ACTIV - Act against violence is a project where three Terre des hommes delegations in Romania, Moldova and Ukraine have joined forces to combat violence against children in Eastern European schools.
Violence is one of the biggest threats that children face, harming their physical and mental health, with a large proportion of cases of violence occuring in schools. It is therefore necessary to bring about positive changes around gender-based violence in schools, in terms of attitudes and behavior concerning the children and in terms of strategies for teachers centered on preventing and combating violence. With the ACTIV project (two years) we will approach the gender-based violence issue through activities addressed to 375 teachers and 250 pupils from schools in Romania, Moldova and Ukraine.
Our goal
We aim to change the school climate and reduce gender-based violence (GBV) by addressing its structural causes: social norms, stereotypes, and the lack of institutional intervention procedures. The agents of change will be pupils, school staff, parents and communities who will play a key role in creating a culture of gender equality and equity.
How will we make the change in the school environment happen?
1. Firstly, we aim for a better understanding of social norms and stereotypes that underlie violent practices and attitudes. In this regard, each partner country will analyze the situation in the selected schools, by organizing consultations with children and teachers. The project will involve a total number of 250 students (while ensuring gender parity), aged 11-15 years, with , from 25 schools. The children will be selected based on their interest in participating as well as those who are considered to be at high risk of becoming victims of violence by the educational staff. Schools will be selected from vulnerable rural communities, including Roma and with limited access to basic social services. In Ukraine 3 schools in Luhansk region and 2 scgools in Donetsk region will be involved in the ptoject.
2. Besides actively participating in the situation analysis, children will partake in all stages of the project, by identifying and co-creating solutions as well as implementing concrete actions. To this end, Children's Advisory Boards will be set up in each school and will gather monthly to develop and implement initiatives to combat GBV. Parents, school staff and community members will participate in the presentation of these initiatives co-created by students in order to raise awareness about the role of gender in giving rise and perpetuating violence.
3. Last but not least, 375 teachers will participate in the analysis of the situation and benefit from training, with the aim of consolidating knowledge around social and gender norms, and developing positive attitudes regarding gender equality, in order to transform the school environment in the 25 schools targeted by the project, in a space that promotes respect, non-discrimination, and gender equality.
Violent acts with a gender base are considered to be manifestations of gender-based violence (GBV). Gender-based violence in schools can be physical, sexual, and psychological in nature and it is caused by unequal power relations between men and women and stereotypes present in society.
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The project is implemented by Fundația Terre des hommes Elveția (România), in partnership with Reprezentanța din Republica Moldova a Fundației Terre des Hommes Lausanne – Elveția and The Separate Division of Terre des Hommes Foundation in Ukraine, and benefits from a 194.067 euros grant from Active Citizens Fund Romania, programme funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants 2014 -2021. The content of this website does not necessarily reflect the official position of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021; for more information visit www.eeagrants.org. More details about Active Citizens Fund Romania are available at www.activecitizensfund.ro.
