AFHR/PEPFAR Paza Sauti Project
Paza Sauti project focuses on improving access to gender-based violence (GBV) services through preventive, curative, and health promotion activities, and strengthening health facilities response to GBV and provision of reproductive health, medical and psychosocial support in the communities, geared at addressing the existing gender norms and practices impacting on access and utilization of available health services.
Geographical Coverage
The project covers three wards of Mkuranga District in Pwani Region namely Kimanzichana, Mkuranga and Vikindu ward.
Goal
To address harmful gender norms that are barriers to accessing health care, prevent and respond to GBV using gender transformative approach. We envision to strengthen the capacity of the community members through men as partners (MAP) approach which is a gender synchronized approach where the focus is both males and females.
The gender harmonized efforts will engage couples and individual men and women to challenge inequitable gender norms and promote gender equality in their relationships and communities.
Objectives
Objective 1: To improve access to GBV services in Mkuranga district through preventive, curative, and health promotion activities by community health workers (CHWs) at community level.
Activities
- Conduct gender analysis in collaboration with other gender specific initiatives within the district to identify gaps and baseline data of existing norms and practices
- Select and train peer mentors from Kimanzichana, Mkuranga and Vikindu, wards on gender, sexual reproductive health, GBV and violence against children (VAC) and male involvement in order to engage women, men and youth groups in health promotion and awareness raising activities
- Conduct bi-annual gender specific community discussions using peer mentors to 240 community members who will be GBV advocates in the community.
- Conduct quarterly community dialogues on gender, GBV/VAC, male engagement in schools to raise awareness, skills and transformation among youth.
- Support coordination meetings with key GBV stakeholders including council health management team (CHMT), legal enforcers, local leaders, traditional healers, peer mentors and religious leaders to strategize on integration of GBV and VAC activities for sustainability.
Objective 2: Strengthening Kimanzichana, Mkuranga and Vikindu, wards health facilities’ response to GBV and provision of reproductive health, medical and psychosocial support to survivors of GBV.
Activities
- Conduct quarterly mentorship, on job training and supportive supervision to health care providers on screening for GBV/VAC cases and post GBV care.
- Strengthen effective referral mechanisms for continued support of survivors of GBV using skilled police gender desk officers, social welfare officers and peer mentors
- Disseminate project findings to local government authority, community leaders and civil society in Mkuranga district