Women and girls aim to reduce gender-based violence in Central African Republic

Gender-based violence (GBV) is still one of the major protection issues in the Central African Republic. Despite the efforts made in recent years by the government and its technical and financial partners, as well as by humanitarian organizations, the challenges remain enormous. In 2021, 11,592 cases of GBV were reported, an increase of 26% compared to those reported in 2020 (9,216 cases).

With the help of the European Union and in consortium with multiple humanitarian partners, HI is working to improve the protection and reintegration of women, girls and people with specific needs who are vulnerable to GBV in the Central African Republic. 

The project, "Women and girls create the future: prevention and response to gender-based violence in the Central African Republic," aims to improve access to quality care and socio-economic reintegration in an environment where GBV is not tolerated and survivors are not stigmatized. It will also work to strengthen governance in the fight against GBV.

This project is implemented by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in consortium with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Humanity & Inclusion (HI), International Medical Corps (IMC) and more than a dozen national non-governmental organizations.

A strategy to fight back

The project implementation strategy is based on four axes:

1. The empowerment of local actors. The project will use organizational and technical capacity building to transfer skills to organizations. After implementing activities alongside them, HI will support them in implementing programs independently so that they can serve as an entry point for providing quality care to survivors.
2. Prioritizing the socio-economic empowerment of women and girls who are vulnerable to GBV. Allow for the creation of credit and self-financing opportunities for at-risk groups, with a focus on village savings and loan associations. This will be done in accordance with the national strategy to fight GBV, with an emphasis on the community-level groups.
3. Use structured community engagement. The project will use an activist approach known as “SASA”—start, awareness, support, action—to positively influence community power dynamics and mobilize members around gender-based violence prevention.
4. Consideration of inclusion of disability, age, and diversity. Inclusion is a cross-cutting priority of the consortium and inclusion activities will be mainstreamed in all activities with the support of HI and its national partners.

Key figures

In total, 130,494 women and girls who are survivors of GBV or who are vulnerable to GBV will benefit from quality, multi-sectoral and integrated case management services. Additionally:

• 63 support groups will be set up
• 50,694 people will be trained to contribute to the creation of a more protective environment
• 1,035 care providers and social workers will be trained as part of the skills transfer foreseen by the project
• 8,600 people will benefit from rapid economic support to meet immediate basic needs
• 4,042 people will benefit from training to support basic literacy
• 3,710 people will benefit from income-generating activities