School Reps attending 2-day GBV Workshop

Mar 06, 2014 Sports

By Rawle Welch
Representatives of the twenty-four schools currently participating in the Milo/Petra Organisation Schools Football Competition began attending a two-day Gender-based Violence (GBV) Workshop which opened yesterday in the Boardroom of the Ministry of Health on Brickdam.

Resource Personnel (from left background)- Petra Directors, Troy Mendonca and Marlan Cole, CDC Representative Nicolette Henry and Ministry of Health’s Dr. Ertenisia Hamilton take a photo op along with participants attending the 2-day GBV Workshop yesterday.

The Workshop, which is being facilitated by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in association with the Ministry of Health and the Petra Organisation as part of its attempt to spread the message on Gender-based Violence and its eradication, saw in attendance CDC Official Nicolette Henry, Adolescent Health Rep Dr. Ertenisia Hamilton, Co-ordinator of GBV Unit of the Ministry of Health Joy Gravesande and Petra Org. Directors Troy Mendonca and Marlan Cole.
Cole, who made the opening remarks, likened the behaviour to a scourge that was affecting the society at large and even pointed to some of the reports in the dailies of domestic violence as clear evidence of the need to host such a Forum.
According to Cole, the Workshop is hugely important and timely and urged the participants to make full use of the opportunity and grasp as much information as possible so that they could return to their respective schools and then disseminate what was taught to the students.
“This Workshop is not only for the coaches’ benefit, but we expect them to return to their schools and impart what was taught to the students,” Cole said.
He then thanked the CDC and Ministry of Health for their support in making the Workshop a reality, while recognising the importance of the practicum which according to him has come at a time when Guyana and the wider Caribbean is struggling to grapple with the increasing prevalence of GBV.
Henry in her presentation said how pleased she was to be part of the Workshop as one of the stakeholders along with the Ministry and informed that in recent times there has been a great increase in effort nationally to highlight the issue.
She praised the Ministry for its concentrated focus in trying to combat GBV and hoped that the combined efforts of the various stakeholders contribute significantly in dispelling myths.
“I hope our efforts will help everyone understand that GBV is more than simple physical violence and we want our whole community to appreciate the fact that men are a significant share of the victims. We aspire to create broader understanding that GBV has a significant cost in developed and developing countries alike,” Henry shared.
She added that while women are a large majority of the victims of GBV and are also leading the fight to eliminate the global epidemic it must be recognised that all the groups (boys, girls, men and women) will need to work together to eradicate the problem.
Henry welcomed the opportunity to engage members of the target group and to address what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.
“We can think of a million examples where if we provide men with a little more information, a few more skills, a bit of encouragement, they themselves can be far more supportive, communicative and caring for their sexual partners and family members. It is not rocket science, but still it isn’t happening on a significant scale. Today’s Workshop is meant to address that.”
Dr. Hamilton for her part spoke of the Ministry’s joy in being a partner in the initiative and even recognised the efforts of the CDC in getting the message about GBV off the ground.
She opined that since youths are actively involved in sports, the Workshop presents a fertile avenue for the various stakeholders to take advantage of.
Dr. Hamilton informed that they would be using the two-day exercise to educate the participants who will then be expected to return to their schools and spread the message and empower the youths.
She closed by saying that the team will be working assiduously to remove GBV from our society, while the Ministry is delighted to know that there are other stakeholders out there who’re willing to stand up for the cause.
The Workshop concludes today.