Engaging Children & Youth as Partners in Preventing Violence against Children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is an EU-funded project that aims to contribute to the eradication of violence against children and youth in West Africa.
The project, which started in March 2014 and will end in March 2016, is divided into three inter-dependent phases.
Phase I: Evidence gathering through research
Goal: to identify the worst forms of violence against children and understand the progress made with traditional peacebuilding approaches.
The main activities in Phase I are literature review, field research, research trainings for local youth, and structured interviews with target groups in each country. These are paired with youth-led open discussions on sensitive topics, based on the innovative Listening & Learning Methodology. A thorough analysis of the data, and the development of country-specific reports, precede the next stage.
Phase II: Evidence sharing with key stakeholders to influence policy
Goal: to influence country-level programmatic and policy actions, using recommendations developed by children and youth themselves.
During Phase II, youth will lead summits with target groups to develop training and resource materials and toolkits for programmatic planning and policy initiatives.
Phase III: Evidence sharing with wider audience to influence societal change
Goal: to share findings at a societal level to enable communities to prevent worst forms of violence against children.
Phase III will focus on youth-designed, scripted and broadcasted radio programs. These shows will be based on the findings of Phases I and II, and will facilitate discussions with a broader audience throughout the three countries.
The cross-cutting objective of this program is to build the capacity of children and youth to advocate for their own needs, and prevent violence against their peers, by putting them at the center of the peace process. We intend to give a platform to those most affected by the violence, legitimizing them in the eyes of other stakeholders – donor agencies, policymakers, practitioners – as active partners and positive agents of change. We also hope to build on the core of existing knowledge to develop up-to-date recommendations to make programs and policy in each country more relevant and youth-friendly.
Our local partners include the West African Youth Network, through its branch of the Mano River Union Youth Parliament in Guinea; the Young Men Christian Association and the Ministry of Youth & Sports in Liberia; the Center for the Coordination of Youth Activities and the Sierra Leone Youth Empowerment Organization in Sierra Leone.
Follow our local social media accounts to learn more:
Search for Common Ground Guinea on Facebook
Search for Common Ground Liberia on Facebook
Search for Common Ground Sierra Leone on Facebook
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