19-04-2024 | di COOPI

RCA. Ten Days of Awareness to Combat Gender-Based Violence

In Bangui, Central African Republic, COOPI-International Cooperation, with financial support from the European Union's Békou Fund, took part in the annual Sixteen Days of Activism campaign to fight gender-based violence. The initiative, which runs from November 25 on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and ends on December 10, International Human Rights Day, aims to raise awareness and promote action against gender-based violence.

The Central African Republic, a country that has experienced decades of politico-military crises, suffers human losses, population displacement and increasingly widespread human rights violations. Women and girls are often victims of violence that negatively impacts their physical and mental health, and many of them show signs of addiction and post-traumatic stress-related disorders.

In this context, COOPI, with financial support from the European Union's Békou Fund and support from COOPI's Gender Violence Officer and staff from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), organized a series of awareness-raising activities on the occasion of the Sixteen Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. The initiative is part of the activities of the project "Youth, Hope of the Central African Republic: Masséka békou ti Bé-Afrika," which since July 2021 has been supporting youth programs and youth participation in the consolidation of dialogue and social cohesion.

Over the course of ten days, from December 4 to 15, 2023, young men and women from Bangui's 10 "Maison de Jeunes" were involved in activities to promote women's empowerment to improve family well-being and significantly reduce domestic violence. The event was attended by the Ministry of Youth, 250 community members and 150 leaders from the neighborhoods in which the Maison de Jeunesse are located, and 10 women's associations.

By organizing these initiatives, COOPI and its partners worked to provide the population and key local actors with greater awareness of the extent of violence perpetrated against women and girls and mobilize them to combat all forms of discrimination, marginalization, and gender inequality.

COOPI has been present in the Central African Republic since 1974, working on governance and human rights, among other things. During 2022, it reached 8,049 young people, including 4,293 girls and 3,756 boys, through workshops and awareness-raising conferences on topics such as peaceful conflict resolution, the consequences of drug and narcotics use, environmental protection, citizenship and positive leadership.