Save The Children Liberia under its Capacity Building to Prevent School Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) Project, played a crucial role in fostering safer learning environment for children in Bong County by establishing Safe School Teams in 30 schools. Bong County is situated in Central Liberia.
Save The Children Liberia under its Capacity Building to Prevent School Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV) Project, played a crucial role in fostering safer learning environment for children in Bong County by establishing Safe School Teams in 30 schools. Bong County is situated in Central Liberia.
The project helped to strengthen child protection mechanisms, empower schools and communities to prevent SRGBV and promote children's safety in and around schools. As the implementation of the project gain momentum across schools, a young beneficiary narrated a success story and impact the project has on her directly.
Jonica F Davis, 18, and a 12th grader of the New Life Foundation High School in Suakoko District, Bong County applauded Save the Children and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iceland the training, which she said was impactful in helping her to develop a path to becoming a school safety advocate.
As a member of the Safe School Team, Jonica also led the establishment of Safe School Team (SST) in Flomo Wennah Public School in Suakoko District, Bong County.
The young female student narrated that she was aware of the injustices around her as she grew up in a less fortunate neighborhood where children and families lack the basic social necessities, witnessed the struggles of girls and families, who faced discrimination and inequality.
“At first, the issue of violence in school, most especially sex for grade, money for grade or even corporal punishment were like a norm to me and nothing can be done about it because I wasn’t aware of the impact/implication it has on us as young people or even little I knew about the reporting procedures,” Jonica narrates her story.
As she explains further, this is what she had to say: “One day in February 2024, the Vice Principal of Flomo Wennah Public School approached me with a recommendation to serve as external student on their Safe School Team established by Save the Children International. Upon my acceptance, myself along with other students, community leaders, PTA, a total of 10 persons were trained on SRGBV by Save the Children-SRGBV Project team.”
The SRGBV training covered identifying the different types of violence that occur in schools and communities, how to report violence through an established reporting pathway, child safeguarding, child protection as well as awareness raising procedures.
The were also trained on their roles and responsibilities as School Safety Team (SST) members which includes regular awareness raising on SRGBV in schools and communities, communicating with others to speak out violence through the reporting mechanism and having regular meetings to discuss school safety.
Jonica added that the training built her resilience, self-esteem, learned effective communication with friends and elders. “I benefited from child safeguarding training where I can recognize that beating, shouting, rape and not putting a child in
school, are some forms of child abuse. “She recommended that future SRGBV Project should include girls’ education on menstrual cycle, prevention of teen-age pregnancy, provision of sanitary pads for girls in schools as well as specific phone numbers and stationaries for reporting purposes.
Expressing gratitude to Save the Children, Jonica disclosed that the training and subsequent awareness on SRGBV by the Safe School Teams has minimized the issue of bribery, sex for grade and corporal punishment in communities and schools.
