Give training to prevent physical and sexual abuse

Raising Voices Against Sexual Violence

Objectives

• Collect endline data from young mothers across the various Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) groups.
• Participate in doing the annual and quarterly workplan.
• Participate in proposal writing for the available funding opportunities
• Phone monitoring of 15 VSLA groups for young mothers and updating their savings. The groups are located as follows: Mayuge (3 groups), Jinja (3 groups), Luuka (5 groups), Buyende (1 group), and Kamuli (3 groups).
• Write and submit district annual reports for the following districts: Kamuli, Buyende, Luuka, Namayingo, Mayuge, and Jinja.
• Mobilize communities for dialogues about sexual violence RTRR.

Achievements

• Monitored and provided technical support to 15 active VSLA groups through regular phone follow-ups, conducted reconciliations, and updated savings records to ensure accurate financial tracking and accountability.
• Disseminated the organization's Annual Report to key district stakeholders, including the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), District Community Development Officer (DCDO), and District Education Officer/District Inspector of Schools (DEO/DIS), strengthening visibility and stakeholder engagement.
• Successfully conducted endline data collection among young mothers participating in VSLA groups across four districts, reaching a total of 227 beneficiaries: Luuka (52), Kamuli and Buyende (73), Jinja (38), and Mayuge (64). The exercise generated valuable information to assess project outcomes and inform future programming.
• Actively participated in the development and brainstorming of five funding proposals submitted to potential donors, namely EU Can Aid, Mortenson, L’Oréal Fund for Women, Theirworld, and ACT Trust, aimed at mobilizing resources for organizational programs.
• Contributed to the development of the organization's Annual Work Plan and the Quarterly Work Plan for the Sexual Violence Program, ensuring strategic alignment of activities and effective implementation planning.
• Documented three success stories highlighting the positive impact of the VSLA program on participating girls. The stories were collected and are currently undergoing editing and validation for dissemination and learning purposes.
• Successfully conducted eight community dialogues across the communities of Kaluuba, Gonza, Kiyunga, Busiiro, Walibo, Balawoli, Buyende, and Busalamu. The dialogues were facilitated by law enforcement officers and engaged a total of 250 community members, creating awareness on key protection issues, strengthening community-law enforcement collaboration, and promoting dialogue on the prevention and response to violence.
• Conducted four school-based sensitization sessions on sexual violence prevention in Busalamu SS, Walibo Seed School, Balawoli SS, and Bunya SS. The sessions covered key topics including common forms of sexual violence, associated risks and consequences, reporting pathways, and prevention strategies within schools and communities. A total of over 1,500 students were reached, enhancing awareness and strengthening protective knowledge among learners.
• Successfully implemented four peer educator training sessions across Busalamu SS, Walibo Seed School, Balawoli SS, and Bunya SS. A total of 60 peer educators (15 per school) were trained on their roles and responsibilities, students’ rights and responsibilities, and approaches to supporting fellow learners. The training was guided by the Post-Primary Schools and Institutions Learners’ Booklet, which was provided to all trained peer educators to support ongoing peer education activities.
• Documented, edited, and submitted five stories of change from young mothers’ Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) groups under the Raising Voices Against Sexual Violence Project. The stories were drawn from Buwaaya in Mayuge District (1) and Kiyunga in Luuka District (4), highlighting positive changes in livelihoods, empowerment, and community wellbeing resulting from the project’s interventions.
• Conducted refresher training on group dynamics and management for 15 VSLA groups. Two leaders from each group (30 participants in total) were trained to strengthen leadership capacity, improve group cohesion, and enhance financial and governance management systems in preparation for the long-term sustainability and eventual independence of the VSLA groups.

Challenges

• The endline data collection exercise experienced delays as several VSLA group members were difficult to reach using the contact information available. This slowed the data collection process and required additional follow-up efforts to obtain the required information from participants.
• Community dialogues initially planned for January were postponed following consultations with community champions and local stakeholders. Due to the ongoing election period, it was anticipated that community participation would be low. As a result, the dialogues were rescheduled to February to ensure better attendance and meaningful engagement.
• The onset of the rainy season affected the timely implementation of community dialogues, particularly those scheduled in the morning. Many community members prioritized agricultural activities in their gardens before attending sessions, resulting in delayed start times and reduced punctuality, which affected overall time management during engagements.
• Some VSLA group members who have experienced positive transformation through the program expressed reluctance to be recorded or publicly share their experiences. This low self-esteem has limited the collection of visual and audio success stories, thereby affecting the availability of documented evidence for reporting and learning purposes.

Lessons Learned

• The project demonstrated that adapting planned activities based on community feedback and contextual realities improves outcomes. During the reporting period, community dialogues were successfully rescheduled to February following consultations with community champions, ensuring better participation and ownership of the process.
• Morning sessions are often less effective due to competing livelihood activities, particularly agricultural work in gardens. Community members tend to prioritize early morning farming activities, which affects timely attendance. As a result, future community dialogues will be scheduled in the afternoon to improve participation rates and enhance overall session effectiveness.
• There is a need to increase the number of peer educators to at least 40 per school in order to expand peer-to-peer outreach and enhance the reach of key messages among students. This will improve information dissemination, strengthen behavioral change communication, and increase overall program impact within school

• Raising_Voices_agnaist_Sexual_Violence_.pdf (PDF)