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Investing in schools and teachers is key to unlocking solutions to school-related gender-based violence This blog was produced as part of Together for Girls' contribution to the UN Girls' Education Initiative's School-Related Gender-Based Violence Global Working Group series in commemoration of the 16 Day of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. View the blog series here. By [...]
We are delighted to launch our new Kenya storytelling hub. Propelled by the first Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) in 2010, Kenya raised awareness, mobilized resources, and prioritized a decade of action to end violence against children. The results from the second VACS, launched earlier this year, show that these efforts paid off. Change is possible.
Safeguarding 101: Why it’s Critical to Keeping Kids Safe Whether you’re a parent, leader of a youth-serving organization, or coach of a youth sports team, you should know what safeguarding is and why it’s critical to keeping kids safe. Every child, adolescent, and young person deserves to be safe, protected, and thriving, but tragically, the [...]
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Protecting Women and Girls in Sub-Saharan Africa During COVID-19 SOLUTIONS SPOTLIGHT Editor's Note: At Together for Girls, we focus on data-driven solutions to prevent violence against children. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re highlighting evidence-based interventions, strategies, and resources with our “Solutions Spotlight” series. While many children and adolescents are out of school and staying home [...]
5 Things We’re Reading This Week - July 27, 2020 While the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates the risk of violence against women and children, we’re able to better understand the complexity of the issue as more data and research comes out. A recent report by Plan International Australia and Save the Children, for example, reveals that [...]
Education: A Fundamental Human Right All children deserve the right to safely attend school. Every child also deserves the right to live free from violence. Education is a fundamental human right and a necessary pathway to ending extreme poverty. Equitable, quality education has an immense power to transform the lives of not only individuals, but [...]
5 Things We’re Reading This Week - July 20, 2020 On July 16, the Government of Kenya launched their second Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) Report. Kenya is one of the first countries to complete the VACS twice, providing an unprecedented opportunity to measure the progress made since the first VACS, as well [...]
The Government of Kenya Launches Second Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) Report On July 16, 2020, the Government of Kenya shared their groundbreaking second Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS) Report during a virtual launch event. As one of the first countries to complete the VACS process twice, the new report offers [...]
5 Things We’re Reading This Week - July 13, 2020 An increasing number of organizations are sharing valuable insights into the impacts of COVID-19 on girls around the world. While it's estimated that COVID-19 lockdowns and school closures have caused 743 million girls to be out of school, UNFPA’s new State of the World’s Population [...]
Understanding School-Related Gender-Based Violence Building the Evidence Base: Highlights from Secondary Analyses of VACS in Five Different Countries Education is a fundamental human right Every child around the world deserves the opportunity to learn. Education is a basic human right and a necessary pathway to ending extreme poverty. We know that equitable, quality education has [...]
An Interview with Katelyn Brewer, CEO & President of Darkness to Light Empowering Adults to Protect Children During COVID-19 and Beyond EXPERT'S TAKE Editor’s Note: At Together for Girls, we focus on data-driven solutions to prevent violence against children. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our team is interviewing violence prevention leaders in our “Expert’s Take” series. [...]
Protecting Women and Children in Latin America and the Caribbean During COVID-19 This week, we’re highlighting interventions from Latin America and the Caribbean that help keep women and children safe from violence, during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. SOLUTIONS SPOTLIGHT Editor's Note: At Together for Girls, we focus on data-driven solutions to prevent violence against [...]
An Interview with Lori Michau, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Raising Voices Standing With Girls and Women: Violence Prevention During COVID-19 EXPERT'S TAKE Editor’s Note: At Together for Girls, we focus on data-driven solutions to prevent violence against children. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our team is interviewing violence prevention leaders from around the world in our [...]
4 Tools Parents Can Use To Protect Kids During COVID-19 This week, we’re featuring COVID-19 parenting resources, including evidence-based strategies to manage stress, tools to keep children safe online, and guides that help parents talk to their kids about COVID-19. SOLUTIONS SPOTLIGHT Editor's Note: At Together for Girls, we focus on data-driven solutions to prevent [...]
Expert's Take Case Advocates Improve Uptake of Violence Against Children Services Across Different Service Delivery Points in Public Health Facilities By Lina Digolo, LVCT Health The uptake of health services by child survivors of violence is a growing challenge, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. A major factor contributing to this is the inability of health care [...]
About the Program The Government of Malawi’s (GoM’s) 2016 Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP), locally known as the Mtukula Pakhomo, is an unconditional cash transfer program targeted to ultra-poor, labor-constrained households. The program began as a pilot in Mchinji district in 2006. Since 2009, the program has expanded to reach 18 out of 28 districts [...]
About the Program The SASA! initiative in Uganda is one example of a social norms community mobilization program, widely considered good practice for social norms interventions. SASA! seeks to change community attitudes, norms, and behaviors around gender, violence, and the risk of and vulnerability to HIV infection among women. Premised on the ecological model of [...]
Background on Safeguarding Safeguarding is the process of protecting children from abuse or neglect, preventing impairment of their health and development, and ensuring they grow up with safe and effective care that enables them to have optimum life chances to enter adulthood successfully. Safeguarding within child and youth-serving organizations can include various policies, procedures, and [...]
