Orphans and Vulnerable Children - CRIN

Parents and guardians can play a primary role in overcoming gender-based discrimination by talking

to children about sexuality and related issues. The approaches below are some community

interventions that are needed help to inform children and parents about sexuality and gender issues.

These are critical steps to help combat discrimination against women and girls which will help to stop

the spread of HIV/AIDS:

• Media campaigns can help challenge discrimination against women and girls.


• NGOs and schools can offer courses and activities for school children and out-of-school
  youth that explore gender relations, values, sexuality and related issues. Stressing the
  effects of positive, as well as negative, peer pressure is an important component of such
  programmes.


• Teachers and youth workers can be trained in gender education.


• Training of youth peer educators (both girls and boys) in gender education.


• Advocacy work must be done to change customary and written laws so women have legal
  recourse in cases of abuse, loss of maintenance and discrimination over inheritance.
  (Many women are unaware of their rights and don’t know that they are legally protected
  against certain abuses. More can be done to make the law accessible to women and to
  promote their capacity to understand and assert their rights.)

Developing gender-sensitive services will involve addressing the specific needs of girls and boys

regarding schooling, protection, access to food and health services, psychosocial support and sexual

education and life skills. These are dealt with further in later modules.

For this activity you will need:

 Flipchart and markers

To facilitate this activity:

1 To start the activity, divide participants again into groups. Ask them to brainstorm

strategies for overcoming gender-based discrimination in their community.

Groups will then report back in plenary. Summarise their ideas on flipchart paper.

2 Facilitate a discussion based on the results of the report-back, drawing from the information

in your facilitator’s notes.

3 If time permits, you can lead a further discussion on community resources and structures

that could help to overcome discrimination against girls, women and OVC in particular.

These could be researched by participants and used as reference in their home visitor’s

handbook. Examples could be clinics which hand out information on sexual health and HIV,

or local community centres that offer vocational or career training for older youth.

45 minutes

(^144) Unit 2, Module 1 Guide to Mobilising and Strengthening Community-Led Care for Orphans and Vulnerable Children