Fighting violence to promote youth participation in Senegal

March 9, 2015 More than 100 youth, community leaders, and representatives of local authority shared their experiences and offered recommendations during a community forum which took place in Thiès, Senegal on February 25. The forum‘s theme was the fight against violence in the community. The participants welcomed the opportunity to share their knowledge and experiences, and claimed to have learned a lot from others during the gathering. They expressed their desire to engage in the fight against violence, especially violence against women and girls.

This gathering was organized and led by Equitas’ partners in Senegal, who are part of the Strengthening Human Rights Education Globally (SHREG) project. The project aims to build communities that are safe, more equitable, more democratic, and respectful of human rights. As part of this project, participants were also asked to organize collective actions meant to favor social mobilization. Participants organized a community activity at a secondary school in Thiès to inform and shed light on the need to reduce violence in schools and secondary schools in the region. About 150 students, parents, and community members came together for the occasion.  The activity was planned during a training session on participation and the rights of women and girls back in November 2014. Here are some of the comments from the participants: « I am going to participate in my community by motivating the youth in my community [ and by fighting] against violence in all its shapes and forms, and also by respecting human rights so that [the youth do not become] perpetuators  of violence themselves. I have hope,” — Young man « I am going to try to participate in my community, more specifically in my family [by fighting] certain forms of domestic violence that I am experiencing. I will follow the recommendations that were proposed to me and my colleagues, and our leaders in hopes that there will be change.”  — Young woman « I will first and foremost raise awareness amongst my friends and my acquaintances, and condemn all types of violence that I or someone else has endured, [and I will do this] by approaching the services and organizations who deal with these issues.” — Young woman «…We are the leaders of tomorrow…we have to pave a new and better path for a better future…a better world.” — Young man « I am going to participate in my community by spreading information in order to inform people and raise awareness  on the violence against children, but also to help them better understand the importance of values and the respect of human rights,” — Young girl