USAID-SCALE Trains Partners On Gender Equality, Social Inclusion & Conflict Sensitivity

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has advocated for Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) in the Nigerian society which the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has integrated in the implementation of its projects.
 
From the 16th to the 19th of May 2022, CSJ was part of a training facilitated by the Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (CentreLSD) for USAID-SCALE project staff members and implementing partners.
 
According to CSJ’s representative at the 4-day training, Okemnachukwu Onwana “We strive for a society where all people are safe from harm, where their voices are equally heard and valued.”
 
“CSJ commits to addressing gender equity and social inclusion across our programming to the greatest extent possible to deliver transformative practices, systemic change, and inclusive decision-making. Our goal is to create and foster equitable opportunities for all people to overcome barriers, contribute to their communities’ development and realize their full rights and potential,” he said.
 
The training was divided into two parts. The first two days were focused on training participants on Gender Equity and Social Inclusion. On the first day was on understanding GESI including factors influencing agency and socio-ecological model in GESI. The next was on programming for GESI where we learnt how to conduct GESI analysis.
 
The training anchor, Mrs. Ejiro Otive organised a live demonstration of social exclusion where some participants were not given meal tickets. Being one of the victims made participants feel in practical terms what exclusion means for people who are excluded for several reasons.
 
The second day of the GESI training was a deeper dive into how to incorporate GESI in all stages of the programme life cycle starting from design down to implementation and monitoring and evaluation. It provided participants with practical steps on how to improve the work done at their organisations.
 
The third day was the beginning of the second phase of the training which was on mainstreaming conflict sensitivity for SCALE and partner staff. The training, which was anchored by Dr. Chom Bago, a seasoned peace sensitivity expert, kicked off by a deep explanation of what conflict sensitivity means, especially how it affects our work and its relationship to social exclusion.
 
He also talked about conflict sensitivity approaches and frameworks for conflict sensitivity programming. One of such frameworks is the peace and conflict impact assessment which involves analysing the impacts of development projects on structures and processes that strengthen prospects for peaceful coexistence and decrease the likelihood of violence; and also, those that increase the likelihood that conflict will become violent.
The final session of the final day was on conflict sensitive exit strategy which talked about ways in which organisations could leave a project or an area without causing conflict or exacerbating existing conflict whilst securing lives.