Twenty-six Jubaland State officials and civil society activists have concluded a five-day training of trainers’ course on the prevention of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and sexual exploitation.

The training held in the port city of Kismayo was jointly organised by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) and the Jubaland Ministry of Women, Family Affairs and Human Rights.

Participants drawn from Jubaland State’s ministries, Somali Security Forces, service providers and civil society representatives were taken through various topics including basic human rights principles, child abuse, sexual exploitation prevention and safety of sexual violence victims.

Others were anti-gender violence laws, psycho-social support for victims and interview techniques.

“The participants have been taught how to conduct training and build capacity on this important subject of prevention and response to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse,” said Ifrah Awil, an official from the Jubaland State’s Ministry of Women, Family Affairs and Human Rights.

“They learned various techniques of sensitizing the public either directly or through focus group discussions or brainstorming sessions. It was a good and beneficial training,” she added, emphasizing the significance of raising public awareness of the dangers of gender-based violence.

Organised by the ATMIS Protection, Human Rights and Gender (PHRG) cluster, the training is part of an ongoing capacity-building initiative to support the implementation of the Joint Communique and National Action Plan on the prevention of sexual violence in conflict situations.

“We have been equipped with the requisite knowledge and skills on how to be trainers and how best to pass key messages to the public directly or indirectly to achieve our objective of public sensitization, “said Arfon Ali, a civil society activist based in Jubaland.

Another participant, Ismail Mohamed, highlighted the importance of training men on SGBV since they are the main perpetrators.

“As a man, I’ am happy to have gained knowledge on how to prevent various forms of violence meted out to women by men. I will use the lessons learned here to educate the public on how to protect women against violence,” he said.

Through a series of targeted trainings, ATMIS in collaboration with the Federal Government of Somalia seeks to strengthen the capacities of communities and human rights activists to counter SGBV to improve the wellbeing of women and other victims of abuse.