About the Program Darkness to Light offers an adult-focused, evidence-informed child sexual abuse prevention education program called Stewards of Children. The two-hour curriculum improves child sexual abuse prevention, recognition, and intervention behaviors in adults. To date, more than 1,700,000 people, including more than 500,000 educators in the United States, have completed the Stewards of Children program. In [...]
Together for Girls rang the the New York Stock Exchange opening bell on Monday, September 16, to celebrate a decade of partnership. The moment came almost exactly 10 years after Together for Girls was founded in September 2009 by Gary Cohen, Executive Vice President of Global Health at BD and President of the BD Foundation. [...]
Together for Girls (TfG) released a new case study highlighting groundbreaking country-led action to end violence against children and youth from a decade of the partnership’s collective work in Tanzania. The study, Accelerating Action to Address Violence Against Women and Children: Key Lessons from the Together for Girls Partnership in Tanzania, showcases how the Government [...]
It’s no easy feat mobilizing world-renowned organizations to collaborate together around a common, highly challenging cause. And for anyone familiar with the global health sector, change doesn’t happen overnight. But for Gary Cohen, Founder of Together for Girls (TfG), change is possible with “deep passion, common motives, effective facilitation and constant persistence.” That’s how [...]
In her home country of Kenya, Lydia Tabuke is a Project Manager at Sisari Women’s Initiative Group, leading sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) programming. She is a TfG Every Hour Matters (EHM) Youth Champion, working to bring together youth to support their peers in quickly accessing post-rape care. As an EHM Champion, Lydia [...]
It’s the most wonderful time of the year—Women Deliver. This year, Together for Girls (TfG) is participating in the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women in a big way. From a conference-long interactive booth space to organizing and hosting multiple side events, we’ll be out [...]
On May 15, 2019, the Government of El Salvador launched the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS), the second VACS report published in Latin America. In El Salvador, the VACS process was led by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security with support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), International [...]
On May 8, 2019, the Government of the Republic of Honduras launched the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS), the first report of its kind in Latin America. The Honduras VACS report includes groundbreaking information on the intersections of violence against children and migration. At the high-level launch event in Tegucigalpa, the First Lady [...]
Meet Ashleigh Howard Ashleigh Howard is a global health epidemiologist with expertise in violence and HIV. She began her work with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Zimbabwe country office in 2011 focusing on issues of violence and gender. Throughout her career, Ashleigh has worked closely with the Violence Against Children [...]
2019 is a big year for Together for Girls (TfG). From celebrating ten years of the TfG partnership, to expanding our violence prevention work to more than 20 countries across the globe, we have a lot to be thankful for. In honor of our collective progress over the past decade, we’re reflecting on a truly [...]
In the Central American country of Honduras, the topic of sexuality is not typically openly discussed between youth and the traditional gatekeepers of information, such as parents, teachers and community members. Consequently, young people--especially girls, face high levels of negative sexual health outcomes, including unplanned pregnancy as well as gender-based and sexual violence. According to [...]
On November 7, 2018, the Government of the Republic of Zambia hosted a high-level event in Lusaka to launch the first-ever national report on the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey (VACS), also known as Zambia’s Health and Wellbeing Survey (H-Well). Zambia’s VACS report provides never-before seen data on the prevalence, nature and consequences […]
Dr. Paul Zeitz is a physician, an epidemiologist and long standing advocate for justice and human rights, including children’s rights. He is the author of the recently released book, Waging Justice, a Doctor’s Journey to Speak Truth and Be Bold and serves as the Co-Founder of SDG Compacts and the Sustainable Development Games at the […]
September 4, 2018 By Gustavo Bardales, Director of the Safer Municipalities Program, Sub Secretary of Security in Prevention, Government of Honduras On September 4, 2018, President Juan Orlando Hernández of the Republic of Honduras invited government officials, civil society organizations and development partners to the Casa Presidencial for a special event to […]
Sitawa Wafula is a Kenyan mental health advocate and survivor of sexual violence. When we asked Sitawa what advice she has for fellow survivors, she knew exactly what she wanted to say: “Whatever you do, do not let what happened silence you.” Sitawa’s courage to speak out about her experiences led her to create […]
By Zoe Colgin In 2016, Together for Girls launched the Every Hour Matters (EHM) campaign to increase awareness of the importance of quickly accessing post-rape care. We wanted to spread a critical but little-known message: every hour matters after rape to receive time-sensitive services, including post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent HIV, and emergency contraception to [...]
Everyone has a role to play in ending sexual violence. Read our round-up of actions you can take, from supporting survivors to starting conversations with your family and friends: 1) Learn more: Learn how the issue is impacting your local community, your nation and the world, and then share with friends and family. […]
During the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, Together for Girls, Women Deliver and Girl Up hosted “Violence Knows No Borders.” Convening global leaders and youth advocates, the event highlighted the latest evidence-based and youth-led solutions in violence prevention and response. The Honourable Maryam Monsef, the Minister of Status of Women for Canada, […]
Did you know that every hour matters if you or someone you know is raped? Hundreds of millions of people—including many children—are subjected to sexual violence, yet very few survivors ever tell anyone about the experience or access health services or mental health support to help them heal. Many do not understand the importance of [...]
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