context, or specific priorities of the campers. Identify interventions and adaptations by culture utilized in boys’ camps to decrease sexual harassment of girls Identify specific methods and interventions to decrease sexual harassment and GBV in schools and in the larger community.