UN Women has launched a call for proposals to strengthen men’s leadership in promoting women’s rights and develop with them sustainable strategies for changing social norms in favor of the elimination of GBV and Violence again women and girl in Mali.
UN Women works to eliminate violence against women and girls (VAW) with the involvement of all stakeholders. And all these actors play a fundamental role in the elimination of VAW, particularly men and boys, specifically traditional and religious legitimacies. This project falls within the framework of the involvement, mobilization and commitment of traditional and religious legitimacies as actors of the change of social norms harmful to women and girls.
Funding Information
The budget range for this proposal should be:
Year 1:
($80,000 – $270,000) For Bamako, Kayes and Sikasso
($50,000 – $210,000) For Mopti and Gao
Year 2:
($10,000 – $30,000) For Bamako, Kayes and Sikasso
(7000$ – 20000$) For Mopti and Gao
Why work with men and boys to prevent violence against women and girls?
Violence against women and girls. is anchored in sociocultural and traditional norms that prevail in many communities in Mali. Culture and tradition being in the hands of men, it becomes more than vital that they are an integral part of all stages of the implementation of all strategies, policies and programs aimed at changing social norms and eliminating violence against women and girls
Men still occupy the majority of positions of power and influence in law, politics, finance, the justice and security sector, the business world and the media. They are the ones who determine political and legislative priorities as well as public budgets; frontline institutions responsible for preventing violence against women (such as the police, the health and legal professions, the justice system, etc.) are all under male command.
Fortunately, thanks to advocacy awareness activities carried out in recent years, some men are becoming more and more involved in actions to eliminate violence against women and girls. They realize the importance of their roles and publicly challenge beliefs, values and social norms that tolerate gender inequality.
Emerging evidence shows that preventive approaches involving men and boys are effective.
These interventions can lead to the following positive changes:
Reduction in self-reported use of physical, sexual and psychological violence in intimate relationships;
Increased social support for spouses due to changes in community norms and improved information about existing services; More equitable treatment of children (boys and girls);
Difficulty in providing services: In view of this alarming situation, it was noted that those involved in the prevention, protection and management of cases of violence are faced with a certain number of difficulties, namely: socio-cultural constraints; The involvement of religious traditional and religious legitimacy as a vector of change in behavior and societal norms; Difficulties in accessing and offering basic social services in the area of GBV (medical, psychosocial); Security, legal and economic support remains timid; Data collection on the national territory is not effective but the establishment of a database is in progress; The timid functionality of the SEO system; Insufficient safe spaces to accommodate survivors; The absence of an inclusive GBV support system;
The main challenges: In terms of the fight against gender-based violence in Mali, the different actors face the main challenges which are:
Membership, involvement, commitment and support of traditional and religious leaders in community mobilization, awareness-raising and advocacy activities for change in behavior and social norms; The adoption of the law on GBV in Mali; Scaling up support services for survivors; The availability of databases on gender-based violence.
Through the project “Contributing to the elimination of discrimination and violence against women and girls in Mali: men and boys as agents of change” whose objective is to strengthen the leadership of men and boys for change social standards, the promotion of the rights of women and girls, the elimination of discrimination and violence against them.
This project involves:
to develop sustainable community strategies leading to the abandonment of beliefs, perceptions and stereotypes harmful to the rights of women and girls in collaboration with men and boys based on local realities;
To help create a generation of men and boys who are ambassadors for the promotion of women’s rights and the prevention of violence within communities. The project’s interventions will focus on the engagement of traditional and religious legitimacies as catalysts for the change of social norms for the elimination of discrimination and inequalities for better empowerment and respect for the rights of women and girls in Mali.
To further strengthen the leadership of administrative, traditional and religious authorities, traditional communicators, young artists, local media in the promotion of a new category of men with better knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of men as fathers, husband, brother and son in the elimination of violence and gender-based inequalities through capacity building, strengthening and revitalization of community mechanisms bringing together men and boys and the development of community strategies for prevention, early warning and management of GBV by communities under the leadership of traditional and religious authorities.
To enable the scaling up and initiation of innovative actions such as strengthening the role of the community, particularly traditional and religious legitimacy, in advocacy and awareness raising for the elimination of violence against women and girls; taking into account groups of women and girls exposed to multiple forms of intersecting discrimination in the promotion of women’s rights; the creation of a tripartite partnership between traditional and religious legitimacies, civil society organizations and agents of the national and local administration in favor of the prevention and management of cases of violence against women and girls, to through 2 priority axes, namely:
Priority axis 1: Men & young actors of change at community level
Administrative, political authorities and communities in Bamako and in the regions selected as part of this project, as well as traditional and religious authorities and young people in the communities, initiate actions for the implementation of local approaches, practices and strategies. contributing to the elimination of discrimination, inequalities and violence against women and girls.
Priority axis 2: Transformation of social norms through the establishment of a network of men and young people in favor of the prevention of violence against women and girls. Traditional and religious authorities, school authorities, associations and youth groups, traditional and modern communicators, artists are actively engaged and mobilized in interventions for the change of social norms in favor of the promotion of women’s rights.
Required Services/Results
Result 1: The leadership of men and boys for changing social norms, preventing discrimination, violence against women and harmful practices is strengthened.
Product 1.1: A framework of action and reflection favorable to the involvement of men and boys as a vector of social change in gender equality, the elimination of discrimination, the fight against violence and harmful practices where women and girls are promoted
In alignment with the UN Women 2023-2024 work plan and with reference to Outcome 3.1. Institutions and communities have increased capacities to prevent gender-based violence and promote the rights of women and girls, including in humanitarian settings.
Output 3.1.5: Institutions, communities and service providers have strengthened their capacity to adopt attitudes and behaviors conducive to changing social norms harmful to women/girls, to identify and refer victims of GBV/SVL and to provide them with quality essential services.
“Contribute to the elimination of discrimination and violence against women and girls in Mali: men and boys as agents of change” contribute to the overall work plan through the results below
Be a national non-governmental organization (NGO) registered in the country
The organization must have strong organizational capacity to implement the project and meet UN Women management requirements;
Promote initiatives in terms of positive masculinity, gender and gender-based violence and have developed partnership links with traditional authorities and religious leaders;
Have good experience in supporting and strengthening the capacities of local organizations;
Demonstrate high potential for creativity and innovation and scaling of good practices;
Have approaches to involve men, youth, people with disabilities, marginalized populations and isolated communities as equal partners in program implementation;
Have experience supporting advocacy initiatives to influence policies and men’s participation in the fight to end GBV;
Have experience in knowledge generation;
Work with transparency and impartiality in the identification of beneficiaries and partners and throughout the implementation of activities in projects
Other skills, which, although not required, may be an asset in providing services:
Have a good knowledge of the project implementation areas (Kayes, Sikasso, Mopti, Gao and the District of Bamako) and experience working with traditional legitimacies and traditional leaders
