I. Introduction
In October 2018, AM and the Women Union of Chuong My district implemented one-year program in Nam Phuong Tien commune following Hanoi Women Union’s action plan to "communicate, educate, mobilize and support women to solve problems that related to women." This program was launched as an additional part of the existing Community Development Project (CDP) with the local women and school children are the main target groups.
II. Accomplishment of the input activities and outputs
The following activities have been accomplished from November 2018 to October of 2019.
1. Reproductive Health Workshops
About 690 secondary school children of two schools have gone through 14 workshops, which covers different topics for boys and girls as separated groups. The workshops provided knowledge on puberty, physiological and psychological changes during puberty, friendship, love, and sex. This is to help the children properly respond to situations that may put them at risks of sexual abuses.
2. Child Sexual Abuse Prevention workshops
About 490 primary school children of a school have gone through 6 workshops with the help of the teachers, which used various teaching methods to cultivate learning capacity of these small children. The children were exposed to basic skills and principles to avoid abuse and handle situations when at risks. As the result, the students were able to identify the characteristics of a likely abuser.
3. Dialogue on women’s values and roles
This is a half day event held at the community hall on the occasion of Vietnamese Women's Day for 150 women participants. A topic on values and women roles in modern society of women and some case studies were given for open discussions. This helps the women identify their inner values and what they can do to take charge of their lives.
4. Women Clubs
There were 9 hamlet-based women clubs have been established with the participation of 272 women. The evening meetings have created a safe and confidential space for the women to share and talk. The women like it that they really want to continue these club activities on monthly basis.
5. Training local leaders
Seventeen local leaders had participated a 2-day training on gender equality, gender based violence, domestic violence prevention. This 2 day training provided participants with knowledge on gender, gender based violence, and gender equality. The local officials and hamlet women leaders were very enthusiastic and actively participated in all training activities.
6. Community Based Activities
Cooking Competition
This is a half day event held at a village hall. Eight couples took challenge to prepare a normal meal for a family of four. The local leaders took part in coordinating program. The husbands were seeing that sharing house chores with their wife does not make a husband less masculine.
Family Day
This half-day event includes outdoor activities that create space for the parents and their children to play together. Drama on domestic violence and local songs were performed. About 100 participants enjoyed the outdoor activities. This Family Day helped highlight the important of spending time as family.
Running Campaign
“Run for the woman I love” is the theme that covers the reasons why men should take their action to stand with their women. Running is just a symbol act of this message. There were 27 families joined the run of 2 kilometer distance. This event involved the major group of 25 local leaders as they were taking charge for different tasks to effectively organize participants. The village health staffs accommodated the runners to provide medical care if needed.
III. The achieved outcomes
The program has ended with some certain achievements on gender equality promotion by fostering mental safety of the women and the family connections. The local leaders’ capacity on gender equality and domestic violence prevention have been strengthened. The school children have been equipped with proper skills to prevent and combat sexual abuse. Some outstanding outcomes are as bellows:
· The local Women Union members have been well equipped through hand-on trainings;
· The school children have been equipped with proper skills to help them avoid situations when they may face the sexual abuses and how to act when it actually happens;
· The local leaders have grasped the nature and significance of the project’s impacts;
· Roles of the stakeholders and district partners have been well promoted when they had actively been involved in the project activities, which helped them see the project model more realistic to their needs;
· The local partners have been equipped with an necessary capacity in receiving and running a social project work.
